052408f  - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses for informed debate’ Compiled by Þanlý Bahadýr Koç    U.S. / Britain / Turkey / Magazines / Think-tanks / Blogs / Misc /Books / Quickread / Numbers / Reports  - Subscribe to FPR  FPR Table - H4 NYT WP GU  H7 ME Isr H10 CSM IHT Eur FSU Asia H13 Times WSJ FT LAT H16 USP DT Ind H19 Mil Int Ter Wonk  H21 Misc

H1  

BESA Why Time Is on Israel's Side - Efraim Inbar

 

NY Post Behind the Israel-Syria Talks - Amir Taheri Everyone had been dancing around the idea of Israel-Syria peace talks for at least a year. Why are they happening now? Will they get anywhere?

 

Wall Street Journal How to Have Successful Negotiations
By Dennis Ross Nonstate actors should not be given something (recognition) for nothing

 

The Golan Heights and the Syrian-Israeli Negotiations - Dore Gold (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

 

Ma’ariv Israeli Army Intelligence Gives Slim Chances to Peace Agreement With Syria

 

Ha’aretz  Iran reportedly irate over Israel-Syria peace talks Sources: Ahmadinejad 'unable to conceal disappointment'; Olmert: Talks won't harm Palestinian front

 

Rosner's Guests: can "decisive victory" against guerilla achieved?

 

GuardianIsrael hopes hard power will do the talking   Israel is gambling that its military superiority can persuade an isolated Bashar al-Assad to distance himself from Iran and its allies Ian Black

 

Think small Dani Rodrik: Poor countries need help tackling the specific, local problems that hold them back, rather than one-size-fits-all institutional reform

 

Some Simple Measures Would Alleviate the Global Food Crisis By: Jeffrey D. Sachs | The Daily Star
But many poor countries can grow more food themselves, because their farmers are producing far below what is technologically possible. In some cases, with appropriate government action, they could double or even triple food production in just a few years

 

Al Hayat The Menace of George W Bush's Last Months in Office Patrick Seale - In the troubled, conflict-ridden Middle East, President George W Bush has done everything wrong. But his mandate still has half a year to run and, unless restrained, he can do a lot more damage - to the region and to America - before he retires to his ranch at Crawford, Texas, and to the obscurity he amply deserves.

 

Weekly Standard In the Driver's Seat Condoleezza Rice and the jettisoning of the Bush Doctrine.

 

Time Bombing Iran: The Clamor Persists

 

Doha Compromise is 'No Cave In to Hezbollah' - Council on Foreign Relations

 

McClatchy Mideast Negotiations Now Bypassing Washington

 

Charlie Rose Show - Guest host George Packer talks to General Anthony Zinni about Zinni's book The Battle For Peace: A Frontline Vision of America's Power and Purpose which calls for an end to unilateral action and an effort on the part of the U.S. to work towards world-wide stability and development.

 

Al Awsat The Making of Hezbollah Part Two

 

Los Angeles Times Hezbollah image in Arab world less shiny The Shiite militant group's temporary takeover of West Beirut and fighting with Sunni rivals have been criticized, but it's still popular in the street.

 

The failed theology of arms control So-called experts are frequently certain about what they know about nuclear material -- and they're frequently wrong

By Gabriel Schoenfeld

 

Washington Post Clinton Sorry for RFK Assassination Remark

Candidate hastens to explain that she merely intended to refer to another primary that lasted into June, not to suggest Obama might be killed

 

Power Barometer: Iran's Bold Move

 

Behind U.S. Intelligence Failures

Mark M. Lowenthal

 

Sami Moubayed: Syria's Misguided Optimism

 

A Campaign In Need of A Perot

Alice M. Rivlin and Michael O'Hanlon

 

Global Wealth Shrinks IMF's Role

Fund rapidly becomes more adviser than lender to Ghana and other prospering world economies

 

Juan Cole Will Sistani Declare Jihad on US?

 

BBC Message to US
China and Russia jointly condemn US missile shield plan

 

Financial Times Over a barrelThe rising cost of crude is hitting profit margins and household budgets. Which countries and sectors will be worst affected?

 

Russia’s aim in wooing Mr Hu

By travelling east, Medvedev is signalling to the west that he will be hard-nosed and pragmatic in pursuing multiple partnerships

 

EU to slash emissions from new cars The average new car sold in the European Union in 2020 will have to use less fuel than almost all conventional models on the road today, under plans being drawn up by the European Parliament

 

Lebanon’s Christians boosted by Doha deal A new electoral law agreed at the talks could give the Christians a pivotal role after next year’s parliamentary elections

 

IHT  Fortunately, Israel doesn't listen to Bush It was irresponsible for President Bush to try to restrain Israel from pursuing a settlement that it judges as possibly being in its best interests.

 

The alchemists By WILLIAM PFAFF Unregulated oil trades have virtually no useful economic role

 

PUTIN'S LEGACY Let the good times roll, for Russia's sake

By VIKTOR EROFEYEV

Under Putin, Russians acquired the possibility to live a free private life.

