• Op-Ed

Where is Russia Heading?

• Dmitri Trenin
• November 16, 2007
• Financial Times

Russia’s economic boom of recent years has placed it firmly back amongst the world’s most powerful nations and the nation goes to the polls on December 2 to elect the State Duma. The result appears almost inevitable-a landslide victory for the Putin-supported United Russia party and a continuation of the ‘Putin plan’. What does this mean for Russia and for the international community?

• Op-Ed

Obama Rising: Where Hillary Went Wrong-and How Barack Took Advantage

• John Judis
• November 15, 2007
• The New Republic

Clinton's recent missteps, amplified by John Edwards' strident attacks upon her, provided Obama with an opening--and in a stirring speech before the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Des Moines November 10, Obama took it. Based purely on opinion polls--and some scattered interviewing--I still see Clinton as the favorite for the nomination, but I can now envision a scenario in which Obama could surpass her.

• Article

Musharraf's Nice Little Coup

• Frederic Grare
• November 14, 2007

In attempting to hold on to power at any cost, Pervez Musharraf has alienated Pakistanis and precipitated a political crisis that could reverberate throughout the region. But in this unseemly effort the Pakistani president has found an important ally—the Bush administration.

• Op-Ed

Hugo Chavez's Criminal Paradise

• Moisés Naím
• November 10, 2007
• Los Angeles Times

While President Hugo Chavez has been molding Venezuela into his personal socialist vision, other transformations -- less visible but equally profound -- have taken hold in the country. Venezuela has become a major hub for international crime syndicates. What attracts them is not the local market; what they really love are the excellent conditions Venezuela offers to anyone in charge of managing a global criminal network.

• Proliferation Analysis

Issues in U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation

• Sharon Squassoni
• November 07, 2007

• Op-Ed

Authority Figure: The Childhood Roots of Giuliani's Strange View of Liberty

• John Judis
• November 05, 2007
• The New Republic

Giuliani is selling himself to voters on the basis of his service as New York's mayor. He is arguing that he has the kind of administrative experience that would prepare him to be president.

• Testimony

Iran: Reality, Opinions, and Consequences

• Karim Sadjadpour
• October 30, 2007
• Testimony before the House Oversight Committee's National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee
• • عربي

The United States must alter its democracy promotion strategy, which has been unconstructive and counterproductive, and make clear that it has no intention of undermining Iran's territorial integrity. A move away from democracy promotion, however, should not signal indifference to human rights abuses.

• Op-Ed

Tomorrow, the World

• Josh Kurlantzick
• October 22, 2007
• American Prospect

Flush with cash and ancient hatreds, American evangelicals are incubating a Christian right in secular Europe.

• Op-Ed

Partial Progress

• Sharon Squassoni
• October 11, 2007
• The Guardian

Last week, the six-party negotiations (which include the United States, China, Russia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea) agreed on a second phase of a plan to denuclearize North Korea that has under discussion since 2005. This plan goes further than the agreed framework by requiring "disablement" of North Korean plutonium production facilities, but is troublingly silent on a few things.

• Testimony

Six Years Later: Assessing Long-Term Threats, Risks and the U.S. Strategy for Security in a Post-9/11 World

• Jessica Tuchman Mathews
• October 10, 2007
• Testimony before the House Oversight Committee's National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee

The Iraq war will be the turning point that changes the basic parameters of our security picture for decades. The war's monopoly on our political energy, which has now stretched to five years -- an eon in a time of fast-moving global change -- is one of its greatest uncounted costs.