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H1 NYT U.S. to Leave Iraq by 2011, Maliki Says

Maliki: Timetable Agreed; US Denies

Stratfor Geopolitical Diary: The Black Sea and Reviving the Cold War Russia began the week with more blunt messages to the West. Its recent belligerence may have gotten it more than asked for, however.

Foreign Policy Seven Questions: Bernard Lewis on the Two Biggest Myths About Islam

Newsweek The Rise of the Putin Doctrine Josef Joffe As the West celebrated 'soft' power, Putin went back to 'hard' power, using gas to cow his neighbors.

Stratfor Iran: Reaping Benefits From a BTC Shutdown

If Iran becomes a regular transit option for oil from Azerbaijan, the entire region could experience a shift.

Georgia and Kosovo: A Single Intertwined Crisis The Kosovo question, which set the stage for the rise of Putin and current and future crises, will stand out as a turning point in the history of the coming period

Financial Times Why Obama looks vulnerable A dark cloud of anxiety hovers over the Democratic party convention. A horrible truth is beginning to dawn on the delegates. Barack Obama is not the “once in a generation” political genius they thought they had discovered. On the contrary, he is a weak candidate for the presidency, writes Gideon Rachman

Exiting Iraq The US presidential election has helped concentrate minds in Washington on withdrawal – but an orderly departure is still far from guaranteed

Maliki confirms deadline for US pull-out Iraqi PM tells tribal leaders an agreement had been reached in negotiations on a security pact with the US to end any foreign military presence in Iraq by the end of 2011

Iraq says date for pull-out by US is agreed The US has agreed to withdraw all troops from Iraq by 2011, Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, said yesterday. But his comments, which go to the heart of the...

A bad nuclear deal The next president should ditch the US-India accord and opt for an approach that reforms the rules of the nuclear game for America’s friends and foes

Georgia fall-out casts shadow on Iran talks UN discussions begin next month on a new set of sanctions designed to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions, an issue that could make the Georgia crisis look like a passing summer squall

The Kosovo Precedent Bites Georgia

Washington Post Maliki Demands All U.S. Troops Pull Out by 2011 Iraqi Leader Pushes Hard on Accord

Biden's Blink on Iran By Michael Rubin, Obama picked Biden for experience, but he might also have considered judgment.

Cheney To Visit Georgia Next Week Ukraine, Azerbaijan Also on Itinerary

Governing Coalition Collapses in Pakistan Dispute Over Presidency, Fate of Judges

As Georgians Assess Damage, Anger Likely to Grow – With Their Govt

The Times Don't pick a fight you can't finish When he visits Kiev, the Foreign Secretary should remember the threats posed by Nato's drive eastwards

Anatol Lieven

The New New World Order

The West's foreign policy priority is no longer terrorism: it is to tame the new great power nationalisms and harness them to democratic ideals

Russian threat to Nato supply route Diplomat says agreement allowing Nato to take supplies to Afghanistan through Russia and Central Asia could be suspended

Plot to Kill Obama: Shoot From High Vantage Point — DENVER (CBS4) ― CBS4 has now learned at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Barack Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech in Denver. All are being held on either drug or weapons charges

U.S. Troop Deal Signals Major Iraq Policy Shift: ; ANALYSIS

Independent The Big Question: Will Iraq disintegrate if the United States withdraws its troops?

Leading Article: The entwined fate of two terrorised nations

Pakistan and Afghanistan face the same Taliban threat

Slate Which breakaway state will be the next South Ossetia?

Ha’aretz – Obama: World must press Iran before Israel strikes U.S. Democratic presidential candidate: We have to act before Israel feels like its back is to the wall

New Republic 'Diplomacy For Barack Obama Is More Than An Instrument, It Is A Mentality' by Leon Wieseltier

RFE RL Could Peninsula Become Next Flashpoint? Ukrainian fighter jets swooped low over the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled along the city's main Khreschatyk Boulevard as part of the country's Independence Day celebrations. But many in the crowds marking the country's 17th year as a sovereign state likely wondered if the jets and tanks might soon be headed into a real conflict with a resurgent Russia. More

New York Times DAVID BROOKS The 21st-Century Man Barack Obama is already an elusive Rorschach test candidate, and now he’s being pulled by his party in a thousand directions.

Enclave Hails Tight Embrace From Moscow While Russian Parliament voted unanimously to support independence for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, most Western countries support Georgia’s territorial integrity.

E.U. Treads Gingerly in Georgia Crisis

Editorial The Good Fighter

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has a responsibility to her party to concede defeat gracefully and rearm for another good fight.

U.N. Envoy’s Ties to Pakistani Are Questioned Zalmay Khalilzad is facing angry questions over his unauthorized contacts with Asif Ali Zardari, a contender to succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan

MESH ‘American Ascendance and British Retreat’

Russia and the Middle East

Newsweek Was There a Plot to Kill Obama?

International Reaction to Biden

The World’s Most Powerful No.2s

Guardian Fighting talk

Editorial: Under Russia's 'peacekeeping' plan, it would create a network of checkpoints around Georgia's main Black Sea port

Letting the Iraqis take control

Lawrence Korb: The Bush administration has long refused to set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. So why is it doing so now?

