POLITICS: War on Iraq Helps Mahathir Stand Tall in Muslim World

Thanks to Washington's plans for an attack on Iraq, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has been gifted with a political platform to prove that he is a Muslim leader with a backbone, unlike other leaders of countries in the Islamic world.

POLITICS-U.S./AFGHANISTAN: Hamid Who?

It must have been a frustrating time for Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, who concluded 10 days' of lobbying for more U.S. attention and assistance here Tuesday before flying to New Delhi.

One year ago, the dapper, green-caped crusader for his country was the toast of Washington, and U.S. leaders and politicians were falling all over themselves with assurances that, this time, the United States would not turn its back on Afghanistan as it did after the Soviets quit the country in the late 1980s.

POLITICS-U.S.-AFGHANISTAN: Hamid Who?

It must have been a frustrating time for Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, who concluded 10 days' of lobbying for more U.S. attention and assistance here Tuesday before flying to New Delhi.

POLITICS-MIDEAST: Are U.K. and Spain Being Taken For a Ride?

If British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Spanish counterpart Jose Maria Aznar think that Washington will make a strong push for peace between Israel and the Palestinians after a successful invasion of Iraq, they should probably think again.

EGYPT: Gov’t and World Bank Toss Aside Local Garbage Collectors

If you are seeking a classic example of how the current patrons of the global economy - international financial institutions (IFIs), multinational corporations and corrupt governments - operate in a way that deprives the poor, while masterfully mismanaging huge amounts of potentially beneficial money, look to Egypt's city of ''garbage collectors''..

POLITICS-U.S.: Democracy Pricks Imperial Balloon

''Turkish support is assured'', declared deputy Pentagon chief Paul Wolfowitz triumphantly after a meeting with top military and government officials in Ankara in early December.

POLITICS-ISRAEL: Quick March Away from Peace

Israel's new cabinet had hardly been sworn in before it became clear that the new government will pursue a relentlessly right-wing agenda.

POLITICS-CZECH REPUBLIC: Eurosceptic ‘Anti-Havel’ Elected President

On its third attempt and by the narrowest of margins, the Czech parliament last week elected Vaclav Klaus, a Eurosceptic, to succeed the famed writer and rights activist Vaclav Havel as head of state.

POLITICS-U.S.: When the Place Conveys More Than the Words

If Secretary of State Colin Powell, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the U.S. public, and other moderates ever had any doubts about the extent to which the most hard-line hawks have captured U.S. foreign policy, President George W. Bush's Wednesday night address on democratising Iraq and the Arab Middle East should have dispelled them.

POLITICS: Non-Aligned Nations Struggling to Find Louder Voice

Iraq and Palestine hogged the headlines at this week's summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), but the bigger worry for many of its presidents and prime ministers was how to fight what they see as a new form of colonialism in the age of globalisation.

POLITICS-US: Troops Take 19th-Century ‘Monroe Doctrine’ Global

U.S. troops appear suddenly to be deploying everywhere, and with very little notice. The Pentagon announced it was sending 3,000 troops to the Philippines for joint operations against a minor Muslim guerrilla group. And the list goes on.

POLITICS-U.S.: Troops Take 19th-Century ‘Monroe Doctrine’ Global

U.S. troops appear suddenly to be deploying everywhere, and with very little notice.

POLITICS-U.S.: Voices Urging Talks with North Korea Grow Louder

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is under growing pressure to agree to bilateral negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear programme.

POLITICS-U.S.: 19th Century Imperial Spirit Inspires Hawks on Iraq

''Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords''.

POLITICS: Growing Rift Over U.S. Policies Mirrors Islam’s Divide

For the past 17 months, foreign-policy experts have been telling readers of U.S. newspapers that the world is not experiencing so much a ''clash of civilisations'' between the West and the Islamic world as a civil war between a small minority of extremists and the vast majority of moderate, forward-looking, peaceful Muslims.

POLITICS-U.S.: Hawks and Realists Still Battling Over Post-War Iraq

While final touches are being put on war plans that could involve as many as 250,000 U.S. troops, officials here are still fighting among themselves over the shape of a post-war Iraq.

POLITICS-EUROPE: Two Post-War Pillars Shudder at Iraq Crisis

NATO and EU, two Western pillars built on the principle of consensus, are both being torn apart over the Iraq crisis to such scales that raise serious doubts on their future ability to act in unison.

POLITICS-FRANCE: De Gaulle’s Dreams Come True – At Last

The French decision Monday to veto NATO military supplies to Turkey, revives the deep suspicion of 'Anglo-Saxons', entertained by modern-day France's founding father Charles de Gaulle.

POLITICS-U.S.: Drive to Iraq Puts Western Alliance System at Risk

With the Bush administration in a seemingly headlong rush to war, the current international crisis over Iraq's disarmament appears to be threatening the global system of alliances Washington built in the post-World War II era.

POLITICS-ASIA: U.S. Has Lots of Convincing to Do on Iraq Attack

When seen from Asia, the looming war against Iraq appears to have all the hallmarks of an Anglo-Saxon adventure.

POLITICS: U.S. Faces Franco-German Barrier Over Iraq War

The United States, which is pushing for a fresh U.N. resolution authorising military force against Iraq, will have to overcome a powerful Franco-German alliance in the U.N. Security Council if it is to reach its goal in the coming weeks.