The Guardian (London)

But as Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, and others have explained, Israel's leaders in fact repeatedly warned against an attack on Saddam, fearing it would distract from, and embolden, what it regarded as the real threat, ...

Some presidents have first-rate minds, others have first-rate temperaments. Barack Obama had both. In the first months of Obama's presidency, every appearance he made reinforced the public's admiration. It was an Aaron Sorkin show brought to life, except with likable characters. The Obama family's Portuguese water dog, Rushbo, charmed visitors with his antics and yapping. Rahm Emmanuel amused everyone by graduating from the f-word to the c-word and even beyond. Obama oversaw ambitious and well-received spending on

Several years ago, I saw Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, tell an audience of conferencing Republicans that branding is important. If you're Coca-Cola, Norquist explained, your business will suffer if a customer ever finds a rat in a bottle of your soda. Similarly, the GOP will suffer if anything undermines its reputation as the party that lowers taxes. A Republican who ever supports a tax increase must be subject to "quality control", for such a creature is… more

According to Daniel Levy, analyst at the New America Foundation: "We will now have a weak, unstable government in Israel to join the weak governments in the ...

Some political observers see the world as divided into two hostile camps, a "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the west. Many Americans tend to view Muslims as a monolith, our views having been burned into our perceptions by 11 September, the Iraq war and ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Yet in countries such as Malaysia - one of the larger Muslim countries in the world - a more hopeful future is discernible.

Daniel Levy, who worked for the Israeli government and was involved in the various peace initiatives, said: "The issue, certainly at this stage is not one ...

After exactly three weeks of Operation Cast Lead, an Israeli unilateral ceasefire declaration came into effect on Saturday night. While that is a very welcome development, particularly for the civilians of Gaza, it leaves open as many question as it answers. The steps taken by a series of actors, including the combatants and their neighbors and supporters, will determine whether or not this actually leads to a de-escalation and end to hostilities to what has been to a horrendously bloody start to 2009.

Peter Bergen, a Washington-based author of two books on al-Qaida and one of the few westerners to have interviewed Osama bin Laden, said: "President Bush ...

The total isolation of Hamas that we promulgated under Bush is going to end," said Steve Clemons, the director of the American Strategy Programme at the New ...

We live in a civil society - a place where primary education is freely available to all, where anyone can enjoy a walk through our public parks or down our sidewalks and freely drive through the streets. Libraries across the country loan out books for free - literature that you can read on a spring day in our parks or beneath the streetlights on main street on a warm summer's evening. You don't have to tip the firemen who show up at your house or pay… more