 

AMERICA'S IMAGE Whose face to the world? By STEVEN W. BARNES The candidates agree: America's public diplomacy is badly flawed

 

Russia and Ukraine pick a new fight over an old naval base The fate of a Russian naval base in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol has been the subject of renewed bickering between the two nations

 

Balance of Power Is Continuing to Shift From the US  by Leon T. Hadar

 

NYRB Jihadi Suicide Bombers: The New Wave
By Ahmed Rashid
After September 11, 2001, readers around the world quickly learned about the basic tenets of jihad and its distortion by al-Qaeda. Now the shelves of Western bookshops are again filled with books on the subject, which gives no sign of going away

 

Asia Times How the US dream foundered in Iraq The unexpected Iraqi resistance - at all levels of society - to the plans of the George W Bush administration has hardly been given its due. This resistance ranges from the Sunni insurgency to oil workers (who aborted a plan to transfer management of the port of Basra to then-Halliburton subsidiary KRB), to tribal leaders, the Sadrists to the national parliament. Thus the "new American century" went missing in action in Iraq. - Michael Schwartz

 

The Mosul riddle While most attention in Iraq is focused on Baghdad and the troubles in Sadr City, under the global radar an invisible war in Mosul drags on, officially against al-Qaeda jihadis but in fact a barely disguised anti-Sunni mini-pogrom conducted by government-embedded militias. - Pepe Escobar

 

Where are those Iranian arms in Iraq? The United States military continues to imply that Iranian weapons are flowing into Iraq to arm Shi'ite groups opposed to the US occupation. Yet US officials have not even come close to providing evidence to support the claims - most weapons most likely are bought on the open market. - Gareth Porter

 

NY Sun The Syrian Mirage – Editorial

 

Jerusalem Post Column one: Assad's week of triumph [ CAROLINE GLICK

 

 

Arabic Writer Says Syrian Leaders "Deceived" Arab Public Opinion

 

Syrian Minister on Istanbul Talks With Israel, Lebanese Doha Agreement

 

Syrian Official Hopes Lebanon Accord Will Help Normalize Inter-Arab Ties

 

Meet Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's Next President (Ya Libnan-Lebanon)

 

Weekly Standard Change That Matters Iraq has changed. Why can't the Democrats?

A world beyond control , Paul Rogers

 

Daily TelegraphUS shelves plans to raid Sadr City Two Iraqi divisions to take up positions in eastern Baghdad but no US troops will be allowed in.

 

RFERL Analysis: Russian-Armenian Gas Talks Inconclusive

 

Analysis: Armenian Coalition Partner Lambastes Former President

 

China/Russia: Focus On Pipelines During Medvedev Visit

 

Ukraine: Kyiv Summit Seals Caspian Energy Project

 

Abkhazia: Rumors Of Peace Amid Drums Of War

 

H2  Harvey Sicherman on Syria and Israel: tactical advantage (and Turkey)

  

"Türkiye ABD ve Ýran arasýnda seçim yapacak"

 

PKK'nýn dýþ destekçilerine karþý tedbirler alýnýyor

 

PKK’nýn umudunu kýracak önlemlere hýz veriliyor

Prime Minister Barzani meets President Bush in Washington

 

Abdülhamit Bilici Ýran'a saldýrý ve AK Parti!  Attack on Iran scenario

 

Türkiye'nin arabuluculuðu: Sýnýrlar, gerçekler ve tuzaklar

 

Akdeniz'de tartýþmalý tatbikat

 

Þahin Alpay Kürt sorununa barýþçý çözüm

 

EDM NATIONAL PRIDE HAMPERS TURKISH BORDER SECURITY

 

Türkiye Ortadoðu’ daki rolünü güçlendirmek istiyor

 

Mustafa Akyol From isolationism to peacemaking: 'New Turkey' meets Mideast

 

SETA "The AKP and the Kurdish Issue: What Went Wrong?" by Rabia Karakaya POLAT

 

[ANALYSIS] Turkish crisis puts ‘post-Islamist’ reform on hold

 

Türkiye koloni mi

 

Semih Ýdiz Leyla Zana’nýn Avrupa ile artan akortsuzluðu

 

N. Barzani Bush ve Cheney ile görüþtü

 

Daðlýca Tabur Komutaný Yarbay Dirik görevden alýndý

 

Condoleezza Rice'dan Türkiye'ye övgü

 

Bu haber AKP’nin baþýný aðrýtýr!

 

Türkiye'nin derin devleti

 

Ýç Basýnda Türk Dýþ Politikasý  Dýþ Basýnda Türkiye - BBC Turkish 0700 VOA TSÝ 06:30 Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey TurcoPundit      

 

 

Google News Fýrat News Agency KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect Dýþ Basýnda Irak  BBC Monitoring Inter-national

 

Diyarbakýr'a 'GAP' çýkarmasý

 

Þehidi 25 bin kiþi uðurladý

 

 

Semih Ýdiz Leyla Zana’nýn Avrupa ile artan akortsuzluðu

 

SETA "The AKP and the Kurdish Issue: What Went Wrong?" by Rabia Karakaya POLAT

 

N. Barzani Bush ve Cheney ile görüþtü

 

Ali Bayramoðlu Kürt sorunu ne olacak?

