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How U.S. Intelligence Assessments Misunderstand Iran
Prof. Barry Rubin - 2/9/2010
"We continue to judge that Iran's nuclear decision-making is guided by a cost-benefit approach, which offers the international community opportunities to influence Iran." Dennis Blair, chief of U.S. intelligence in his annual threat assessment report for 2010.

Ukraine’s Future: The Precarious Alternatives to an EU Membership Perspective
Dr. Andreas Umland - 2/8/2010
Zbigniew Brzezinski’s dictum that, without Ukraine, Russia is no longer an empire is well-known in Europe too. Yet, its topicality for European security seems insufficiently appreciated in Brussels. While the EU cannot directly influence relations between Russia and Ukraine, any more than it can solve her problems, its Eastern policies do nonetheless affect both Kyiv’s foreign affairs and Ukrainian domestic politics. Whether it likes or not, the EU exerts influence on the whole process of Ukraine’s post-Soviet transformation – as it did in post-communist Central Europe. To be sure, the success...

Jinnah’s Tottering Pakistan
Uddipan Mukherjee, Ph.D. - 2/8/2010
December 25 is the birthday of Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), the Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader) of Pakistan, and the present Zardari-Gilani government had the onus of exhibiting his birthplace to the public on that very day. Amusingly, the funds required to renovate his residence did not reach the project officials and the work that was stopped since July 2008 could not be resumed. Thus Wazir Mansion at Karachi, Jinnah’s birthplace, remained closed to the public on his birth anniversary 1.

Iranian Quickstep: 1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back
Jonathan Spyer, Ph.D. - 2/8/2010
Latest Ahmadinejad statement suggests that Teheran still believes it can find a few partners for the dance it has been performing since 2003.

Obama’s Polemics Versus the Economic Facts
Prof. Peter Morici - 2/8/2010
In politics, whatever the President can get voters to believe becomes the truth, but in economics the numbers establish the facts.

Obama’s 2011 Budget
Prof. Peter Morici - 2/8/2010
President Obama released his proposed 2011 budget, which forecasts the federal deficit will fall to $706 billion by 2014 or just 3.9 percent of GDP before rising again in 2015.

The Maronite Patriarch Is Lebanon's Conscience
Elias Bejjani - 2/8/2010
The Maronite Patriarch, His Beatitude Mar (saint) Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir is referred to by the majority of the Lebanese citizens, both Christians and Muslims, as the conscience of the country, and in fact he is. This wise 89-year-old hermit is an outspoken, courageous, meek, faithful, and shrewd leader who owns no missiles, has no militias under his control, and is not actually supported or sponsored by any other country, which is the situation of many other Lebanese denominations. He derives his power, respect, credibility and authority from a solid faith in the Lebanese people and from their historic longing for freedom, democracy and law.

The Only Health Plan We Need: Self-Insurance Cooperatives
Patricia Hess - 2/7/2010
When people talk about something false for too long of a time, it becomes known as a truth. Let's stop talking about Obama's health plan before it's too late. Bless his heart, he's tried so hard to do what he thinks is right; however, admitting another government induced headache (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security . . . ) to the waiting room of economic emergency is not going to help the nation.

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