Latest on Lebanon

Anyone interested in what is going on in Lebanon should check this site out. The Daily Star is an English language daily based in Beirut. There's also a good round up and analysis here at the Across the Bay blog.

Free World on the Web

Just a reminder that this month's book is "Free World: America, Europe and the Surprising Future of the West." For those that don't have it yet I saw at least two copies available at Books and Books. I did my little web searching thing and found some stuff. First of all the book has a site. Not too bad for a book site and as a bonus it has a link to Garton Ash's column archive at The Guardian. The NY Times liked the book so much that it was tapped as an Editor's Choice and it had not one but two reviewers look it over. The New York Review of Books lumped "Free World" in with a couple of others. G. John Ikenberry gave it a quickie review (I love those!)in Foreign Affairs.

This Morning

I didn't feel like doing anything productive at work this morning so I hit the web. Kind of pathetic that the only major paper to have an opinion on the Syrian hit on the former PM of Lebanon was the NY Times. Not bad for the Times except I don't think they need to worry about the opposition keeping quiet. Last night they tried to burn down the Ba'ath Party Office in Lebanon and the Army has been put on alert. The Washington Post carries an interesting op-ed on Castro's role as peacemaker in the brouhaha that broke out between Colombia's Uribe and Venezuela's Chavez. This is why Castro is still around, because analysts always underestimate him. Fidel knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. In the '90's when he was running low on friends and international standing he tried to "mediate" between the Colombian gov't and and the insurgency. The piece is also wrong on two other counts. First it criticizes the Rice and the US for coming down hard on Venezuela and siding with Uribe, stating that we should have had a more even approach. An even aproach in which a close ally has a neighbor that harbors known terrorists? Then the piece implies that we get close to Fidel in order to get to Chavez when we need to. Sorry, but there is more than one way to talk to Hugo. Granted Fidel is his best buddy, but he is unlikely to help us out of a jam. Better to go through Lula when we need help.

The resident conservative at the NY Times, David Brooks, has a good op-ed today (a rarity). He explores the US - Europe divide and touches on something that few have - that even the Dems disagree with the Euros. There is a conflict of visions (see Thomas Sowell) that cannot be reconciled. A prop used quite brilliantly in the op-ed is a chance meeting with a bunch of Marines returning from the Sunni Triangle.

The LA Times explains why China is willing to rein in N. Korea's nuclear aspirations.

Sunday's Best

We can expect much more on the Shiites almost getting the majority of votes in the Iraqi elections tomorrow, since the news came to late to be commented on today. The world is still reeling from N. Korea declaring that it had nuclear weapons. World opinion is mixed, but no one doubts that even if it is bluffing that the issue is a critical one. Most surprising has been the Chinese reaction. Official and unofficial sources have been critical, whether N. Korea reacts is anyone's guess. Speaking of China there is further evidence that in the Far East realpolitik is alive and well. Japan has informed China that its Coast Guard will be administering the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Back to Baghdad and the Middle East...Ahmad Chalabi makes another comeback, Richard Perle must be thrilled. Max Boot thinks that Hosni Mubarak is a lousy investment and that we should cut back on his funding to open up Egypt. Over at the NY Times Thomas Friedman makes another effort to enter "geo-green" into the political lexicon. Granted "No Mullah Left Behind" is a snappy headline, but didn't we already talk about our reliance on fossil fuels and how it funds our enemies two weeks ago? And why not mention the problems it creates for us closer to home? That means you Hugo. Say what you will about Hugo at least he is smarter than the Bolivian Congress which is looking to impoverish its own country. On the back-burner is the news in Nepal where the King has clamped down on dissent and human rights groups. Finally the neglected continent of Africa has been taking some steps to correct itself through the African Union.

Pathetic

Granted it has nothing to do with international relations, but I just had to comment on an op-ed in today's Miami Herald. Apparently they had a shortage of opinion pieces because today they published a stale work by John Dean stating that we may soon know the identity of Watergate's Deepthroat who is reputedly at death's door. The LA Times ran this very same column a week ago.