 

Þahin Alpay Kürt sorununa barýþçý çözüm

 

Cevdet Aþkýn Öcalan: Camiler toplumsal merkez haline getirilmeli

Vanda çatýþma: 2 korucu þehit

Seleke Mýsýr Çarþýsý davasýndan beraat

 

�Eðitimde� havaya uçtu

 

Altemur Kýlýç 'Büyük Kürd'-istan- oyunu

 

AKP’ye Ortadoðu’dan düþen þeker
AYÞE KARABAT

Hesap karýþýk

ABD'nin Irak'da harcadýðý milyarlarca dolarýn neye ödendiði belli deðil

 

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber Dýþ Basýnda Türkiye-AB Ýliþkileri Günlük Haftalýk

 

Akdeniz'de tartýþmalý tatbikat

 

Babacan warns EU against watering down promises

 

Darbe olmasaydý Menderes Moskova'ya gidecekti

 

Neo-con Rubin'den ulusalcý çýkýþ: AB yetkilileri sömürge valileri gibi

 

AB Komisyonu: Yargý reformu hayati ehemmiyette

 

"Doðrudan müzakere" çaðrýsý

 

Tek devlet formülü

 

Cyprus reunification process remains on track, for now

 

Greek, Turkish Cypriot leaders differ on timing - Hürriyet

 

Kýbrýs'ta liderler 'birleþik federal cumhuriyet'te hemfikir

 

Kafkaslar'da 'civil peynir' diplomasisi

 

EU says well-functioning judiciary is of crucial importance

 

Kýbrýsta liderlerden federasyon taahhüdü

 

Türkiye-Ermenistan peynir diplomasisi

 

Moskovaya Rusya uzmaný Türk elçi

 

 

AB'den Türk yargýsýna demokrasi hatýrlatmasý

 

Gökçen Ogan  Medvedev'in ilk gezisinin anlamý

 

Birleþik Federal Kýbrýs Cumhuriyeti

Kýbrýs’ta bir araya gelen Talat ile Hristofyas'tan birleþme yolunda olumlu mesajlar

 

Fransa'nýn Akdeniz Birliði inisiyatifine Doðu Ortaklýðý cevabý

 

Sadi Somuncuoðlu Denetim mi, istismar ve aþaðýlama mý?

 

Rumlar, eþitliði kabul etti

 

Talat ve Hristofyas görüþtü

 

 

 

Hedo Okur Tuncay Nihat Altintop

 

Gov’t declares war against ticks

 

Sergeant's arrest places Þemdinli back under spotlight

 

Savcýya yeniden ifade verdi

 

Çanlar Türkiye için çalýyor!

 

Sendikalar Tuzla’da birbirine düþtü

 

Climate of hostility
Visibility breeds violence for gay and transgender Turks

How a chair in a kebab shop was transformed into a Royal throne

 

NTV genç televizyon gazetecileri yetiþtiriyor

 

TOKÝ yoksullara yönelik konutu artýrýyor

 

Turkish population thinks media enjoys enough freedom

 

Güler: "Okullardaki lambalar verimli lambalarla deðiþiyor"

 

Boru hattýndan petrol çalan çeteye 'Yaðmur' operasyonu

 

Ordu'da 31 kaçak silah ele geçirildi: 50 gözaltý

 

Darbeciler, mektuplardaki sevgi ifadelerini bile sansürledi

H3 Gül, formül arýyor

 

Bildiri savaþýnda iki farklý görüþ

 

Prof. Mardin: Öðretmen �mahalle�ye karþý kaybetti

 

Mahalle baskýsý gözle baþladý

 

Þerif Mardin: Mahalle baskýsý kavramý yanlýþ kullanýldý

 

Masadan kaçmayýz

 

Erdoðan yasaklansa bile baþbakan olabilir

 

Herkes herkese baský yapýyor

 

Öðretmen mahalleye karþý kaybetti

 

Fýrat: "Yargýtay tarafsýzlýðýný kaybetti"

Çözüm istemiyorlar

 

Rektörlerden destek bildirisi

Laikliði koruyacak yeni bir anayasal çerçeve

Step kýyafeti AKP�yi gerdi

 

Ergenekon’dan 2. kez ifade

 

TBB Baþkaný Özok: "Barýþ ortamý kayboluyor"

 

Fýrat'tan yargýya: Herkes milli iradeye râm olmak durumunda

 

Sular durulmuyor

 

Çavuþ�a Þemdinli kalkaný

 

Kriz günlerine asla dönülmeyecek; istikamet demokrasi

 

Ýddianameden çýkan Yarsav bildirisi AK Partilileri þoke etti

 

Diyaloglar masa baþý uydurma

Ýslamcý Vakit�ten Üskül�e yaylým ateþ

 

 

Son Dakika Milliyet Hürriyet Zaman

 

Cengiz Çandar  Feyruz, Lübnan, Beyrut...

 

Ahmet Taþgetiren MHP’li dostlarla...

 

Ruþen - Çakýr

 

Taha Akyol Yargýda ideoloji sorunu

 

Fikret Bila AKP cepheyi geniþletiyor

 

Hasan Cemal Paylaþýyorum, ‘Hepimizin umuda ihtiyacý var!’

 

Murat Yetkin Ýran nasýl bakýyor?

 

Ýsmet Berkan Yargýyla kuvvetler ayrýlýðý krizi

 

Fehmi Koru Baðýmsýz gazetecilik ha!

 

Taha Kývanç Kulampara sarmasý

 

Þamil Tayyar

 

Ali Bayramoðlu Kürt sorunu ne olacak?

 

Yasemin Çongar

 

Ertuðrul Özkök Tarassut köpekleri iþbaþýnda

 

Devletine karþý hükümet
MEHMET ALÝ KIÞLALI

 

Ahmet Hakan

 

M Ali Birand AKP boyun eðmeme kararýnda

 

Cüneyt Ülsever

 

Enis Berberoðlu Taraftan hakem olur mu?

 

Eyüp Can Abdüllatif Þener Londra’ya gidiyor

 

Serdar Turgut Gül arabulucu olabilir mi?