Rich countries once used gunboats to seize food. Now they use trade deals George Monbiot: The world's hungriest are the losers as an old colonialism returns to govern relations between wealthy and poor nations

The kind of cop we need Tim Montgomerie: Europeans adore Obama, but long-term global security calls for a strong leader, in Bush's mould

China: a new openness to the world? Daniel A Bell: My experience of China during the Olympics was a positive one, where home fans and media celebrated other nations' success as well as their own

Britain's secret propaganda war against al-Qaida Counter-terrorism unit targeting media organisations to 'taint the al-Qaida brand'

Secret paper shows battle against al-Qaida brand

Wall Street Journal Russia Is Dangerous But Weak

By Bret Stephens Putin squandered a chance to lead the 'coalition of the unwilling.

A Bear Energy Market
By Zeyno Baran State of the Union: Only a united Europe can withstand Russia's gas stranglehold.

Russia's Aggression Is a Challenge to World Order
By Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman Supporting Georgia is only the first step toward safeguarding freedom in Europe.

We Can Help China Embrace the Future
By Tony Blair The West should approach Beijing without fear or ignorance.

Los Angeles Times The rise of Russia Should we prepare of an era of expanding Russian hegemony? Andrew Meier and Michael C. Moynihan debate

Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Maliki demands firm withdrawal date

The leader wants all U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. His words seem to rule out the presence of U.S. military advisors, special forces and air support after the withdrawal date.

Baghdad's misguided crackdown on the Sons of Iraq By Shawn Brimley and Colin Kahl Prime Minister Maliki's Shiite-dominated government risks security gains by taking on U.S.-backed Sunni forces

Asia Times Let's talk about World War III Echoing World War 1, the most important elements for World War III are already in place. Russian troops can overwhelm the Georgian military, but will stand no chance against the United States unless Moscow resorts to limited use of nuclear weapons against a few US bases in Europe and aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean. It will be mainly conventional war, spiced with some nuclear mushrooms here and there. The world will not be annihilated - and there is just a chance that it can avoid this scenario altogether. - Nikolai Sokov

A really rough stretch for Pax Americana In a "breathtaking" two weeks of foreign policy failures, Washington has seen bloody attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the possibility of renewed civil war in Iraq and the embarrassment of Russia's invasion of Georgia. In sum, the Pax Americana era, in which the US maintained a monopoly on the use of military force, came to an end. - Jim Lobe

Russia, Iran: Crisis of the West By: Paul Rogers | Open Democracy The military and political leaders of the United States and Europe could be forgiven in August 2008 for recalling the English phrase "it never rains, but it pours." For they are currently faced by a series of security problems in relation to Russia, Afghanistan and Iran, each of which is testing in its own right but which together strain their resources (and perhaps nerves) to the limit

Georgia war rooted in US 'self-deceit' Saakashvili had encouragement from his "buddies in the White House" or not, the deeper roots of the Russia-Georgia war lie in US bureaucratic self-deceit about the objective of expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization up to the borders of a highly suspicious and proud Russia in the context of an old and volatile ethnic conflict. - Gareth Porter

Give Iraqis what they want

As Nouri al-Maliki calls for a date for withdrawal, President Bush should honor Iraqis' wishes. (Boston Globe

Time Picking Up the Pieces in Pakistan

YaleGlobal The India-China Paradigm Is Passé

Betraying the Awakening Council By: Tariq Alhomayed | Asharq Alawsat It's assumed that the least members of the Awakening Council can expect for their sacrifices in fighting and expelling the Qaeda Organization, and their efforts in maintaining security in hell-like areas for the Americans and the Iraqi government, such as Fallujah, is recognition

Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests (PDF; 259 KB) Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists)

Picking Presidents and Foreign Policy - Council on Foreign Relations

Jerusalem Post Rice: Joint document in Sep. unlikely

Lands in Israel to push peace; Peace Now: Tenders in settlements up by 550% this year.

In Washington: Will America pay the price if Israel hits Iran?

[ MJ ROSENBERG,

Our World: Three guys, a trailer and Israel's survival

[ CAROLINE GLICK

Dangerous talks with Syria

A cynical PM has turned Israel's vital interests into playthings

Go East, Uncle Sam By: Francesco Sisci | Asia Times
The Byzantine Empire extended its life by 1,000 years by cleverly balancing its interests with those of its allies and adversaries. Starting with Russia and Iran, the United States has a lot more to gain by playing the same game, rather than by being confrontational.

Putin's Gold Medal War By: Chris Patten | The Moscow Times
What does the ""Olympics War,"" otherwise known as Russia's invasion of Georgia, really mean? The war itself, of course, was predicable and predicted. Its results are equally clear.

How We Learned to Stop Worrying About National Interest… by Doug Bandow

The Economist Economics focus: Lessons from a “lost decade”

Will America follow Japan into a decade of stagnation?

Commentary Biden's Brilliance

Noah Pollak WEB EXCLUSIVE. Joseph Biden is widely regarded as a foreign policy expert. So why was his major contribution to the Iraq debate so foolish?

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