One month after the publication by two of the most influential international relations scholars in the United States of a highly controversial essay on the so-called "Israel Lobby", their thesis that the lobby exercises "unmatched power" in Washington is being tested by rapidly rising tensions with Iran.
Three years after the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces, Washington is abuzz about new reports that the administration of Pres. George W. Bush is preparing to attack Iran, possibly with nuclear weapons.
As the United States senate foreign relations committee (SFRC) began hearing on Washington's controversial nuclear technology and supplies agreement with India, starting with the testimony of secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, the deal appeared to be in deep trouble.
The George W. Bush administration failed to enter into negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme in May 2003 because neoconservative zealots who advocated destabilisation and regime change were able to block any serious diplomatic engagement with Tehran, according to former administration officials.
A United Nations Security Council (UNSC)vote imposing sanctions on the Tehran government for its nuclear programme could result in retaliatory executions of some seven condemned prisoners, the rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) believes.
The agreement last week between Washington and Iran to hold direct talks on Iraq has forged a new linkage between the Iraq and Iran crises.
Hot on the heels of its landmark 'nuclear cooperation' agreement with the United States, which allows New Delhi to keep its nuclear weapons, the Indian government has entered into a controversial deal with Russia for the supply of nuclear fuel for two civilian power reactors.
As the United States began making the case in the U.N. Security Council this week for what its Ambassador John Bolton calls "painful consequences" if Iran continues with its controversial nuclear programme, Washington is facing a familiar dilemma: What to do if the rest of the world refuses to go along?
With the dispute over Iran's controversial nuclear programme moving this week to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the stage is set for a perilous confrontation between the Islamic republic and the international community - a showdown that not only Tehran but also world powers like China and Russia have fought to avoid.
Campaigners for a nuclear-free South Asia are aghast at the potential nightmare that lies ahead following the nuclear technology and fuel deal announced here this week by visiting United States President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
While U.S. President George W. Bush hailed Thursday's nuclear accord with India as a major breakthrough in forging a "strategic partnership" with the South Asian giant, the pact has been broadly denounced by non-proliferation experts here as a devil's bargain.
Apprehension and expectation are uppermost in the minds of Pakistani leaders as United States President George W. Bush begins, Thursday, the business end of a four-day tour of India and Pakistan.
As President George W. Bush begins his three-day visit to India, Wednesday evening, the two governments appear set to further consolidate their strategic and political relationship, despite glitches over planned civilian nuclear cooperation.
U.S. President George W. Bush hopes his maiden tour of India and Pakistan this week will draw both South Asian giants more firmly into Washington's orbit, as well as help restore his battered foreign policy image back home.
Israel has said that Russia's plans next month to meet leaders of the new militant Palestinian government Hamas may legitimise its political status in the eyes of the international community but not diminish its terrorist nature.
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.
As furore grips the Muslim world over the cartoon illustrations of prophet Mohammed, accusations have surfaced that governments opposed to democracy have their own reasons to show the dark side of the so-called free world.
Along with the possibility of international sanctions hanging over Iran, the future of a 2,600 km pipeline to transport natural gas from Iran to India through Pakistan, that is actively opposed by Washington, has fallen into jeopardy.
The escalating crisis over Iran's nuclear programme appears to have persuaded the U.S. public that Tehran now poses a greater threat to the United States than any other country, or even al Qaeda, according to recent surveys.
The George W. Bush administration's adoption of a policy of threatening to use military force against Iran disregarded a series of official intelligence estimates going back many years that consistently judged Iran's fear of a U.S. attack to be a major motivating factor in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has sent shock waves through the Indian establishment by accusing the United States of ''changing the goalpost'' while finalising a far-reaching, one-of-its-kind nuclear cooperation deal with India, initialled last July.