Here are some trends that I hope continue and deepen in 2008. Turkey and Indonesia are making strides as secular democracies in Muslim-majority countries, with impressive political participation on the part of the public, with elections that produce surprises for the powers that be, and with steady economic growth. The striking thing about both of […]
Zogby: Slight Surge for Edwards, McCain; Giuliani Slips
New Zogby Poll (reprinted by permission) confirms Edwards surge in Iowa but disconfirms Romney lead or Huckabee decline. ‘UTICA, New York—The race for the Democratic presidential nomination tightened slightly over the last 24 hours, but Senator Hillary Clinton retained her edge over rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards, a new Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby daily tracking poll in […]
Guest Op-Ed: US Foreign Policy; the Principle of Non-Intervention
A seasoned observer writes: ‘ The complexity, interrelationships, results and consequences (intended and unintended) of US Iraq policy – one of the seven foreign interventions by the Bush Administration – were on confused display this week. While the sequence was to have been Iran sanctions followed by the Iraq matter, because of manipulations by the […]
Top 10 Challenges Facing the US in the Middle East, 2008
10. Helping broker a deal in Lebanon between the March 14 Movement and the Shiites so that a new president can be elected and a national unity government can be formed. Lebanon’s economy was badly damaged by the Israeli war on the poor little country in summer of 2006. Tourism is a big part of […]
McClatchy: Edwards, Romney Lead in Iowa
McClatchy has a new Iowa poll out, taken Dec. 26-28. It shows that there was no spike among Iowa voters in concern for international affairs or terrorism in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. The poll shows that Mitt Romney has a significant lead, 27% to 23% for former Arkansas governor […]
Bilawal, Zardari, Fahim to lead PPP; Will Contest Jan. 8 Polls
The Pakistan People’s Party movers and shakers have annointed Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 19, the son of slain Benazir Bhutto, as its next leader. He will continue his studies at Oxford while his father, Asif Zardari, acts as regent. The PPP will run Makhdum Amin Fahim as its candidate for prime minister, and will contest the […]
Pakistan Riots Continue; Clinton: ‘An inside job?’ Rehman: "A Cover-up"
Violence continued in Pakistan on Saturday, as did a virtual shut-down of the country, with most shops and businesses shuttered. In the US, Sen. Hillary Clinton provoked controversy when she said, according to Newsday: ‘ “There are those saying that al-Qaida did it. Others are saying it looked like it was an inside job — […]
OSC: Bin Ladin Vows Jihad for ‘Liberation of Entire Palestine’ After Iraq
The USG Open Source Center summarizes and partially translates the new audio release by Usama Bin Laden. He urges a focus on Iraq and Israel, and he praises the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for having attacked the Shiites. He also pledges to attack Israel and accused HAMAS of selling out. Bin Laden sounds increasingly desperate, […]
OSC: Urdu Press Roundup on Reaction to Benazir Bhutto Assassination
The USG Open Source Center excerpts and paraphrases editorials in the major Urdu-language Pakistani newspapers concerning the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan: Urdu Press Roundup on Reaction to Benazir Bhutto AssassinationPakistan — OSC SummarySaturday, December 29, 2007 Note: I decided to file the full text of this report at the Global Affairs blog (click on […]
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