 

Ali Bulaç Yargý'nýn hedefi AB

 

Oktay Ekþi Biraz empati

 

Bekir Coþkun Hangi cumhurbaþkaný?..

 

Özdemir Ýnce

 

Mehmet Y Yýlmaz

 

Mehmet Altan Birinci Cumhuriyet’in sonu mu?

 

Ömer Lütfi Mete Yargýç, yargýsýz infaz yaparsa

 

Nuh Gönültaþ Türkiye Türklere býrakýlmayacak kadar önemli bir ülkeyse...

 

MUHARREM SARIKAYA

 

ERDAL ÞAFAKSpekülatör

Fikri Akyüz: Tempo'daki edepsiz yazý ve Yargýtay Bildirisi

 

ENGÝN ARDIÇAslýnda ödleri patlýyor

 

ERGUN BABAHAN

 

Baþarmalýyýz HALUK ÞAHÝN

 

Veda
MURAT BELGE

 

EMRE AKÖZEgemenlik mücadelesi

 

Umur Talu

 

Judiciary’s political war
by
MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE

 

HASAN BÜLENT KAHRAMAN

 

NAZLI ILICAKKaçan fýrsat

 

MEHMET BARLASBaðýmsýzlýk ve tarafsýzlýk kadar ciddiyet de önemlidir...

 

MAHMUT ÖVÜRÇiller neden korkuyor?

Güneri Civaoðlu Kafasýna kafasýna

 

Can Dündar Dünyanýn en güvensiz toplumu

 

YAVUZ DONATAðacýn dallarý kendi aralarýnda kavga eder mi?

YASÝN AKTAY

Washington'da ulusalcý mahalle baskýsý

 

Sabahattin Önkibar 28 Þubat süreci ve bugün...

 

Ahmet Kekeç Bir muhtýra da çeteler için yayýnlasanýz...

Can Ataklý

Ýktidardayken emanetçi olmaz

 

Reha Muhtar Türkiye'nin darbecileri...

 

Nagehan Alçý Türkiye toplumlarý

 

Ýsmail Küçükkaya
Tuzak

 

 

ABDURRAHMAN YILDIRIM

 

Ercan Kumcu

 

Ege Cansen Çeliþki, çeliþki içermeyebilir

 

Güven Sak Arjun Murti artýk petrol dünyasýnýn kâhini

 

Deniz Gökçe
Ülkelerin zenginleþme sýrrý ne?

 

Erdal Saðlam Piyasa ekonomisinde ’ram etmek’ yoktur

 

Enerji, gýda ve emtia enflasyonu
TANER BERKSOY

 

Dünya Tarýmý

Destek ödemeleri dünya tarýmýný nasýl etkiliyor?

 

Elektrikte rasyonel fiyatlandýrma yüzde 19 zamla baþlýyor

 

 

H4 New York Times  Russia and Ukraine Lock Horns Over Naval Base

Russia and China Attack U.S. Missile Shield Plan

 

 

Editorial

 

McCain’s Health Is Called Robust by His Doctors

 

Teeth Gritted, Drivers Adjust to $4 Gasoline  Americans are giving up their gas guzzlers, making fewer trips to the mall and even riding public transportation.

 

Sen. McCain’s Agents of Intolerance John McCain’s belated decision to distance himself from two of the most extreme ministers was long overdue — and we suspect driven more by political ambition.

 

France’s Bright Shining Lie

By JEAN-CLAUDE GUILLEBAUD Since mid-April, all we seemed to have talked about in France is 1968. We’ve never had such an outpouring of reminiscences. Why such a frenzy of nostalgia?

 

H5 Washington Post Clinton Sorry for RFK Assassination Remark

Candidate hastens to explain that she merely intended to refer to another primary that lasted into June, not to suggest Obama might be killed

 

Power Barometer: Iran's Bold Move

 

Behind U.S. Intelligence Failures

Mark M. Lowenthal

 

Sami Moubayed: Syria's Misguided Optimism

 

A Campaign In Need of A Perot

Alice M. Rivlin and Michael O'Hanlon

 

Global Wealth Shrinks IMF's Role

Fund rapidly becomes more adviser than lender to Ghana and other prospering world economies

 

Rescuing Pandas -- and Us By Elisabeth Liptak and Robert Litwak The astonishing courage of the Chinese amid disaster.

 

The Wisdom In Talking By John F. Kerry As President Bush commemorated Israel's 60th anniversary by attacking Barack Obama from overseas, here at home he found an all-too-frequent ally: John McCain.

 

Editorial The Next President's Health

How much disclosure is appropriate?

 

Food Costs Push Bangladesh to Brink Bangladesh is among at least 33 other countries, many with shaky governments and destitute populations, at risk of serious political unrest if food prices keep rising, according to World Bank

 

H6 GuardianThink small Dani Rodrik: Poor countries need help tackling the specific, local problems that hold them back, rather than one-size-fits-all institutional reform

 

Israel hopes hard power will do the talking   Israel is gambling that its military superiority can persuade an isolated Bashar al-Assad to distance himself from Iran and its allies

Ian Black

 

The collapse of courage Leader: Labour has not yet lost the next general election. The party needs to be reminded of this fact

 

PM isolated as ministers decide: 'Brown can't win'

 

Clinton sorry for Kennedy remark

Hillary Clinton cited 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy to justify her decision to keep campaigning

 

McCain cuts ties with evangelists

Tibet to be 'swamped' with Chinese after Olympics  Beijing is allegedly planning a settlement of ethnic Chinese people in Tibet says Dalai Lama

