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In The News

• Macedonia, Montenegro Recognize Kosovo Independence From Serbia By: Ed Johnson | Bloomberg News
  Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia recognized Kosovo's independence, drawing condemnation from neighboring Serbia, which expelled the Montenegrin ambassador from Belgrade.
• Joint Chiefs Chairman Is Gloomy on Afghanistan By: Eric Schmitt | The New York Times
  With security and economic conditions in Afghanistan already in dire straits, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday that the situation there would probably only worsen next year.
• Illogic Rules the Reasoning of Israel-Syria Relations By: Claude Salhani | The Middle East Times
  Nothing could be more logical than a peace deal between Israel and Syria, yet the "illogical" logic often driving Middle East politics indicates that the most rational policy for both sides is to maintain the status quo.
• Mossad Activism Counterproductive By: Dominic Moran | ISN Security Watch
  Much play is being made in Israel of the purported involvement of the Mossad in a series of attacks in Iran and Syria. Largely laudatory, domestic comment eschews a more critical reading of the wider implications of such operations.
• As Fears Ease, Baghdad Sees Walls Tumble By: Stephen Farrel, Alissa J. Rubin, Sam Dagher, and Erica Goode | The New York Times
  Market by market, square by square, the walls are beginning to come down. The miles of hulking blast walls, ugly but effective, were installed as a central feature of the surge of American troops to stop neighbors from killing one another.
• Shiite Fighters Clash With Iraqi, U.S. Troops in Baghdad By: Jeffrey Fleishman | Los Angeles Times
  Clashes between Shiite Muslim militants and U.S. and Iraqi troops erupted in east Baghdad on Thursday night when groups loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr accused Washington of orchestrating the assassination of a popular lawmaker.
• Corruption Blamed as Cholera Rips Through Iraq By: Patrick Cockburn | The Independent
  A deadly outbreak of cholera in Iraq is being blamed on a scandal involving corrupt officials who failed to sterilise the local drinking water because they were bribed to buy chlorine from Iran that was long past its expiration date.
• Nuclear Aid by Russian to Iranians Suspected By: Elaine Sciolino | The New York Times
  International nuclear inspectors are investigating whether a Russian scientist helped Iran conduct complex experiments on how to detonate a nuclear weapon, according to European and American officials. As part of the investigation, inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency are seeking information from the scientist, who they believe acted on his own as an adviser on experiments described in a lengthy document obtained by the agency, the officials said.
• Mbeki Urged to Save Zimbabwe Coalition Deal as Inflation Soars By: Chris McGreal | The Guardian
  Zimbabwe's official inflation rate has surged to 231m per cent as the opposition appealed to South Africa's former president, Thabo Mbeki, to rescue the historic power-sharing deal he brokered last month with President Robert Mugabe.
• Financial Crisis Tests Limits of Unity Within the E.U. By: Edward Cody | The Washington Post
  Three weeks ago, as the Bush administration struggled to salvage collapsing U.S. investment banks, European leaders calmly reassured their people. Banks on this side of the Atlantic are more wisely regulated, they said, and unlikely to succumb to the chaos on Wall Street. That was then.
• Eulex Struggling to Catch Up By: Toby Vogel | European Voice
  The EU's judicial and police mission in Kosovo, Eulex, it is now unlikely that it will reach its full complement of 1,900 international and 1,100 local staff on schedule, diplomats say.
• The Financial Tsunami By: Michael Soukup | Der Spiegel
  The Swiss economy is dwarfed by the size of its leading banks, and there are growing worries about their health. The government says everything is fine, but some disagree.
• U.S. to Lift Visa Requirements for East Europeans By: Renata Goldirova | EU Observer
  The United States are set to extend a visa-free regime to a number of east European countries, with the decision likely to be announced as soon as next month.
• Ukraine’s Leader Schedules Vote After Disbanding Parliament By: Michael Schwirtz | The New York Times
  President Viktor A. Yushchenko of Ukraine signed an order on Thursday to dissolve Parliament and hold snap elections, raising new uncertainties about Ukraine’s tilt toward the West at a moment when the country has become a focal point of rising tensions with Russia.
• As Russians Withdraw, Georgia Banks on EU Observers By: Lilli de Puppo | Eurasianet
  After a two-month stay, Russian troops have pulled out of Georgia, but questions persist about the efficacy of the newly formed European Union monitoring mission that has taken their place.
• Pakistanis Repudiate Violence By: Candace Rondeaux | The Washington Post
  A year ago, a major ad campaign focused on the threat of terrorism in Pakistan would have been unthinkable. Pakistanis remain deeply divided over whether the war against Islamist extremism should be fought by Pakistan alone, with U.S. assistance or not at all.
• U.S. Seems Set to Take N. Korea off Terror List By: Glenn Kessler | The Washington Post
  The Bush administration appears poised to provisionally remove North Korea from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, perhaps as soon as today, sources close to the administration said.
• Suicide Attacks a Growing Threat in Pakistan By: Shahan Mufti | The Christian Science Monitor
  Pakistan has overtaken Iraq and Afghanistan in suicide-bomb deaths this year, its intelligence agency reports. Thursday's attack in Islamabad struck the police's antiterrorism squad.
• Contradictions Plague Malaysia's Government By: Kim Quek | Asia Sentinel
  As the United Malays National Organisation's political power has continued to wane since Malaysia's March general election, Barisan Nasional component parties like the Malaysian Chinese Association, the Malaysia Indian Conference and Gerakan are caught in a secret dilemma - whether they should feel happy about this development.
• Latest Attack Unifies Mexico Against Drug Violence By: Marcello Ballve | World Politics Review
  Mexico's drug violence reached a peak on Sept. 15, the eve of Independence Day, when a grenade attack on civilians bloodied a historic plaza in Morelia, capital of Michoacan state. But the very ferocity of the attack has managed to unite Mexican society against organized crime to an unprecedented degree.

