Foreign Affairs

Arabs Should Act Now -- Not Wait for Obama

James Zogby | Posted 11.21.2008 | Politics

Read More: Palestine, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Foreign Affairs, Obama Middle East, Hamas, Israel, Obama Foreign Policy, Obama Israel, Foreign Policy, Politics News
James Zogby

We must acknowledge that when Obama takes the oath of office on January 20th, he is likely to find a rather unappetizing situation laid out before him in the Middle East.

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Somali Pirates Pursued By Somali Islamic Insurgents

Reuters | Posted 11.21.2008 | Home

Read More: Oil Prices, Islamic Extremists, Somalia, Pirates, Foreign Affairs, Home News

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Dozens of Somali Islamist insurgents stormed a port on Friday hunting the pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker that...

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UN Approves Somali Pirate Sanctions

AP | EDITH M. LEDERER | Posted 11.21.2008 | Home

Read More: Somali Pirates, Pirates, Foreign Affairs, United Nations, Home News

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to impose sanctions on pirates, arms smugglers, and perpetrators of instab...

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Pirates, Terrorists, In Cahoots?

Wired | Posted 11.21.2008 | Home

Read More: Terrorism, Somali Pirates, Pirates, Somalia, Foreign Affairs, Pirates Ship Somalia, Home News

The last three months have seen a huge spike in pirate attacks off the Somali coast. This week alone, pirates wielding AK-47s and rocket-propelled gre...

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Afghan Prisoner Slaughter Is Basis For New Movie

The Independent | Posted 11.20.2008 | Politics

Read More: War Wire, Iran, Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan, Politics News

Drive north of Kabul for an hour, turn left into a grey desert and head east for fifteen minutes, the sand shawling up the side of the windows until a...

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CIA Shot Down American Missionary Plane, Repeatedly Misled Congress, Report Finds

Washington Post | Joby Warrick | Posted 11.20.2008 | Politics

Read More: Peru, Michael Hayden, Cia, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, War Wire, Drugs, Foreign Affairs, War on Drugs, Politics News

The CIA repeatedly misled Congress and the Justice Department in their investigations of the 2001 shoot-down of a Peruvian plane carrying U.S. mission...

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Army Shreds Documents Following Friendly Fire Coverup (VIDEO)

Salon | Posted 11.20.2008 | Politics

Read More: Video, Army, Friendly Fire, War Wire, Foreign Affairs, Army Coverup, Iraq, Salon, Politics News

Last month, Salon ran an article that featured video of an American tank appearing to fire on American troops, despite the army's denials regarding th...

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Pakistani Prime Minister Says US Strikes Will Stop Once Obama Takes Office

AP | CHRIS BRUMMITT | Posted 11.20.2008 | Politics

Read More: Yousaf Raza Gilani, Pakistan Strikes, Afghanistan, Pakistan, President Obama, War Wire, Foreign Affairs, Politics News

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan protested to the U.S. ambassador Thursday over a deep cross-border missile strike, and a militant group threatene...

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Gates, Rice Defend US-Iraq Security Agreement

AP | LOLITA C. BALDOR | Posted 11.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: Us Iraq Troop Pact, Us-Iraq Security Agreement, Robert Gates, Condoleezza Rice, War Wire, Foreign Affairs, Iraq, Politics News

WASHINGTON — The security agreement between U.S. and Iraq provides both the time and authority needed for American troops to train Iraqi forces ...

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Streamline, Don't Swell, Our Foreign Affairs Machine

Amb. Peter Bridges | Posted 11.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: Obama Cabinet, Obama Ambassadorships, Obama Appointees, Foreign Affairs, Government Employees, Ambassadors, Barack Obama, Politics News
Amb. Peter Bridges

Among the problems Obama faces is our need for more efficient human organization -- a problem that all recent presidents have ignored.

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Somali Pirates Riches Turn Villages Into Boomtowns

AP | MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN and ELIZABETH KENNEDY | Posted 11.19.2008 | Business

Read More: Foreign Affairs, Pirate Economy, Somali Pirates, Pirates, Somalia, Pirate Riches, Pirates Ship Somalia, Somalia Houses, Business News

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful wome...

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: Masterstroke, Mousetrap, Or Both?

William Bradley | Posted 11.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, John McCain, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Henry Kissinger, George W. Bush, Clinton Foundation, TV Advertising, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, Robert F. Kennedy, Dick Cheney, Clinton Global Initiative, Secretary of State, Presidential Campaign, Obama Transition, Geopolitics, Hillary Clinton, Lyndon Johnson, Wes Clark, Madeline Albright, Team of Rivals, Al Gore, Obama's Cabinet, Obama Cabinet, Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton Secretary of State, Obama Administration, Wesley Clark, Foreign Policy, Politics News
William Bradley

Potential Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Is it a masterstroke by President-elect Obama? A mousetrap for the Clintons? Is it even happening at all?

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Japanese Pension Scandal Linked To Series Of Knife Attacks

Washington Post | Blaine Harden and Akiko Yamamoto | Posted 11.19.2008 | Business

Read More: Foreign Affairs, Bureaucracy, Pensions, Japan Stabbings, Japan, Business News

TOKYO, Nov. 19 -- Bureaucrats here have infuriated the Japanese public by losing millions of government pension records. This week someone with a knif...