 

Saudis donate £250m to UN's food appeal   Secretary general Ban Ki-Moon warmly welcomes 'landmark contribution' from world's biggest oil producer

 

H7  

Asia Times How the US dream foundered in Iraq The unexpected Iraqi resistance - at all levels of society - to the plans of the George W Bush administration has hardly been given its due. This resistance ranges from the Sunni insurgency to oil workers (who aborted a plan to transfer management of the port of Basra to then-Halliburton subsidiary KRB), to tribal leaders, the Sadrists to the national parliament. Thus the "new American century" went missing in action in Iraq. - Michael Schwartz

 

The Mosul riddle While most attention in Iraq is focused on Baghdad and the troubles in Sadr City, under the global radar an invisible war in Mosul drags on, officially against al-Qaeda jihadis but in fact a barely disguised anti-Sunni mini-pogrom conducted by government-embedded militias. - Pepe Escobar

 

Where are those Iranian arms in Iraq? The United States military continues to imply that Iranian weapons are flowing into Iraq to arm Shi'ite groups opposed to the US occupation. Yet US officials have not even come close to providing evidence to support the claims - most weapons most likely are bought on the open market. - Gareth Porter

 

NY Sun The Syrian Mirage - Editorial

 

McCain-Obama Foreign Policy Debate Ignores Reality in Iraq By: Charles Crain | World Politics Review The question of whether a President Obama would sit down with Iranian leaders grabs attention, but is largely irrelevant. Far more relevant is the fact that in Iraq -- the highest-stakes arena of U.S. foreign policy -- Americans already routinely negotiate with their enemies

 

Commentary: Arab cry of alarm
By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE  (UPI) -- The Arab world’s moderate center must show results -- or it will be outpaced by extremists. A cry of alarm from a prominent Arab statesman who goes public with many secrets.

 

Same hymn-sheet?
Subtle differences as Rice and Miliband talk jointly to BBC

 

Why Qatar Is Emerging as Middle East Peacemaker By: NIcholas Blanford | The Christian Science Monitor
With regional powers, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, aligned behind rival players in Lebanon, Qatar is uniquely suited to help mediate Lebanon's crisis. It's seen as charting an unashamedly independent path in the maze of Arab politics,

 

Pakistan May Turn Over US 'Spies' to Iran

 

South American Presidents Meet on New Bloc as Mistrust Builds By: Joshua Goodman | Bloomberg News
Leaders of 12 South American nations will set aside growing mistrust and ideological divisions today in Brasilia to sign a treaty to create a continental bloc modeled on the European Union

 

Saudi aid bails out U.N. food agency The U.N.'s lead food aid agency said yesterday it has raised the money to cover an emergency funding shortfall due to soaring world food and fuel prices, thanks in large part to a last-minute $500 million donation from Saudi Arabia.

 

The Iranian Brotherhood! : Mshari Al-Zaydi

 

The Doha Agreement: Hezbollah's Second Rescue Raghida Dergham - Sharm El Sheikh -- The Doha Agreement between the Lebanese parties is a breakthrough that may be transformed into a decisive achievement if Qatar manages to build a relationship between the state and the organized groups, a relationship that rests on the following self-evident concept: there can be no multiplicity of security in any stable country

 

H8 IraqSlogger Google News  Iraq Iran Syria    Mideastwire.com - NPR Iraq  

 

Arabic Writer Says Syrian Leaders "Deceived" Arab Public Opinion

 

Syrian Minister on Istanbul Talks With Israel, Lebanese Doha Agreement

 

Syrian Official Hopes Lebanon Accord Will Help Normalize Inter-Arab Ties

 

Meet Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's Next President (Ya Libnan-Lebanon)

 

U.S., Israel "Afraid" of Iran's Power

 

Russia, China Favor the Solution of Iran's Nuclear Problem Through Dialogue

 

Shi'ites Accuse Iraqi Army of Truce Violations

 

Al-Qa'Idah Behind Attack on Iranian Diplomats in Iraq - Advisor

 

EU Preparing Sanctions on Iran's Biggest Bank

 

Iran And Syria to Attend Iraq Meeting In SwedenReuters


Iraq Troops Relax in Cleric Sadr's Former Bastion - Reuters

Basra Shooting Strains Truce Between Govt, Militia - Associated Press

Why US Must Pull Out of Iraq - Sean Duggan, Boston Globe opinion

USIP Dialogue on Media and Conflict - United States Institute of Peace

H9 Ha’aretz  Iran reportedly irate over Israel-Syria peace talks Sources: Ahmadinejad 'unable to conceal disappointment'; Olmert: Talks won't harm Palestinian front

 

Rosner's Guests: can "decisive victory" against guerilla achieved?

 

Blame the Israel Lobby for Clinton's loss? (WTR)

 

UN: No. of roadblocks in W. Bank up 7 percent from last Sept.

 

Syria hesitant to let IAEA inspect alleged nuke site hit by IAF Syria rebuffs U.S. intelligence pointing to an almost completed graphite reactor built with N. Korean help

 

Amid Talks, Golan Development Booms – Yuval

 

Poll: Peace between Israel & Syria?

 

Should American Jews Embrace Living Double Lives?

 

Jerusalem Post Ahmadinejad 'displeased' by talks

"Syria's overtures to Israel violate its commitment to Iran"; Turkish official says talks to resume.

 

Politics: Wishing on a star?
As Olmert speeds up his efforts to make history, Kadima ministers scramble to vie for his seat.