In Commentary

• Into AFRICOM By: Austin Bay | The Washington Times
  With the establishment of the Pentagon's new regional command for Africa, AFRICOM, addressing the complex political and social challenges of the African continent moves from diplomatic afterthought to shrewd long-term effort.
• Millennium Development Grotesquery By: Eric Reeves | The New Republic
  Incredibly, the regime committing genocide in Darfur is now meant to be in charge of a critical U.N. poverty- and disease-eradication program.
• Nonproliferation By: Graham Allison | International Herald Tribune
  We dare not wait for catastrophic collapse of the nonproliferation regime. From the consequences of such an event, there is no feasible bailout.
• A New Look at Cuba By: Benjamin P. Tyree | The Washington Times
  Whether John McCain or Barack Obama is elected president, a new administration next year will provide an opportunity to reboot America's relationships with a number of foreign nations, including our near neighbor Cuba.
• Distressed Chinese Dairy Companies Get Help By: Frank Ching | The Japan Times
  While nations worldwide act to rescue financial institutions, Chinese authorities are offering a hand to distressed companies caught in the contaminated-milk scandal.
• Softening the 'Red Edge' By: Pankaj Ghemawat and Thomas Hout | The Wall Street Journal
  Last month, Coca-Cola formally applied to buy China Huiyuan Juice for $2.4 billion. The deal's fate is still in question -- it challenges Beijing's new anti-monopoly law that prohibits foreign companies buying majority stakes in large, successful Chinese companies.
• When Nations Kill Their Own By: Gareth Evans | The Christian Science Monitor
  At the height of the bloody suppression by the Burma (Myanmar) regime of protesting monks last year, the heated question was whether the international community should intervene. In response, a well-known Chinese professor told an American newspaper "China has used tanks to kill people on Tiananmen Square."
• Where Are the Dissidents? By: Andrei Lankov | International Herald Tribune
  The recent rumors about the poor health of Kim Jong Il might be unfounded, but the world got a reminder that the North Korean dictator is mortal -- and that his system, outrageously archaic, will not last forever as well. Sooner or later, change will come to Pyongyang.
• A Long, Hot Winter for Pakistan By: Syed Saleem Shahzad | Asia Times
  A bomb disguised as a gift basket of sweets has demolished the headquarters of Pakistan's Anti-Terrorist Force in Islamabad and set the tone for the Taliban's strategy to strike government and Western forces before they're dug in for all-out war.
• U.S. Incursions Might Well Destabilize Pakistani Society By: Maleeha Lodhi and Anatol Lieven | The Daily Star
  Forty years ago, the United States began to mount raids into Cambodia and to undermine the government of King Sihanouk in order to cut Vietcong supply lines. As a result, America's war with Vietnamese communism spread into Cambodia.
• The President Who Will Deal With Iran By: Michael Gerson | The Washington Post
  A specter is haunting the presidential race -- and it is not just the economy. It is the specter of a nuclear Iran.
• Lebanon's Election Law: A Cup Half Full By: Doreen Khoury | The Daily Star
  Soon after Lebanon's Parliament passed the new electoral law on September 29, Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, a long-time advocate of electoral reform, described the final version as a "cup half full."
• U.S. Standing in Caspian Drips Away By: M.K. Bhadrakumar | Asia Times
  The standing of the United States in Central Asia is plunging as new geopolitical realities play out following the Georgia-Russia conflict.
• Finding Energy to Beat a Recession By: Tatyana Mitrova | The Moscow Times
  As a global economic recession looms, the medium-term development prospects for the world's energy sector will change substantially.
• 'Pumping Station' or Bust By: Kenichi Ohmae | The Japan Times
  If America cannot come up with proper leadership during the global credit crunch, Europe and others must take the helm to set up a $10 trillion pumping station of liquidity.
• We Must Lead the World to Financial Stability By: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown | The London Times
  The banking system is fundamental to everything we do. Every family and every business in Britain depends upon it. That is why, when threatened by the global financial turmoil that started in America and has now spread across the world, we in Britain took action to secure our banks and financial system.
• Crisis Marks Out a New Geopolitical Order By: Philip Stephens | Financial Times
  The west speaks with awe of the pace of China’s rise, of India’s emergence as a geopolitical player, of the growing global roles of Brazil and South Africa. Yet it should no longer assume the global order will be forged on its own terms.
• We Have the Tools to Manage the Crisis By: Paul Volcker | The Wall Street Journal
  More important in existing circumstances is the clear determination of our Treasury, of European finance ministries, and of central banks to support and defend the stability of major international banks. That approach extends to providing fresh capital to supplement private funds if necessary.

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