UP-FRONT DISTURBING NUGGET!!
U.S. Rethinks Strategy for the Unthinkable from the New York Times
"Suppose the unthinkable happened, and terrorists struck New York or another big city with an atom bomb. What should people there do? The government has a surprising new message: Do not flee. Get inside any stable building and don’t come out till officials say it’s safe."
The Balkans’ New Normal: Europe's Success Story (Editorial) from Today's Zaman [of Turkey in English]
"The Balkans is the European Union’s untold success story. The EU’s commitment to bringing the region within its borders remains firm."
This is not just the EU's success story -- it is Bill Clinton's as well. It was he and the Dayton agreement that set this region on a better course.
Ahmadinejad Under Fire Over Mottaki Sacking from the Associated Press via the Daily Star [of Lebanon in English]
"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s brisk firing of his foreign minister drew sharp criticism at home Tuesday, re-igniting divisions between him and fellow conservatives who have long resented what they see as the Iranian president’s power grabs."
Fears of Extremism Widen to Scandinavia from the Wall Street Journal
"Sweden's recent suicide bombing underscores a growing reality in the terror world: The threat of attacks is spreading beyond locations traditionally considered targets for Islamic extremists.
Scandinavia is emerging as one such new frontier…"
Sad but predictable. And Scandinavia is SO not ready for this.
'Stuxnet Virus Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by 2 Years' from the Jerusalem Post [in English]
"Top German computer consultant tells 'Post' virus was as effective as military strike, a huge success; expert speculates IDF creator of virus."
Wikileaks, Gulf Arabs, and Iran: An Opportunity for US Policy (David Pollack) from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
"Recent WikiLeaks revelations about the discrepancy between the public and private views on Iran voiced by Gulf Arab leaders have been widely covered by the pan-Arab media without provoking policy shifts or internal tensions in Gulf Arab states. U.S. officials should therefore be encouraged in their policy of pressing for a robust regional coalition to curb Iran's ambitions."
After Hegemony: A Review of Recent Books (Nina Hachigian) from Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
"America is no longer the world’s only pivotal power. Americans are adjusting—but can their leaders?"
Heroic, Female and Muslim (Nicholas Kristof) from the New York Times
"…there’s another side of Islam as well, represented by an extraordinary Somali Muslim woman named Dr. Hawa Abdi who has confronted the armed militias. Amazingly, she forced them to back down — and even submit a written apology. Glamour magazine, which named Dr. Hawa a “woman of the year,” got it exactly right when it called her “equal parts Mother Teresa and Rambo.”"
U.S. Tries to Build Case for Conspiracy by WikiLeaks from the New York Times
"Federal prosecutors, seeking to build a case against the WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange for his role in a huge dissemination of classified government documents, are looking for evidence of any collusion in his early contacts with an Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking the information."
If you are Assange, this is really bad news. "Conspiracy" is a villainously imprecise crime that can carry huge penalties. It is a charge that is fairly distinct to US legal traditions, and it's been brought to bear most prominently in cases involving war crimes and the mafia. Indeed, its broad application has been a key element in fairly successful federal efforts to bring down organized crime in the US. It'll be interesting to see how the UK or Sweden might respond to such a charge.
Poll Supports Shift to Center: Majority of Public Backs Obama's Bid to Reach Compromise With Republicans from the Wall Street Journal
"President Barack Obama has public opinion and the Democratic grass roots with him as he searches for common ground with Republicans in the wake of his party's historic defeats in last month's midterm elections, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds."
Given these and other polls from the last several days, the Dems in the House would be nuts to shoot down the tax deal.
Tax Deal Paves Way for Reform (Gerald Seib) from the Wall Street Journal
"This week's great debate over the fate of the Bush-era tax cuts is doing something more important than determining tax levels for a couple of years: It's helping set the table for a fundamental reform of the tax system."
Enemies of State (Rick Perlstein) from Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
"Historically, nothing has terrified conservatives so much as efficient, effective, activist government. “A thoroughly first-rate man in public service is corrosive,” the former president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce argued in an interview published in the journal Nation’s Business in 1928. “He eats holes in our liberties. The better he is and the longer he stays the greater the danger. …” One reason: Governing well in the interests of the broad majority brings compounding political benefits for the party of government."
Why Conservatives Won't Govern (Alan Wolfe) from Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
"A profoundly radical shift has taken place in the way conservatives in government understand power, accountability, and policy. Rather than using government badly out of a conviction that it always fails, they now refuse to allow government to do its work at all. They have, in a word, become nihilists. When Nancy Reagan urged Americans to just say no to drugs, little could she have realized that her party would soon say no to everything. Not governing because you will not is far worse than not governing because you cannot."
Victory, Compromise and Hurt Feelings (Gene Lyons) from Salon
"People who fall in love with politicians are always foolish, sometimes dangerous. In the present instance, Obama's left-wing detractors remind me of the "People's Front of Judea" in Monty Python's "Life of Brian," furiously at odds with not the Romans but the "Judean People's Front.""
While I still think Obama is great, Lyons' comments here about the jilted lovers on the left are HILARIOUS!
US-Pres.: WSJ/NBC Poll: Obama in Lead for 2012 from the Wall Street Journal
"President Barack Obama, should he choose to run for re-election, enters the 2012 presidential cycle in relatively good shape, especially considering the string of bad news that has buffeted his presidency."
FRENCH MONARCHY NUGGET1!
Scientists Identify Head of France's King Henry IV from MSNBC
"After nine months of tests, researchers in France have identified the head of France's King Henry IV, who was assassinated in 1610 at the age of 57. The scientific tests helped identify the late monarch's embalmed head, which was shuffled between private collections ever since it disappeared during the French Revolution in 1793."
Y'know I was just wondering about this the other day --- what ever DID happen to his head? Well, now we know! you just never know what'll turn up.
CRIME BOOK NUGGET!!
A Member of the Rogues Gallery: A Review of The Big Policeman by North Conway from the Wall Street Journal
"During the Gilded Age, New York's corrupt top cop invented mug shots and 'the third degree'"
MIDDLE EAST BOOK NUGGET!!
Best Books on the Middle East 2010 (Marc Lynch) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"…fortunately I have a blog of my own to offer a longer list of the best books published this year on the Middle East -- or at least the best books published this year which I actually had time to read, which means that it's far from exhaustive. Without further ado, the list:"
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