 

Column one: Assad's week of triumph [ CAROLINE GLICK

 

'Turkish-mediated talks with Syria to resume in two weeks'

 

Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism - Raphael Israeli (Jerusalem Post)

 

Israel-Syria - now the arguing begins [ HERB KEINON

 

Yedioth Ahronoth

 

Long Road to Syrian-Israeli Peace Accord - Shai Bazak

 

Daily Alert.orgHebrew Press Editorials (2008) - Middle East Progress - EJC Israeli Press Review Google News Israel - Palestine

 

Ma’ariv Israeli Army Intelligence Gives Slim Chances to Peace Agreement With Syria

 

Beirut Steps Back from the Brink, Again - Nicholas Blanford, London Times


In Sign of Change, Israeli, Palestinian Officers Meet - Associated Press

Israeli Police Question Olmert Again - Isabel Kirshner, New York Times

 

An Unmentionable Truce? By: Sadie Goldman and Jason Proetorius | Israel Policy Forum
A Hamas-Israel cease-fire could be on its way, but you wouldn't know it. No press conference will be held to announce it.

 

The Golan Heights and the Syrian-Israeli Negotiations - Dore Gold (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

 

Anti-Semitism among Palestinian Authority Academics - Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

 

Israel's Historic Achievement - Mortimer Zuckerman

 

Former Indonesian President Describes Lynching of Jews in Iraq

 

Microsoft Opens New R&D Facility in Israel

 

Israeli Economy Weathers Global Storm - Neal Sandler (Business Week)

 

Anti-Semitic Hate Speech in the Name of Islam - Matthias Kuntzel (Der Spiegel-Germany)

 

$1.4bn pledged for Palestinians Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad says a conference has raised $1.4bn of new investments in Palestinian areas.

 

H10 Christian Science Monitor

 

 

 

ASIA

 

Message to US
China and Russia jointly condemn US missile shield plan

 

Composite Dialogue: Pakistan, India and Peace By: Naveed Ahmad | ISN Security Watch
Islamabad and New Delhi have not only improved relations significantly since 2004, they have also softened their stance on Kashmir.

 

China's 'Tofu Buildings' Raise Inflation Risks By: William Pesek | Bloomberg
Economists are busily probing what the China earthquake tragedy means for the world's fastest-growing major economy. For policy makers in Beijing trying to tame inflation, initial opinions won't come as welcome news

 

Oil price mocks
energy realities

Blame for the surging price of oil - almost double from a year ago - has been pinned on demand from China and India, supply constraints, terrorism scares, among other factors. The real culprits are closer to home, in the offices of banks and hedge funds, leveraged for all their worth.
- F William Engdahl

 

H11 IHT  Fortunately, Israel doesn't listen to Bush It was irresponsible for President Bush to try to restrain Israel from pursuing a settlement that it judges as possibly being in its best interests.

 

The alchemists By WILLIAM PFAFF Unregulated oil trades have virtually no useful economic role

 

PUTIN'S LEGACY Let the good times roll, for Russia's sake

By VIKTOR EROFEYEV

Under Putin, Russians acquired the possibility to live a free private life.

 

AMERICA'S IMAGE Whose face to the world? By STEVEN W. BARNES The candidates agree: America's public diplomacy is badly flawed

 

Russia and Ukraine pick a new fight over an old naval base The fate of a Russian naval base in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol has been the subject of renewed bickering between the two nations

 

In sign of warming ties, Russia and China agree to nuclear cooperation

The deal was concluded during a visit by President Dmitri Medvedev to Beijing on Friday, with the two countries also condemning a U.S. missile shield plan for Europe

 

Cautiously, British Tories savor a big victory

 

What's ailing the French? A Sarkozy obsession A year after taking office, Sarkozy can appear to be everywhere - at least in the world of television and print. The daily Figaro counts at least 100 books devoted to the French president, his life and loves, with more than a million sold for about $25.1 million.

 

Approaching its moment in the spotlight, Serbia is divided

For many Serbs, the televised Eurovision contest is an opportunity to show the world that the Serbia of Slobodan Milosevic is a thing of the past.

 

Saakashvili's party wins in Georgian vote Citing the preliminary official results, Georgia's Central Elections Commission said Saakashvili's United National Movement party secured 59.5 per cent percent of the vote in Wednesday's ballot.

 

 

 

EUROPE European press review

 

Yugo-nostalgia
Can Eurovision reunite the Balkans in nostalgia for old unity?

 

H12 RFE/RL Can Russia Find 'Systemic Solution' To Corruption?

Another government commission or another "code of behavior" is unlikely to make up for an opaque, monopolized, clan-based political system. And it is hard to believe that the so-called liberal lawyer-cum-president cannot see that

 

Analysis: Russian-Armenian Gas Talks Inconclusive

 

Analysis: Armenian Coalition Partner Lambastes Former President

 

China/Russia: Focus On Pipelines During Medvedev Visit

 

Ukraine: Kyiv Summit Seals Caspian Energy Project

 

Abkhazia: Rumors Of Peace Amid Drums Of War

 

Russia and Ukraine Lock Horns Over Naval Base - Michael Schwirtz, New York Tines

 

Google News Azerbaijan

 

Russian, Chinese Leaders to Discuss Nuclear Problems of Iran, N. Korea - Kremlin Aide

 

Resistance to Terrorism Must Be Based on U.N. Charter - Russian- Chinese Declaration

 

Washington, Prague, Warsaw Could Coordinate Confidence-Building Measures for Russia - Envoy to Nato

