POLITICS-US: Cartoon Crisis Echoes “Why They Hate Us” Debate

While Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes flies off on her second tour of the Middle East Friday, she must feel at least some relief that Europe - rather than the United States - has been the main target of the two-week outpouring of anger in the Islamic world that has come to be called the "cartoon crisis".

IRAN: Last Chance for Diplomacy?

A meeting between the Iranian and Russian governments in Moscow on Monday may be the last chance for diplomacy before international sanctions and other punitive measures against Tehran become inevitable, according to most observers.

FINANCE: IMF Slow to Adapt Despite Dwindling Clout

Both critics and supporters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), once the preeminent institution of the multilateral financial system created by world's most powerful nations, agree that the Fund is facing a legitimacy crisis that threatens its future.

POLITICS: Bush Faces Big Choices as Hamas Takes Reins

On the eve of Hamas' takeover of the Palestinian parliament, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush still appears uncertain about how hard a line to take with the movement it has long considered a terrorist organisation.

POLITICS: U.S. Risks Reporter’s Life to Strike Tough Pose

The George W. Bush administration went well beyond refusing to negotiate with terrorists in its handling of the threat by freelance journalist Jill Carroll's abductors to kill her if all female detainees were not released from U.S.-run prisons in Iraq.

RUSSIA: Eighth in G8 But Not Last

As preparation of sorts for the G8 finance ministers meeting held in Moscow Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia is a rightful member of the group, and therefore ready to assume chairmanship in July this year.

MIDEAST: Egypt Finds Brotherhood with Hamas

Following the victory of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas in the Jan. 25 Palestinian elections, Cairo is readying itself for new political equations.

MIDEAST: Hamas Win Brings an Uneasy Partnership

Disturbing tremors persist in Palestinian politics following Hamas's landslide win against the Fatah party in parliamentary elections most had expected the incumbent to take narrowly.

MIDEAST: Hamas Win Brings an Uneasy Partnership

Disturbing tremors persist in Palestinian politics following Hamas's landslide win against the Fatah party in parliamentary elections most had expected the incumbent to take narrowly.

IRAQ: Shias Head for Uncertain Govt

Six weeks after parliamentary elections, occupied Iraq is still struggling for a viable government, as violence and instability worsen.

POLITICS: Hamas Ascendance Was Years in the Making

The reaction in the United States to the surprise victory by Hamas in last week's Palestinian elections appears to have ignored the role that Washington played in bringing the radical Islamist group to power.

IRAN: Confrontation on the Cards

Now that the Western powers have reached a deal with Russia and China to refer Iran's nuclear activities to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a serious escalation of tensions with Tehran is on the cards.

IRAQ: US Realignment With Sunnis Is Far Advanced

Two major revelations this past week show how far the George W. Bush administration has already shifted its policy toward realignment with Sunni forces to balance the influence of pro-Iranian Shiites in Iraq.

MIDEAST: ‘Israel Will Work at Ignoring Hamas’

It took acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert more than 12 hours to respond.
      Maybe, like most Israelis, he was caught off guard by Hamas's stunning victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections. Maybe, having stepped into the role of acting prime minister just three weeks ago after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke, he did not want to hurry his reaction.

MIDEAST: ‘Israel Will Work at Ignoring Hamas’

It took acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert more than 12 hours to respond.

POLITICS: US Tries to Pressure Iran with Attack Stories

Recent reports in the Turkish and German press of the U.S. asking the Turkish government to support a possible attack on Iran and alerting allied countries of preparations for such an attack appear to be part of a strategy to pressure the Iranian regime rather than the result of a new policy to strike Iran.

SRI LANKA: World’s Patience with Tamil Tigers Ebbs

A reluctance to eschew violence and a failure to grasp prevailing political currents have earned Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels a place in the world's doghouse, rather than be accorded international legitimacy. Nothing conveys this better than a harsh statement this week, by a senior U.S. government official about where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as the rebels are formally known, stand in the eyes of the world's sole superpower.

AFGHANISTAN: Develop the Place, For Everyone’s Sake

A new push for the development of Afghanistan - and to improve security in the country - comes in response at least as much to the needs of Western countries as of Afghanistan.

POLITICS: Bumpy Ride for Indo-US Nuclear Deal

The "nuclear cooperation" agreement signed by United States President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, six months ago in Washington, has run into trouble over separation of India’s civilian installations from the military.

POLITICS-US: Bush Seeks His Enemies’ Help in Iraq

To avoid failure of its mission in Iraq, the George W. Bush administration has been driven to seek the help of two major enemies - the Sunni insurgents and the government of Iran - but both initiatives have failed to make progress because officials were not given any real negotiating authority.

IRAN: Opens Nuclear Locks and Hornet’s Nest

Now that Iran has broken the seals it put two and a half years ago on an atomic research facility at Natanz, 250 kms south of Tehran, the threat of escalating conflict centred on the Western power's effort to halt its nuclear activities looms large.