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Iraqi Parliament's Troop Pact Debate Disrupted By Sadr Loyalists

AP | HAMZA HENDAWI | Posted 11.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: Muqtada Al-Sadr, Iraq, Iraqi Parliament, Iraq Troop Withdrawal, Foreign Affairs, War Wire, Us Iraq Troop Pact, Politics News

BAGHDAD — A heated parliamentary debate on the U.S.-Iraq security treaty was called to an early close Wednesday as lawmakers loyal to anti-U.S. ...

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Maliki Defends Troop Withdrawal Pact On Iraqi National Television

AP | CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA | Posted 11.18.2008 | Politics

Read More: Us Iraq Troop Pact, Foreign Affairs, War Wire, Iraq Troop Withdrawal, Iraq, Nouri Al Maliki, Politics News

BAGHDAD — Iraq's prime minister delivered a nationally televised address Tuesday to rally domestic support for a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, calli...

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Bush's Reversal On Iraq Deadline Gives Obama Flexibility, WaPo Says

washingtonpost.com | Michael Abramowitz | Posted 11.18.2008 | Politics

Read More: Us Troop Pact, Us Iraq Troop Pact, Barack Obama, Foreign Affairs, US Troops Iraq, US Troops, President Obama, George W. Bush, War Wire, Iraq, Politics News

By agreeing to a fixed deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, President Bush contradicted years of promises that he would never agree t...

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Iraq Dismisses Oversight Officials Despite Soaring Corruption

NY Times | JAMES GLANZ and RIYADH MOHAMMED | Posted 11.17.2008 | Politics

Read More: Iraq Graft, Foreign Affairs, Iraq Corruption, War Wire, Iraq, Nouri Al Maliki, Politics News

BAGHDAD -- The government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is systematically dismissing oversight officials who were installed to fight corrupti...

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Iraq Security Pact Moves To Parliament

AP | HAMZA HENDAWI | Posted 11.17.2008 | Politics

Read More: Iraq, War Wire, Foreign Affairs, Ryan Crocker, US Troops, Us Iraq Troop Pact, Politics News

BAGHDAD — The U.S.-Iraqi security pact now before parliament calls for U.S. forces to leave Iraq's cities by June 30 in recognition of an improv...

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US Army Bans Masks For Iraqi Interpreters, Putting Many At Risk

Washington Post | Ernesto LondoñO | Posted 11.17.2008 | Politics

Read More: Army Protocol, Masks, Iraqi Translators, War Wire, Interpreters, Iraq Roadside Bombs, Foreign Affairs, Iraq, Politics News

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military has barred Iraqi interpreters working with American troops in Baghdad from wearing ski masks to disguise themselves, prom...

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Israeli PM Candidate's Website Looks A Lot Like Obama's... (PHOTO)

NY Times | ETHAN BRONNER and NOAM COHEN | Posted 11.14.2008 | Politics

Read More: Obamamania, Obama Victory, Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Affairs, Israel, Barack Obama, Politics News

JERUSALEM -- Click on the Russian-language version of the campaign Web site of Benjamin Netanyahu, the conservative Likud leader running for prime min...

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Where are the Jews? Why is Israel Missing from the G20?

Adam Hanft | Posted 11.14.2008 | Politics

Read More: Israel Economy, Israel g20, Israel, Middle East, g20, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politics News
Adam Hanft

Am I the only person wondering why Israel isn't included in the G20? Could it be the extra cost of the Kosher food?

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Iraqi PM Maliki Now Supports US "Withdrawal Agreement", Source Says

McClatchy Washington Bureau | Leila Fadel | Posted 11.14.2008 | Politics

Read More: Foreign Affairs, Us Troop Withdrawal Iraq, US Troops, War Wire, Iraq, Nouri Al Maliki, Politics News

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has informed Iraq's presidency council that he now supports a security agreement with the United States, a S...

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Azerbaijan To Withdraw Iraq Troops

AP | Posted 11.14.2008 | Home

Read More: War Wire, Troop Withdrawal, Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Home News

BAKU, Azerbaijan — Azerbaijan's parliament has voted to pull the ex-Soviet republic's small peacekeeping force out of Iraq. Lawmakers voted 86-...

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British Troops Out Of Iraq By End Of 2009, Iraqi Official Says

AFP | Denis Hiault | Posted 11.14.2008 | Politics

Read More: British Troops in Iraq, England, War Wire, Foreign Affairs, Iraq, Politics News

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- All British troops will be out of Iraq by the end of next year, Iraq's national security advisor said on Friday, days before Baghdad ...

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Sarkozy Chides Putin On Russian Tough Talk: "You Want To End Up Like Bush?"

Times Online | Charles Bremner in Paris | Posted 11.14.2008 | Politics

Read More: Russia, Bush Bashing, France, Vladimir Putin, George Bush, Nicholas Sarkozy, Foreign Affairs, Sarkozy Putin, Politics News

Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from being hanged "by the balls" -- a threat made last summer by Vladimir Putin, according to an accoun...

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