Arab Regimes Fear Bread Intifadah

"Break my heart but don’t come near my bread," goes an old Arabic proverb. Failure to observe it has often come at a high political price.

TUNISIA: People Power Succeeds Without Western Backing

These are scenes Western powers would have loved to see in Iran - thousands of young people braving live bullets and forcing an autocratic ruler out of the country. But it is in the North African nation Tunisia where an uprising forced the Western-backed autocratic President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country.

India Gathers Military Might

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev signed a large number of contracts with India during a two-day visit to New Delhi in December. These deals were part of a series of agreements that have placed India in progressively more advantageous positions in global arms markets.

Slovenia Goes Slow on Privatisation, and Succeeds

Twenty years ago when the Berlin wall fell, radical privatisation was promoted as a solution to the ills of Eastern European economies. The one country that ignored the West’s recipe– Slovenia – seems to be faring far better.

US-LATAM: Disappointment May Yield to Distrust

While U.S. officials took strong exception to outgoing Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva's recent complaint that "nothing has changed" in Washington's relations with Latin America two years into the Barack Obama administration, many independent U.S. analysts ruefully nodded their heads.

VENEZUELA: Socialism as Counterattack

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez began the new year with special powers to implement his "21st century socialism", while the opposition returned to the legislature Wednesday after a five-year absence.

EGYPT: Church Bombing Fuels Sectarian Rift

It was a tragic year for Egypt’s minority Coptic Christian community that began with a drive-by shooting at a church in southern Egypt, and ended in deadly clashes near Cairo after authorities halted construction of a church. As 2010 came to a close, Copts ushering in the New Year with a midnight mass in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria wondered if 2011 would be any better.

BIODIVERSITY: A Year for Limited Optimism

Nearly 12 months ago, when the U.N. heralded 2010 as the ‘International Year of Biodiversity’, unrealistic goals seemed to indicate failure for the ambitious initiative. But now that the year is drawing to a close, some experts also see the year’s progress as encouraging, and a reason for optimism.

EUROPE: More of the Last Dictatorship

Belarus is set to remain Europe’s last dictatorship after Alexander Lukashenka was returned to the presidency last weekend in an election result which his critics say was never in doubt.

Gains in Kandahar Came with More Brutal U.S. Tactics

The Barack Obama administration's claim of "progress" in its war strategy is based on the military seizure of three rural districts outside Kandahar City in October.

CHINA: Dubious Confucian Answer to ‘Clowns’

The Chinese boycott of the Nobel Peace Prize, which this year was awarded to a jailed Chinese dissident, has evoked unflattering associations with brutal regimes that imprisoned political opponents and refused to acknowledge their popular sway.

Mideast Peace Key to Countering Iran, Arabs Told U.S. Diplomats

Gleeful Israeli leaders and their neo-conservative supporters here have spent much of the past week insisting that the State Department cables published by Wikileaks prove that Sunni Arab leaders in the Middle East are far more preoccupied with the threat posed by an ascendant and possibly nuclear Iran than with a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Sudan Set to Split Despite Egyptian Moves

The U.S. has rejected an Egyptian proposal for a "confederation" between northern and southern Sudan, insisting that a Jan. 9 referendum - which will determine the fate of the south - go ahead as scheduled. According to Egyptian analysts, the move proves Washington's determination to see Africa's largest country split in two.

Russians Refuted U.S. Claim of Iranian Missile Threat to Europe

A diplomatic cable from last February released by Wikileaks provides a detailed account of how Russian specialists on the Iranian ballistic missile programme refuted the U.S. suggestion that Iran has missiles that could target European capitals or intends to develop such a capability.

U.S.: No Top Secrets, but Damaging Nonetheless

While the massive dump of some 250,000 internal U.S. diplomatic communications by Wikileaks includes none marked "top secret", their dissemination is already causing considerable embarrassment and may well inflict longer-term damage on Washington's foreign relations.

U.S.-KOREAS: Hawks, Doves Aflutter Over Pyongyang’s Latest Moves

Given all the other foreign policy challenges he is dealing with, the last thing U.S. President Barack Obama needed three weeks after Republicans swept mid-term elections was the outbreak of a major new crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

An Overeager Petraeus Ignored Danger Signs on Taliban Imposter

The revelation that the man presumed to be a high-ranking Taliban leader who had met with top Afghan officials was an imposter sheds new light on Gen. David Petraeus's aggressive propaganda about the supposed Taliban approach to the Hamid Karzai regime.

Overspeeding China Must Slow Down

Rosy figures tempt China to postpone much-needed reform, says a renowned Chinese economist. "Much growth is non-productive, with enormous speculation widening the gap between rich and poor."

Obama Scrambles to Save Arms, Foreign Policy Agenda

Two weeks after U.S. voters gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives and a sharply reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate, President Barack Obama is scrambling to save his foreign policy agenda.

G-20: Summit Shows Power Shift for Developing Economies

Currency and trade tensions may have grabbed the headlines from the two-day summit of the Group of 20 advanced and developed economies, but the bigger story is how the tables have turned and given developing countries a much stronger voice at the international negotiating table.

Cataloguing Biodiversity Presents a Challenge

An international agreement reached in the Japanese city of Nagoya constitutes a great step forward towards protecting biodiversity from decimation, but also represents an enormous legislative and administrative task, environment experts say.