IRAQ

US, Iran and Arab Neighbors to Meet on Iraq - Reuters
Sadr Pursues Image to Match His Power - Amit Paley, Washington Post
Blasts Kill 2 U.S. Soldiers in Iraq - Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times
Iraqis Losing Patience with Militiamen - Susman and Redha, Los Angeles Times
Iraqi Politicians Squabble Over Election Law - Associated Press
Australian Troops Want to See Real Action in Iraq - Reuters
Iraqi Army: 6 Teens Trained as Suicide Bombers - Associated Press
Saddam's Deputy Vows to Continue Fight - Associated Press
Iraqi's Capture Special Groups Commander - Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal
Iraq Status Report - Iraq Status Report

AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS

Optimism Grows as Marines Push Against Taliban - Carlotta Gall, New York Times
Fears for British Patrol Vehicles - Michael Evans, London Times
Taliban Vow to Fight on in Afghanistan - Reuters
Roadside Bomb Kills 8 Civilians in Afghanistan - Associated Press
Campaign Gripped by Confusion - Herschel Smith, The Captain's Journal

IRAN

Iran: Willful Lack of Nuclear Cooperation - Eliane Sciolino, New York Times
Iran Withholds Key Nuclear Documents - Molly Moore, Washington Post
No Proof Iran Continued Nuclear Arms Program - Maggie Farley, Los Angeles Times
IAEA: Iran May Be Withholding Info in Nuke Probe - Associated Press
Iran 'Withholds Nuclear Details' - BBC News
All Out War, or Talking? - Selig Harrison, USA Today opinion

THE LONG WAR

Abu Qatada Release Puts Britain in a Spot - Sebastian Rotella, Los Angeles Times
Bearing No Burden - Washington Post editorial
Homeland Security Newspeak - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal opinion
Censoring the United States - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner
Sui Generis - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club

US DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Border Agents, Lured by the Other Side - Archibold and Becker, New York Times

US FOREIGN POLICY

Obama's Delusional Foreign Policy - Raoul Contreras, Los Angeles Times opinion
The Ghost of Neville Chamberlain - H.D.S. Greenway, Boston Globe opinion

UNITED NATIONS

UN Switches to Geneva for Racism Talks - Betsy Pisik, Washington Times
Peacekeepers 'Abusing Children' - BBC News

AFRICA

Mugabe Threatens to Eject US Envoy - Jan Raath, The Australian
Amid Broken Dreams, Poverty Breeds Hatred - Craig Timberg. Washington Post
Death Toll Climbs in S. Africa Violence - BBC News
South African Minister: Situation 'Under Control' - Associated Press
S. Africa Anti-foreign Violence Said Under Control - Reuters
Bush Straddles Hard Line in Engaging Sudan - Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post
Darfur Rebels Threaten Khartoum as Peace Hopes Fade - Reuters
Sudan on Verge of North-south War - Reuters
Uganda Sets Up War Crimes Court - BBC News
Uganda: Micro-enterprise, Macro Hope - Boston Globe editorial
Nigerian Militants Claim Pipeline Attack - Associated Press
Small Rwandan Hutu Rebel Group in Congo to Disarm - Reuters
Somalia on the Verge of Collapse - Albadri and Sanders, Los Angeles Times
Dutch Ship 'Hijacked' off Somalia - BBC News

AMERICAS

Canada's Foreign Minister Quits Over Secret Papers - Reuters
Canada's Foreign Minister Resigns - Associated Press
Drug Gang Pins Up Police Hit List in Northern Mexico - Reuters
Gen. Admits No Proof Fujimori Was Behind Peru Massacres - Associated Press

ASIA PACIFIC

Chinese Families May Have 2nd Child - Hooker and Bowley, New York Times
Chinese, Taiwanese Meet for 'New Era' - Chris O'Brien, Washington Times
US-Taiwan Ties - George Allen, Washington Times opinion
Burma Detention Overshadowed - Seth Mydans, New York Times
The Two Faces of Burmese Aid - Kenneth Denby, London Times
Burma: Loss, Grief and, for Some, Resignation - New York Times
Burmese Police Seize Suu Kyi Backers - Mydans and Cowell, New York Times
Opposition Supporters Detained in Burma - Associated Press
UN: More Boats, Helicopters to Burma - Associated Press
Sizing Up Burma's Junta - Wall Street Journal editorial
Indonesia to Withdraw from OPEC - Stephen Fitzpatrick, The Australian
Relief in Manila After Japan Agrees to Sell Rice - Cruz and Harden, Washington Post
Release the Rice (II) - Washington Post editorial

EUROPE

EU to Keep Troops in Bosnia over Kosovo Concerns - Associated Press
UN Blames Russia for Downed Drone - C.J. Chivers, New York Times

MIDDLE EAST

Lebanon: Despair to Dancing in Qatar - Alia Ibrahim, Washington Post
New Lebanese President Faces Big Hurdles - Martin Chulov, The Australian
Hezbollah Leader Plays Down Political Aims - Robert Worth, New York Times
Hezbollah Has Warning for Lebanon's New Government - Associated Press
Nasrallah's Dumb Speech - Abu Muqawama, Abu Muqawama
Israeli Leader Says Key Gaza Crossing to Stay Shut - Associated Press
Olmert Says Gave No Commitment on Golan - Reuters
Olmert: No Promises to Syria So Far in Talks - Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

