U.S.: Obama’s Outreach to Muslim World Teetering

U.S. President Barack Obama's extraordinary efforts since his first days in office to reassure Muslims in the Greater Middle East about U.S. intentions in the region have suffered a series of setbacks that threaten to reverse whatever gains he has made over the past 10 months in restoring Washington's badly battered image and influence there.

POLITICS: On Nuke Disarmament, It’s Still “You First”

Is the ongoing controversy over Iran's nuclear programme helping to advance the United Nations' agenda on nuclear disarmament? To a number of diplomats and experts who have participated in past U.N. discussions on the spread of nuclear weapons, the answer is, yes – although not necessarily for the expected reasons.

POLITICS: U.S. in Pakistan’s Mind: Nothing But Aversion

To the west of Peshawar on the Jamrud Road that leads to the historic Khyber Pass sits the Karkhano Market, a series of shopping plazas whose usual offering of contraband is now supplemented by standard issue U.S. military equipment, including combat fatigues, night vision goggles, body armour and army knives.

PHILIPPINES: Amid Disasters’ Rubble, Accusations Hound President

Even in the wake of the tropical storms that lashed the northern parts of the Philippines recently, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took time out to visit her home province.

MIDEAST: ‘It’s the Occupation, Stupid’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself embattled on several fronts as he tries - hitherto unsuccessfully - to ward off the enormous international pressure on Israel unleashed by the Goldstone report for its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza earlier this year.

MIDEAST: Is Jerusalem Burning?

Déjà vu on one of the world's most volatile religious sites, a site deeply revered by both Muslims and Jews.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Budgeting Environmental Justice

There is a consensus that industrialised nations are mainly responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. It should be equally clear that such responsibility should have political consequences. But it isn't.

AFGHANISTAN: NATO Members in Waiting Mode

Corruption, doubts over Afghan leadership, and faltering public support have emerged as the main stumbling blocks to a demand for more NATO troops in Afghanistan.

CLIMATE CHANGE: The Rising Tide of Environmental Refugees

Our early twenty-first century civilisation is being squeezed between advancing deserts and rising seas.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTH ASIA: Women’s Peace Offensive

‘Give peace a chance' may just be another cliché for many, but for women who have suffered the ravages of war, endless strife and other forms of conflict, joining hands to find meaningful solutions to their collective aspiration lends it a whole new meaning.

IRAQ: U.S. Diplomatic Adviser’s Troubling Role in Oil Politics

In 2003, U.S. diplomatist Peter Galbraith resigned at the end of a distinguished, 24-year government career. Over the years that followed, he worked as a contract-based adviser to leaders in Iraq's Kurdish community, while also arguing passionately in public media that Iraq's Kurds should be given maximum independence from Baghdad - including full control over any new sources of oil.

INDIA/CHINA: Hopes for Early Border Settlement Recede

Hopes for an early settlement of the ‘world’s oldest standing border dispute’ receded last week after Asian neighbours China and India engaged in a tit-for-tat spat that ran counter to the spirit of a formal dialogue they are engaged in.

ENVIRONMENT: India’s Floods in Retrospect

"For almost one full day, we were desperate, wet and hungry," said Raja Angamutthu. "Our house, farmland, utensils, everything was floating in a watery grave while we looked on helplessly!"

MIDEAST: Turkey-Israel Rift Good for Palestine

Turkey's cooling relationship with Israel comes in tandem with its improving relations with the Arab and Muslim world, and this development is expected to impact positively on Palestinian politics.

U.S.: Pro-War Officials Play Up Taliban-al Qaeda Ties

U.S. national security officials, concerned that President Barack Obama might be abandoning the strategy of full-fledged counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan, are claiming new intelligence assessments suggesting that al Qaeda would be allowed to return to Afghanistan in the event of a Taliban victory.

MIDEAST: Cold Turkey Could Change Political Balance

It's long been among the most durable, strategic relationships in the Near East - perhaps because it was the most unlikely.

MIDEAST: Another Nobel Message for Peace

In the week of Nobel Prize announcements, the most intriguing comment from the Middle East came not, as one might have expected, as a straight reaction to the shock of U.S. President Barack Obama being awarded this year's Peace Prize.

MIDEAST: U.S. Strategy in Doubt as Abbas Loses Popular Support

Just two months ago, many western commentators were jubilant that Mahmoud Abbas, the U.S.-supported head of both the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the interim Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA), was making a comeback and reducing the influence in Palestinian society of the Islamist movement Hamas.

MIDEAST: Unrest Rising Over Goldstone Report

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is trying desperately to contain the political fallout following its decision to withdraw support for a UN report into war crimes committed in Gaza in December and January.

ECONOMY: Recovery Will Be Jobless

The annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ended Wednesday in Istanbul in a climate of cautious hope for the economy and with a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges for the two institutions.

FINANCE: Not Reforms, But Reformed

The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have run into a predictable roadblock in setting out brave new directions: a roadblock called memory. What could have been an immensely sensible idea of turning the IMF into a new central bank for the world is up against years of mistrust the IMF has built for itself.