Meanwhile, Lebanon’s economy has deteriorated, and the prospect of war for a paranoid population has increased after the assassination of Mughniyeh, and Hizbullah’s signal of readiness for “open war” with prime suspect Israel
“We are now on the border of war and peace, and more likely verging on conflict,” said Ahmad Moussalli, political studies professor at [...]

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The United States gave Moscow guarantees that its proposed anti-missile shield “will be not directed” against Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday in a first sign of progress in very hard negotiations between the two countries.
“The Americans are ready to provide us with a series of measures to give us confidence and reassure [...]

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The carrier Kitty Hawk has left its port in Japan, Taiwan’s defense ministry said Wednesday amid reports the group is deploying near the Taiwan Strait to ensure that Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election Saturday runs smoothly.
“We can confirm that the USS Kitty Hawk left port yesterday,” Taiwanese defense spokeswoman Chi Yu-lan said by phone. “As to [...]

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IF HIGHWAY 101 south of San Francisco, Silicon Valley’s main artery, were mysteriously to connect to one of the roads around Tel Aviv, many drivers would not even notice. The office blocks with large, tinted windows, housing technology start-ups, are hard to tell apart. Indeed, many people would argue that the world’s second most important [...]

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They have three main options: an attack on northern Israel from South Lebanon, a major terrorist attack inside Israel or a major act of terror against Israeli or Jewish targets abroad.
Hizbullah has rearmed itself with a huge amount of long-range missiles and still has a large clandestine infrastructure in southern Lebanon. Yet the presence of [...]

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Switzerland’s foreign minister, already under fire for a natural gas deal with Iran, also is provoking an outcry at home because she wore a headscarf at the meeting with Iran’s hardline president when the accord was signed.
“Like a submissive woman,” the Lausanne daily tabloid Le Matin said Wednesday in a front-page story showing a photo [...]

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The recent escalation of fighting between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip must be viewed in a broader context that centers on Iran’s effort to shield its nuclear weapons program from a possible Israeli military strike.
It is often agreed that Tehran would retaliate strongly if its nuclear facilities were attacked. Yet the tacit assumption [...]

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The long-term presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukrainian territory touches a sensitive nerve in a country that is asserting its independence from Russia by seeking NATO membership.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet (RBSF) has its main base in Sevastopol, a city in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in southern Ukraine.
Many Atlanticists believe [...]

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Cracking down on its own Tibetan minority is no way for a major democracy to act.
India does itself a disservice by not standing up to China over its treatment of Tibet. If India wishes to be considered a great power, it needs to display a greater degree of independence and not kowtow to Beijing. With [...]

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While Asia-watchers are focused on the crisis at Tibet, a drama is quietly unfolding on Communist China’s opposite flank, the free Chinese republic on Taiwan, which is preparing for a presidential election scheduled for Saturday. In 1996’s election, China responded with days of missile “tests” in advance of the plebiscite. The “tests” consisted of lobbing [...]

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