We need to have opinions on a subject as serious as war with Iran.

Russian customs has seized a shipment of Sodium-22 being carried in the luggage of an Iranian passenger bound for Tehran: The Federal Customs Service said in a statement that its agents found 18 pieces of metal at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after a radiation alert went on. It says the gauges showed that radiation levels were [...]

Protesters in the Chinese fishing village of Wukan are now in open revolt against the Chinese government. The government is laying siege to the town.

A list of international contingencies to worry about in the coming year. Handy as a stocking stuffer!

Let’s compare Iraq and Iran.

Measuring our progress a decade after the 9/11 attacks

A take on the conflict that’s probably different from the one you’ve been reading.

There’s an interesting analysis of the Oslo killer’s manifesto from UC Davis sociologist John R. Hall that I’d like to bring to your attention. Here’s a snippet: As others already have commented, the label of ‘Christian fundamentalist’ seems wrong, at least in conventional use of the term today. Certainly the author represents himself as a [...]

To save the world economy and themselves Germany and China must change course.

Move eases way to providing funding to the rebels.

The government in northern Sudan is engaging in military attacks against the people of Southern Kordofan.

Overfishing may mean a near term future in which there are no more fish in the sea.

What we don’t know might hurt us.

Is China’s drought caused by human action?

Despite what appear to be the fond hope of European central bankers that it will just all go away, something needs to be done. But what?

A summary of the status of the “Arab Spring” uprisings with links to news coverage and commentary.

I’ve begun to wonder about the future of U. S. security policy. This isn’t a serious analytical post; it’s just what I call “musing”—committing disorganized thoughts to writing.

And when did it know it?

Pro-Qaddafi forces have crossed the border with Tunisia in hot pursuit of rebels and have shelled a town just inside the border: (Reuters) – Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi crossed into neighboring Tunisia and fought a gun battle with Tunisian troops in a frontier town on Friday as Libya’s conflict spilled beyond its [...]

The NYT says it’s time for U. S. advisers and military air traffic controllers on the ground in Libya.

Question 1 If the rebels against Qaddafi advance from their present strongholds, will the member states engaging in hostilities in Libya pursuant to UNSC Resolution 1793 1973 bomb them? I don’t think so but I think the resolution might be construed that way. Question 2 A collapse of the Qaddafi government wouldn’t automatically create a [...]

There must be a predisposition against war and we should only engage in just wars.

The United Nations Security Council Resolution on the situation in Libya is available online. In summary it authorizes member states to act as required to prevent harm to Libyan civilians, authorizes the establishment of a no-fly zone in Libyan air space, strengthens the arms embargo against Libya, and strengthens the freeze on Libyan assets in [...]

Status report on the damage in Japan.

In a sort of rebuttal to Sen. John Kerry’s affirmative case yesterday Gen. Wesley Clark has an op-ed in the Washington Post opposing military intervention in Libya: To me, it seems we have no clear basis for action. Whatever resources we dedicate for a no-fly zone would probably be too little, too late. We would [...]

John Kerry’s Washington Post op-ed supports U. S. leadership in establishing a no-fly zone in Libya.

The first wave of the tsunami caused by the Japanese earthquake is expected to strike Hawaii at 8:00am EST.

Did a unit in Afghanistan engage in an IO operation against U. S. senators?

Omar Suleiman, formerly the head of Egypt’s Intelligence Services, recently appointed as Mubarak’s Vice President, and touted by some as a worthy head of a transition government in Egypt, has apparently been looked on favorably as a replacement for Mubarak both by the United States and Israel for some time according to secret U. S. [...]

An interpretation of the events in Egypt.

I genuinely, sincerely wish the very best for the Egyptian people. I wish them freedom, health, peace, and prosperity. However, the skepticism in this post of Doug’s and the mockery it elicited in comments fails to recognize that, when Egypt’s president dictator strongman ruler says that if he left office immediately it would bring chaos, [...]

Revolutions don’t happen over a weekend.

Does Russia really spend more on roads than we do?

More on the attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport.

Today’s Foreign Desk includes comments on Brazil’s floods, developments in Ivory Coast, and Silvio Berlusconi’s sex scandal.

Brief takes on foreign affairs

Earlier today James mused about my reactions to the income tax increase that the Illinois legislature has passed. I’ve put my thoughts here.

What happens if Southern Sudan’s independence referendum succeeds?

Does NATO membership serve a strategic purpose?

Iraq’s PM re-affirms Iraq’s commitment to the U. S. withdrawal date in the Status of Forces Agreement.

A capsule look at the world situation as 2010 draws to a close.

The latest Wikileaks leak is a list of foreign infrastructure sites deemed vital to U. S. security.

James Rubin at The New Republic complains that Wikileaks’s document drop of U. S. diplomatic communications doesn’t further the cabal’s own objectives: By and large, the hard left in America and around the world would prefer to see the peaceful resolution of disputes rather than the use of military force. World peace, however, is a [...]

The major outlets that received document drops from Wikileaks are covering the story in different and interesting ways.

The diplomatic ramifications of the latest Wikileaks leaks are just starting to emerge and may place some countries in very embarrassing positions.

What sort of response is required to Pyongyang’s ratcheting up of tensions on the Korean Peninsula?

The finger-pointing about the global economy continues.

Terrorism risk assessment: Russia at “Extreme Risk”, Greece at “High Risk”, U. S. at “Medium Risk”, Canada and Germany at “Low Risk”.

Food prices are rising in China. For us higher food prices mean we get fat a little more slowly; for a poor Chinese family it means starvation stalks a little closer.

The cholera outbreak in Haiti continues unabated; riots against UN peacekeepers have broken out.