POLITICS-US: Neocons Campaign to Preempt Iran Talks

Anticipating the ascendance of President-elect Barack Obama to the Oval Office, groups of hawks, among them neoconservatives, have begun to offer public advice on just exactly what the new administration should do to deal with Iran.

US-CUBA: Business Support for Dismantling Embargo

If U.S. President-elect Barack Obama wants to begin dismantling Washington’s nearly 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, it appears he will have widespread support for doing so.

U.S.: Mumbai Massacre Seen as Major Blow to Regional Strategy

A week after the massacre of more than 170 people by armed militants in Mumbai, U.S. officials are scrambling to prevent the incident from blowing up into a full-fledged confrontation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.

POLITICS-US: “No Surrender” for Hardline Abortion Foes

While the "March for Life - held annually on Jan. 22, memorialising the United States Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision - has always been one of the high points of the year for anti-abortion organisations and activists, next month's 36th annual gathering may be a much more somber affair.

BOOKS-US: Cloak-and-Dagger, Inc.

When Barack Obama visits the Virginia headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in the not-too-distant future, he might want to scan the room to see how many of them sport green badges, the telltale sign that they are contractors and not federal employees.

US-MIDEAST: Regional Players Key to Salvaging Peace Process

One of the biggest foreign policy challenges facing the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will be reinvigorating what looks like a completely stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

RIGHTS: Ret. Officers Urge Obama to Expunge “Stain of Torture”

As a group of retired military leaders prepared to urge U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to quickly put an end to the harsh interrogation practices inflicted on security prisoners, a new United Nations report charged that Iraqi authorities were committing "grave human rights violations" in their treatment of thousands of detainees.

U.S.: Obama Urged to Quickly Engage Iran, Syria

The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama should move quickly to engage Iran without preconditions and to promote an Israeli-Syrian peace accord, according to two veteran Middle East experts whose views are likely to have influence over Obama's just-announced foreign policy team.

U.S.: Diplomacy, Multilateralism Stressed by Obama Team

Introducing the top figures in his national security team in Chicago Monday, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama promised a "new dawn of American leadership" that will be marked by much greater emphasis on diplomacy and multilateralism than was accorded by the incumbent, George W. Bush.

ENVIRONMENT-US: Bush Quietly Passes Dozens of New Rules

As the world community meets in Poland this week to find solutions to the climate crisis, the George W. Bush White House is chaining the United States' tiller to prevent a change of course by President-elect Barack Obama by passing new anti-environmental rules and regulations at a furious pace.

ECONOMY-US: Past Crises Could Inform or Haunt Team Obama

Faced with the worst crisis since the Great Depression, President-elect Barack Obama ditched tradition this week, naming his economic team before anointing a secretary of state - by custom the first and senior-most cabinet appointment.

POLITICS-US: JFK Episode Suggests Obama’s Iraq Plan at Risk

The decision by President-elect Barack Obama to keep Robert M. Gates on as defence secretary has touched off a debate over whether Obama can pursue his commitment to rapid withdrawal from Iraq even though Gates has defended George W. Bush's surge policy and opposed Obama's 16-month timetable for withdrawal.

POLITICS-US: Realists to Reign

Less than two months before taking office, President-elect Barack Obama is making clear that realists - some more identified with Republicans and the military than with Democrats - are likely to rule the incoming administration's foreign policy roost, at least at the outset.

RIGHTS-US: No Amnesty for Cheney et al, Say Torture Opponents

Judging by the rare leaks from President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, investigations and prosecutions of high-level George W. Bush administration officials for torture and war crimes are a distant prospect. But likely or not, that won't stop pundits from debating the question of whether those officials responsible should be held accountable.

Q&A: Will Nuclear Disarmament Be on Obama’s Agenda?

As President-elect Barack Obama marshals his transition team before he takes office on Jan. 20, some of his political supporters are wondering how much of his campaign promises will receive priority during his first hundred days in the White House.

U.S.: Hemispheric Group Calls for Major Changes in Americas Policy

An elite inter-American commission sponsored by a think tank that is considered close to likely key policy-makers in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama is calling for sharp break in U.S. policy toward Latin America, a substantial opening toward Cuba, greater diplomatic engagement with Venezuela, and a major reassessment of its war on drugs.

TRADE: Report Sees Bonanza for U.S., Iran if Sanctions Scrapped

Think of it as a stimulus package without deficit spending: Were the United States to normalise trade relations with Iran and were the Islamic Republic to liberalise its economy, Washington could cut its fuel costs and add tens of billions of dollars to its economy, say U.S. exporters.

RIGHTS-US: Natives Hope Obama Will Be Their President, Too

During his election campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly said that he cared about the issues facing Native American communities and insisted that they could trust him - pledges that Native leaders are now watching closely as the president-elect appoints a new cabinet and fills other key federal posts.

POLITICS: Greybeards Urge Overhaul of Global Governance

Capping a nearly two-year consultation involving dozens of U.S. and international leaders, a new report by three U.S. think tanks is calling on President-elect Barack Obama and other leaders to implement sweeping reforms in global governance to more effectively tackle shared regional and global threats over the next half century.

U.S.: Obama Urged to Strengthen Ties with U.N.

A bipartisan group of some three dozen senior foreign policy figures has released a statement calling for President-elect Barack Obama to make strengthening long-troubled U.S. relations with the United Nations a major priority in his new administration.

US-PAKISTAN: Obama-Tied Think Tank Calls for “Dramatic” Shift

A think tank closely tied to U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama is calling for a "dramatic strategic shift" in Washington's policy towards Pakistan, one designed to both strengthen civilian institutions and promote an effective counter-insurgency against al Qaeda and indigenous Islamist extremists in the tribal areas along the Afghan border who increasingly threaten the country's stability.