IRAQ: Future Uncertain as Saddam Unearthed

U.S. President George W. Bush celebrated a second victory in Iraq here Sunday with confirmation that occupation forces had captured fugitive former president Saddam Hussein on Saturday evening at a farmhouse outside Tikrit.

POLITICS-U.S.: Baker’s Return = Cheney’s Heartburn

It may be that, by four or five months from now:

POLITICS-U.S.: The Axis of Incoherence

As the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush searches increasingly desperately for a viable "exit strategy" from an Iraqi quagmire, its policy there is appearing ever more incoherent.

BURMA: To Believe the Generals or Not, That Is the Question

The mixed messages coming from Rangoon's military government ahead of an unprecedented international meeting next week to discuss Burma's future have lent more weight to the question of the hour: How serious are the generals?

POLITICS-US: Gore Endorsement Boosts Dean as Race Accelerates

Former Vice President Al Gore's surprise endorsement Tuesday of Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination marks a major boost for the insurgent former Vermont governor who was already leading his party rivals in both popularity and collecting campaign cash.

U.S-IRAQ.: A Sunday in Samarra

On one point, all sources appear to agree: what happened in the northern Sunni town of Samarra last Sunday could tell us a great deal about whether U.S. forces are likely to succeed or fail in pacifying and stabilising Iraq.

RIGHTS-THAILAND: Drug ‘Victory’ Exposes Fault Lines in Democracy

The ease with which Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra waged a repressive campaign to eradicate the local narcotics trade has exposed a fault line in the country's credentials as a thriving democracy.

IRAQ: Recent Visitors Question U.S. Tactics

While electricity generation now exceeds pre-invasion levels, markets are plentiful, and virtually all school-aged children are back at their desks, the war for Iraqi ''hearts and minds'' remains very much up in the air, say independent analysts who have recently returned from that country.

POLITICS-INDIA: Religion Takes Back Seat in Key Provincial Polls

The big surprise in this week's elections in four north Indian states in the Hindi-speaking heartland is the fact that religion has played an insignificant role, compared to issues such as power supply, drought relief and the sheer performance of incumbent governments.

MIDEAST: Mixed Response to Geneva Peace Plan

Amid much fanfare and hype, a group of mostly former leaders on Monday gathered in Geneva for the signing ceremony of an elaborate and painstakingly negotiated alternative peace plan between Israelis and Palestinians.

POLITICS: Unofficial Mideast Peace Plans Get Global Backing

If the success of the unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace plan launched amid great fanfare in Geneva on Monday were dependent on international goodwill, it could be implemented tomorrow.

IRAQ-U.S.: Is It the Bases?

Now that the Bush administration has decided to sharply accelerate the transfer of full sovereignty to an Iraqi government, why does it not invite the United Nations to help with the transition?
     At this point, an invitation appears logical. At a minimum, it would give the occupation greater international legitimacy and encourage other countries to contribute both troops and more reconstruction assistance, easing Washington's burden.

IRAQ-U.S.: Is It the Bases?

Now that the Bush administration has decided to sharply accelerate the transfer of full sovereignty to an Iraqi government, why does it not invite the United Nations to help with the transition?

POLITICS-U.S.: The Realists Rally

After two years of dominating U.S. foreign policy, are unilateralist hawks in the administration of President George W. Bush losing power to the so-called realists whom they have long disdained?

INDIA: Gujarat Pogrom Continues to Raise Questions on Democracy

A year after sweeping elections in western Gujarat state by spurring India's worst communal carnage in its post-independence era, Chief Minister Narendra Modi continues to stretch and distort accepted definitions of democracy.

AMERICAS: FTAA Goes ‘Lite’ But U.S. Still Trade Heavyweight

The scaled down plan given the nod at the end of a meeting here Thursday on a proposed pan-American common market marks a U.S. retreat on its ambitious trade policies in the western hemisphere but Washington's new aggressive push for bilateral deals could be a greater threat to the region's developing countries.

AMERICAS: FTAA Goes ‘Lite’ But U.S. Still Trade Heavyweight

The scaled down plan given the nod at the end of a meeting here Thursday on a proposed pan-American common market marks a U.S. retreat on its ambitious trade policies in the western hemisphere but Washington's new aggressive push for bilateral deals could be a greater threat to the region's developing countries.

POLITICS-U.S.: New Leak Smells of Neo-con Desperation

This week's blockbuster leak of a secret memorandum from a senior Pentagon official to the Senate Intelligence Committee has spurred speculation that neo-conservative hawks in the Bush administration are on the defensive and growing more desperate.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Islamic Debate Deepens Divisions

The division between moderates and fundamentalists among Malaysia's majority Malay Muslims has sharpened dramatically, if not irrevocably, in recent weeks.

POLITICS-IRAQ: New Sound and Fury Hide Fear and Worry

While the new U.S. military aggressiveness against alleged enemy targets in Iraq provided good video to lead TV news broadcasts this week, its effectiveness, as well as the latest political strategy to win Iraqi ''hearts and minds'', remain very much in question.

POLITICS-IRAQ: New Sound and Fury Hide Fear and Worry

While the U.S.' new military aggressiveness against alleged enemy targets in Iraq provided good video to lead TV news broadcasts this week, its effectiveness, as well as the latest political strategy to win Iraqi ''hearts and minds'', remain very much in question.