 

China, Russia Condemn US Missile Defense Plans - Associated Press

 

Georgian Opposition Vows to Boycott ParliamentReuters


Georgia Opposition Vows Boycott - BBC News

 

Slate Travels in the Former Soviet Union Uzbekistan's human rights activists are paranoid, weak, and unbelievably brave.
Joshua Kucera

 

Russia-Kazakhstan: Medvedev Tries to Pick Up Where Putin Left Off
BY JOANNA LILLIS
New Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, making his first foreign foray as president, visited Kazakhstan to emphasize the importance of energy issues in the Kremlin’s geopolitical mindset. While Medvedev and Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev offered effusive praise for bilateral ties, the host nevertheless stressed that Astana’s energy-export policy would continue to be based on pragmatic considerations, and not Russian wishful thinking.

H13 The Times Outrage after Clinton 'assassination' gaffe Hillary Clinton rushes out apology after citing 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as a reason to keep campaigning

 

Can new China outlive relief effort? The unprecedented access allowed to foreign aid workers could signal a shift in policy by the Communist rulers

 

Beirut steps back from the brink with optimism Nightlife and business return to normal as Hezbollah tent protesters and their supporters finally leave the Lebanese capital

 

David Miliband queries Obama's Iran policy Foreign Secretary queried the Democrat’s willingness to meet leaders from rogue states when visiting the US this week

 

McCain releases 1,173 pages of medical records Republican presidential candidate at pains to show the US electorate that, despite being 71, he is in perfect health

 

Presidential adviser who argues the case for torture Philip Bobbitt insists he is not telling anyone what to think. But few policymakers are able to ignore his challenging ideas

 

Germany ratifies EU treaty

Germany's vote means the votes of just 13 more EU members are needed before the treaty passes into law

 

Wall Street Journal How to Have Successful Negotiations
By Dennis Ross Nonstate actors should not be given something (recognition) for nothing

 

Trichet Says 'Shocks' Aren't Over European Central Bank President Trichet said potential fallout from market turmoil, coupled with pressures from rising food and commodity prices, add up to "an accumulation of shocks that is clearly not over."

H14 Financial Times Over a barrelThe rising cost of crude is hitting profit margins and household budgets. Which countries and sectors will be worst affected?

 

Russia’s aim in wooing Mr Hu

By travelling east, Medvedev is signalling to the west that he will be hard-nosed and pragmatic in pursuing multiple partnerships

 

EU to slash emissions from new cars

The average new car sold in the European Union in 2020 will have to use less fuel than almost all conventional models on the road today, under plans being drawn up by the European Parliament

 

Lebanon’s Christians boosted by Doha deal A new electoral law agreed at the talks could give the Christians a pivotal role after next year’s parliamentary elections

 

Israel calls on Syria to cut ties with Iran Jerusalem will demand as part of a peace deal that its adversary end all support for anti-Israel militant groups and make a clean break with its closest ally in the region

 

WORLD NEWS: Russia and China condemn US shield

 

WORLD NEWS: Pakistan relaxes curbs on Khan

 

Network power that works too wellWe are tempted to think that globalisation has fostered diversity. But this is an optical illusion, says Christopher Caldwell

 

Eurozone faces inflation risk as growth slows The region’s economic growth is slowing rapidly despite Germany’s robust performance, with private sector economic output this month growing at the slowest pace since July 2003

 

Sarkozy in uphill battle over living standards The French president’s main pledge in his election campaign last year was to improve “le pouvoir d’achat”, or purchasing power, but French consumer confidence has since hit a 21-year low

 

Italy ready to patrol Afghan danger zones The new centre-right government has taken a significant step to reinforce relations with the US by announcing that it would be prepared to deploy troops in the frontlines

 

A by-election disaster for Brown

It is hard to see how the UK prime minister can recover. His best course is to provide more decisive government and articulate a clearer vision

 

Broaden the mind All-business travel can celebrate a unique pair of achievements: being both unprofitable and unaffordable. Care to consider the alternatives? 

 

 

 

Bold Etonians

The renewed high visibility of the school’s alumni seems to signal that a renaissance is at hand for Eton College. Harry Eyres recalls his feelings about the institution that shaped many of Britain’s leaders

Mideast wealth funds eye New York property

New York’s real estate industry is looking to the Middle East to replicate the capital infusions that Gulf and Asian sovereign wealth funds made into Wall Street banks struggling with subprime losses, by seeking stakes in big real estate assets on the cheap

 

 

 

 

H15 Los Angeles Times Hezbollah image in Arab world less shiny The Shiite militant group's temporary takeover of West Beirut and fighting with Sunni rivals have been criticized, but it's still popular in the street.

 

The failed theology of arms control So-called experts are frequently certain about what they know about nuclear material -- and they're frequently wrong

By Gabriel Schoenfeld

 

Obama's delusional foreign policy President Bush was right to call it appeasement. By Raoul Lowery Contreras

 

Key Al Qaeda figure apparently died in U.S. strike in Pakistan

Editorial

 

Barack Obama would win election match-up The Democratic contender leads Republican John McCain in projected California votes, a new Times/KTLA poll finds

 

H16 American Politics

 

A new NEWSWEEK Poll underscores Obama's racial challenge. 

 

Who Is John McCain?
By Michael Tomasky
It is little remembered today that the political career of John Sidney McCain III, a career now thoroughly laundered in mythology, began with the help of several fortuities.

