Afghanistan’s Election Challenges
Jun 29, 2009

Afghanistan's forthcoming elections, with presidential and provincial council polls on 20 August 2009, and National Assembly and district elections scheduled for 2010, present a formidable challenge if they are to produce widely accepted and credible results. The weakness of state institutions, the ...more

Zimbabwe says China is giving it loans
written by: Celia W. Dugger and Michael Wines
Jul 01, 2009

JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe's prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, said Tuesday that an official he had appointed had secured lines of credit worth $950 million from China, President Robert Mugabe's longtime ally.

Mr. Mugabe's party has mocked Mr. Tsvangirai for failing to bring home much aid from ...more

Obama to Discuss Iran With World Leaders
Jul 02, 2009

On July 6-8 President Obama will meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow, to discuss a new nuclear arms reduction deal to replace the START 1 treaty, which expires in December. The threat of Iran as well as American plans for a missile defense shield stationed in the Czech Republic ...more

Sri Lanka: Politicised Courts, Compromised Rights
Jul 01, 2009

Colombo/Brussels, 30 June 2009: The Sri Lankan government must reform the country's judicial system urgently if the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers is to lead to a lasting peace.

Sri Lanka's Judiciary: Politicised Courts, Compromised Rights the latest policy ...more

Hezbollah keeps its eye on the ball
written by: Sami Moubayed
Jun 29, 2009

DAMASCUS - Many years ago, French president Charles de Gaulle said, "France has no friends; only interests." These words came to mind as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah recently met with anti-Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a man who has loudly been critical of Hezbollah, for the first time ...more

China doesn't want Iran unstable
written by: Jian Junbo
Jul 01, 2009

SHANGHAI - The Chinese government has kept silent on the unrest in Iran following its controversial presidential election of June 12, refraining from making any official comment.

Beijing's seemingly indifference has prompted speculation and accusation. Some overseas China watchers say Beijing ...more

Defence budget crisis deepened by £1bn increase in cost of £5bn aircraft carriers
written by: Richard Norton-Taylor
Jun 30, 2009

The defence budget, already under unprecedented pressure, was delivered a severe blow last night when defence officials admitted that the cost of two new aircraft carriers had soared to £5bn, over £1bn more than first estimated.

The huge increase comes at a time when defence chiefs ...more

US urges Gulf states to support Iraq, counter Iran
Jun 25, 2009

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Gulf states needed to lend support to Iraq in the face of efforts by Iran to 'destabilize' the Baghdad government.

‘The embrace of Iraq by its fellow Gulf states will help contain the ambitions of Iran,' Gates told a gathering of defense chiefs ...more

Manmohan hits the ground running
written by: Santwana Bhattacharya
Jul 02, 2009

NEW DELHI - A long "second honeymoon" has been scripted for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - his government goes into a crucial session of parliament kicking off on July 2 in such a dominating position that the one thing that can conceivably go wrong may be the sheer surplus of comfort.

There's ...more

Iran: Six Options to support the Green Flames of Freedom
written by: Frauke John and Sabrina Schmitt
Jun 28, 2009

Since Iranian President Ahmadinejad claimed to have won the recent presidential election on June 12th - which displayed "voting irregularities" throughout its process - Iran has not surprisingly become the top priority on the international political agenda over ...more

Iraq: mission accomplished?
written by: Patrick Cockburn
Jun 30, 2009

More than six years after US forces captured Baghdad, American combat troops will withdraw from all Iraqi cities and towns by tonight, handing over full control to the 600,000-strong Iraqi army and police and marking a crucial step in Iraq's return to independence.

Iraqi state television ...more

Iran's Second Islamic Revolution?
written by: Matthew Duss and Lawrence Korb
Jun 30, 2009

Last week, Ali Gharib made the important point that what's happening in Iran is thus far not a rejection of the Islamic republic, but a struggle over its founding principles. Reviewing Moussavi's formal statement Saturday, Gary Sick described it as diagnosis of "a revolution gone wrong," writing ...more

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Response: A Narrative He Dares Not Speak
written by: Barry Rubin
Jun 29, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's big policy speech received global attention. Not so that of his Palestinian counterpart, Salam Fayyad. Fayyad's June 22 presentation deserves careful analysis.

Fayyad is prime minister for one reason only: to please Western governments and financial ...more

Why Japan Needs Science and Technology Diplomacy
written by: Taizo Yakushiji
Jun 30, 2009

Japan has concluded science and technology agreements with 42 different countries, but a mere 16.7% of these are with developing nations in Asia, Latin America, and Africa-a percentage that is far outstripped by the corresponding percentages for the US (48.6%), Germany (37.9%), and France (48.1%). ...more

South Korea in a new Asia initiative
written by: Zhiqun Zhu
Jun 30, 2009

While North Korea has grabbed the world's attention again in recent months, few people have noticed a new diplomatic initiative launched by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak earlier this year. If fully implemented as envisioned, the new policy, dubbed "New Asia Initiative", will not only enhance ...more

Obama’s Stance Deflects Chávez’s Finger-Pointing
written by: Simon Romero
Jul 01, 2009

CARACAS, Venezuela - From the moment the coup in Honduras unfolded over the weekend, President Hugo Chávez had his playbook ready. He said Washington's hands may have been all over the ouster, claiming that it financed President Manuel Zelaya's opponents and insinuating that the C.I.A. may ...more

NATO to launch a public debate on the Strategic Concept
Jul 03, 2009

NATO will formally launch the process leading to the new Strategic Concept of the Alliance at a major security conference in Brussels. The Conference - taking place under the authority of the NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer - will also mark the beginning of a dialogue with the wider ...more

Pakistan needs our help now
written by: Dieter Farwick
Jun 21, 2009

The stream of bad news pouring out of Pakistan has many aspects: Poor government; country-wide insurgency and terrorist attacks; corruption; ethnic and religious conflicts; shaky economy; safe haven for terrorist groups; training camps and launch pad for attacks into India and Afghanistan; ...more

Russia flits from Tehran to Washington
written by: Dmitry Shlapentokh
Jul 02, 2009

Russians often express their displeasure with a country in a peculiar way. When the problem with Georgia flared in 2008 over the separatist republic of South Ossetia, Russian authorities suddenly discovered a serious problem with Georgian cognac and mineral water. Now, as Russia-Belarus tension grows, ...more

U.S. Marines Try to Retake Afghan Valley
written by: Richard A. Oppel Jr.
Jul 02, 2009

KABUL, Afghanistan - Almost 4,000 United States Marines, backed by helicopter gunships, pushed into the volatile Helmand River valley in southwestern Afghanistan on Thursday morning, reporting little resistance from Taliban fighters, whose control of poppy harvests and opium smuggling in the area ...more

Japanese Diplomat Elected U.N. Nuclear Chief
written by: Sharon Otterman
Jul 03, 2009

A Japanese diplomat who favors a firm approach toward Iran was elected to lead the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday, narrowly edging out a South African for the post.

In the last of six rounds of voting at the organization's headquarters in Vienna on Thursday, the Japanese diplomat, ...more