Kashmir Bouquets for Jiving Jihadis - Bruce Loudon, The Australian
Victory for BJP in Southern India - Jeremy Page, London Times
Eight Killed in Sri Lanka Train Bombing - Reuters
Nepal Swears in New Assembly - Associated Press
Blasts in Nepal Capital Ahead of Monarchy Decision - Reuters

WORLD

Activists, Victims Urge U.S. and Others to Ban Cluster Bombs - Associated Press
Man on the Move - Ralph Peters, New York Post opinion

RECOMMENDED READING

Recommended Reading - Matt Armstrong, MountainRunner
Whose Face to the World? - Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark
Recommended Reading - Mark Safranski, ZenPundit
Adding to My “Antilibrary” - Mark Safranski, ZenPundit
UK CT & COIN Features - Will Hartley, Insurgency Research Group

EVENTS OF INTEREST

29 May 2008 - Occupational Hazards: Success and Failure in Military Occupation (Public Event). Washington, D.C. Book forum hosted by The Cato Institute. Featuring the author David M. Edelstein, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University, with comments by Robert M. Perito, U.S. Institute of Peace and Christopher Preble, Cato Institute. What makes military occupations more or less likely to succeed? Drawing on 26 cases since 1815 where outside powers have seized territory without a claim to its sovereignty, David Edelstein attempts to determine why some occupations succeed and why so many seem doomed to failure. Edelstein combines detailed case studies with a theoretical approach and concludes that occupations face a paradox: Success requires a long-term and massive commitment of resources and attention; however, such large-scale occupations can elicit nationalist responses from the occupied populace. Further, as the occupier faces difficulty, discontent grows at home, and pressure builds to remove occupying forces. Examining the history of occupation as a component of grand strategy, Edelstein offers warnings for today’s policymakers, who seem tempted to include military occupations as part of the approach to countering terrorism. Please join the author and our distinguished commentators for a discussion of this timely and pathbreaking book.

4-5 June 208 - 2008 Joint Symposium - Strategic Re-Assessment: From Long-Range Planning to Future Strategy and Forces (Public Event). Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Institute for National Strategic Studies, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and US Joint Forces Command. Fundamental to the development and implementation of a successful future defense posture is a foundation comprised of a well-reasoned assessment of the future security environment, a clear understanding of the “realm of the possible” for and limitations of military forces, and an understanding of the nation’s security objectives. Developing an appropriate assessment of the future security environment is not something done in a vacuum as it is impossible to fully separate purely military or national security issues from other elements of the national and global environment. This is particularly true for the United States. Technical innovation and adaptation, the rise and decline of other actors on the international stage, domestic politics, globalization and its effects on trade, migration, communications, and the power of nonstate actors all, bear heavily on any security assessment. There is no shortage of assessments of the future security environment. In the last decade, National Defense University itself has produced several, most recently, Strategic Challenges – America’s Global Security Agenda. The objectives of this symposium are to examine some of these strategic assessments, to review our success at incorporating their key elements into strategic and operational plans, and to propose ways to institutionalize best practices into the process for future force development and joint force planning. We will explore these issues through a series of panel discussions and keynote addresses. Featured speakers will include military officers, government officials, and experts from research institutes.

17-19 June 208 - 3rd Annual North American Security Colloquium: Wars Without Borders (Public Event). Kingston, Ontario. Sponsored by the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, Queen's Centre for International Relations, and Defence Management Studies at Queen's University, and the Canadian 'Forces' Land Doctrine and Training System. The conflicts today in Iraq and in Afghanistan are examples of what some leading scholars and many commanders have termed “continuous wars among the people.” This type of conflict is developing or occurring in other regions of the world, in Africa and in Latin America for example. In many of these situations traditional and legal borders no longer define or contain the conflict, nor do obvious sovereign entities control belligerents. International commitments to control these conflicts necessarily demand complex, multi-dimensional diplomatic, military, police, and humanitarian responses. What has been learned about such conflicts from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan may to some degree be transferable to conflicts in other regions. Assuming that the international community may well face future operations characterized by regional, borderless “wars among the people”, the centres at Queen’s University and their partners propose convening a distinguished group of approximately 200 experts from academic, military, governmental, and international institutions to examine how best to prepare commanders, military units and governments to plan for and conduct complex, multi-dimensional stability campaigns in this new environment.

16-18 September 2008 - The U.S. Army and the Interagency Process: A Historical Perspective (Public Event - Conference / Call for Papers). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Sponsored by the U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute. The symposium will include a variety of guest speakers, panel sessions, and general discussions. This symposium will explore the partnership between the U.S. Army and government agencies in attaining national goals and objectives in peace and war within a historical context. Separate international topics may be presented. The symposium will also examine current issues, dilemmas, problems, trends, and practices associated with U.S. Army operations requiring close interagency cooperation.