 

Sources: Clinton, Obama supporters discussing exit strategies 

 

Clinton regrets RFK assassination remark 

 

Fewer Democrats Want Hillary to Drop Out 

 

Geoff Earle / New York Post:

HILLARY RAISES ASSASSINATION ISSUE  —  DEFENDS LONG-RUNNING CAMPAIGN  —  Hillary Clinton today brought up the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy while defending her decision to stay in the race against Barack Obama.  —  “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won …

 

 

realclearpolitics memeorandum  ABC’s The Note US News Political Bulletin Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

 

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post: Stop Yelling at Hillary to Stand Down and Start Yelling at the Superdelegates to Stand Up 

 

 

H17 Daily TelegraphUS shelves plans to raid Sadr City Two Iraqi divisions to take up positions in eastern Baghdad but no US troops will be allowed in.

 

Euro seat for Italian neo-fascist Fiore

 

1 in 10 British citizens living overseas

We learned this week that more than 200,000 Britons emigrated during 2006, bringing the total of British citizens living abroad to five and a half million.

 

H18 Independent  A cataclysmic by-election defeat... Does this really mark the end of New Labour?

The New Labour coalition of support has collapsed. Voters are deserting the once- heaving big tent that propelled Labour to power and kept it there for more than a decade.

 

Spain's drought: a glimpse of our future?Barcelona is in the grip of a climate crisis on a scale never seen before in modern-day Europe. And now this parched city is being forced to import supplies from France

 

Rupert Cornwell: The US constitution can't let Bush go

H19 Military Intelligence Terrorism

 

We Still Need a Larger Army By: Thomas Donnelly and Frederick W. Kagan | The Wall Street Journal
As a remarkable series of recent speeches indicates, Defense Secretary Robert Gates intends to do what he can during the final months of his tenure to reorient the American military for the tasks of the "Long War."

 

Pentagon can't account for $15b
Failed to get receipts for everything from bottled water to pickup trucks

 

John Nagl / SWJ Blog:
America's Greatest Weapon

 

Germany Plans to Centralize Intelligence-Gathering Activities By: Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark | Der Spiegel
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wants to set up a central communications monitoring agency in Cologne for use by the police and intelligence agencies, modeled after the US's NSA and the UK's GCHQ. But critics fear the creation of a powerful new super-agency

 

H.R. 5658, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (PDF; 198 KB)
Source: Congressional Budget Office

 

The Best Tanker Won By: Ronald D. Sugar | Los Angeles Times
After a lengthy competition between Northrop Grumman Corp. and Boeing Co., the Air Force has selected Northrop Grumman to build 179 aerial refueling tankers. This program is long overdue, as the Air Force urgently needs to replace its fleet of Eisenhower-era tankers

 

US subverts the cluster bomb ban

DUBLIN THE DIPLOMATIC conference to ban cluster munitions - bomb canisters that open and spew hundreds or thousands of bomblets that harm both civilians and soldiers - is being held in Dublin. The United States is not participating in the deliberations but it is making its presence painfully known. (By Jody Williams, Boston Globe)

 

H20 Slate   

·                     Macho Men

The strut and bluster of McCain vs. Obama.
John Dickerson

 

Containing the Cost of a Cap-and-Trade Program for Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Source: Congressional Budget Office (Statement of Peter R. Orszag, Director, before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate)

 

Food Price Crisis: A Wake Up Call for Food Sovereignty (PDF; 230 KB)
Source: The Oakland Institute

 

Some Simple Measures Would Alleviate the Global Food Crisis By: Jeffrey D. Sachs | The Daily Star
But many poor countries can grow more food themselves, because their farmers are producing far below what is technologically possible. In some cases, with appropriate government action, they could double or even triple food production in just a few years

 

Defuse This Crisis By: Sen. Joseph R. Biden | Miami Herald
ith proper planning, foresight and coordination, this particular crisis might have been managed. But we have not changed course as the price of food has almost doubled in the past three years. Only now, with widespread hunger and civil unrest has the drumbeat of concern reached a high enough pitch to awaken us to action

 

Food Insecurity By: Peter Mandelson | International Herald Tribune
The food crisis has reinforced two things about the future of agricultural trade. The first is that a growing world population, higher incomes and changes in diet are pushing up global demand for food faster than farmers can supply it. The second is that throwing up new barriers to farm trade on this crowded plant is not the way to fix this.

 

Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Source: Energy Information Administration

 

The Question of Global Warming
By Freeman Dyson
On A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies by William Nordhaus and Global Warming: Looking Beyond Kyoto, edited by Ernesto Zedillo.

H21 The Library in the New Age
The New York Review of BooksInformation is exploding so furiously around us and information technology is changing at such bewildering speed that we face a fundamental problem: How to orient ourselves in the new landscape? How to make sense of it all? I have no answer to that problem, but I can suggest an approach to it: look at the history of the ways information has been communicated.

 

The future looks different from the past, but on a grand cosmological scale, maybe it’s all the same. Somewhere, maybe time runs backwards... more»

 

Are authoritative public intellectuals extinct?

 

Nasa mission to the Red Planet

Years of preparation to end in "seven minutes terror".

Economics: Which Way for Obama?
By John Cassidy
A review of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein.

 

Earth would be happier without humans

Looking after 'the planet' means looking after ourselves. Animals and plants can live without us, says Lionel Shriver.

 

Microsoft Will Shut Down Book Search Program

How to be a classic snob

Joel Stein: Learning the tricks behind having a snotty attitude about orchestral music.

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