Georgetown Security Law Brief

State Department says Guantánamo lawyers can’t question Yemeni leader

02/09/12: The Miami Herald reports that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is in the United States with full diplomatic immunity, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s legal advisor has written the Pentagon, and should not be compelled to provide sworn testimony for the Guantánamo war court. State Department Legal Advisor Harold Hongju Koh wrote the letter Monday to the Pentagon’s chief war crimes prosecutor, Army Brigadier General Mark Martins, opposing a request for a subpoena by lawyers for an alleged al Qaida bomber facing a tribunal at the US Navy base in southeast Cuba.

US planning to slash Iraq embassy staff by up to half

02/07/12: The New York Times reports that less than two months after American troops left, the State Department is preparing to slash by as much as half the enormous diplomatic presence it had planned for Iraq, a sharp sign of declining American influence in the country. Officials in Baghdad and Washington said that Ambassador James F. Jeffrey and other senior State Department officials are reconsidering the size and scope of the embassy, where the staff has swelled to nearly 16,000 people, mostly contractors. The expansive diplomatic operation and the $750 million embassy building, the largest of its kind in the world, were billed as necessary to nurture a postwar Iraq on its shaky path to democracy and establish normal relations between two countries linked by blood and mutual suspicion.

Obama administration’s Afghanistan endgame gets off to bumpy start

02/06/12: The Washington Post reports that with war fatigue growing and an election looming, the Obama administration has bumpily embarked on its endgame in Afghanistan. In recent weeks, closed-door strategizing over Taliban peace talks, the pace of NATO’s combat handover and withdrawal, and the future of US relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan have suddenly become part of the public and political debate. But revelations about plans already in motion have emerged sooner than the administration has been prepared to explain them, complicating efforts to turn them into a coherent whole and build support.

US reassures Europe on defense cuts

02/04/12: The Wall Street Journal reports that the Obama administration sought to reassure anxious European allies Saturday that budget cuts won't undercut the US's commitment to their security. "We made this decision only after ensuring that our force posture adjustments will not weaken our ability to meet our commitment to the security of Europe," US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a security conference in Munich, Germany. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a rare joint appearance in Europe with Mr. Panetta, brushed aside "some of the doubts" expressed in European capitals about Washington's continued commitment to the continent, saying the US still sees Europe as its "partner of first resort."

Top security and defense officials meet in Munich

02/03/12: The Boston Globe reports that the world's top security and defense officials are gathering in Munich, with uncertainty over the future of the Middle East and the implications of the financial crisis in Europe looming large. The Munich Security Conference begins Friday with officials from more than 70 countries expected to include US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It comes as Western diplomats try to overcome Russian objections to a UN Security Council resolution aimed at halting the violence in Syria.

North Korea demands preconditions for talks with South Korea

02/02/12: ABC News reports that  North Korea on Thursday demanded several tough preconditions for resuming talks with rival South Korea. South Korea quickly called the demands made in a statement by the Policy Department of the North's powerful National Defense Commission "unreasonable." But the timing of the statement, which follows comments Wednesday by a senior US diplomat that Washington is open to diplomacy if Pyongyang improves ties with Seoul, and the change in tone after weeks of refusal to talk with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak could signal a willingness to ease tensions.

Afghan officials, Taliban may hold talks in Saudi Arabia

01/30/12: CNN reports that the Afghan government plans to hold talks with Taliban representatives in Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks, in a move that threatens to cloud already delicate and fragile steps to negotiate an end to the United States' longest war. An anonymous senior official said the plans were at such an early stage that it was not clear who -- including American officials -- would attend or when any talks would be held. The US has acknowledged that it has held discussions about opening a Taliban office in Doha, Qatar, as well as the possibility of transferring some Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay as part of American support for Afghan reconciliation efforts.

Israeli and Palestinian peace talks flounder

01/29/12: The Boston Globe reports that Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Sunday blamed each other for the impasse in newly launched peace efforts, raising doubts about whether the dialogue would continue just weeks after it began. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of spoiling the low-level talks, saying it failed to present detailed proposals for borders and security requested by international mediators. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Palestinians "refused to even discuss" Israeli security needs.

France, Karzai want faster NATO Afghanistan exit

01/28/12: The Boston Globe reports that France and Afghanistan agree NATO should speed up by a year its timetable for handing all combat operations to Afghan forces in 2013, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday, raising new questions about the unity of the Western military alliance. Sarkozy also announced a faster-track exit for France, the fourth-largest contributor of troops in Afghanistan -- marking a distinct break from previous plans to adhere to the US goal of withdrawing combat forces by the end of 2014.

The Philippines negotiates broader military ties with the US

01/26/12: The New York Times reports that Philippine foreign affairs and defense officials are visiting Washington to negotiate an expansion of the American military presence in the country, a senior defense official in Manila said Thursday. “They are thrashing out the details,” the official, Peter Galvez, acting chief of staff to the secretary of national defense, said by telephone. The discussions will be followed by higher-level discussions in March, Mr. Galvez said.

US Senators signal conditional support for lifting Burma sanctions

01/22/12: The Voice of America reports that the United States is ready to lift economic sanctions against Burma if the country’s civilian government presses ahead on political reforms including free and fair elections this April. The call was made by a visiting delegation of senior US senators, led by Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman, who made a stop in Bangkok on their way to Burma.  Before the United States makes a final decision, the senators said they will also look to democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Venezuelans protest closure of Miami consulate

01/22/12: The Miami Herald reports that Venezuelans living in Florida are protesting the closing of their country’s consulate in Miami following the expulsion of the office’s chief diplomat. Demonstrators gathered Saturday at a park in Miami. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez decided to close the consulate after Washington ordered Consul General Livia Acosta Noguera out of the country.

Four Russian diplomats leave Canada as spy case heats up

01/20/12: The New York Times reports that Four Russian diplomats have left Canada just days after a naval intelligence officer was charged with passing government secrets to a “foreign entity.” The four men, who were based at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, disappeared at some point on Thursday from an online database of accredited diplomats compiled by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs. A note from the department indicates that the online registry is updated daily. But the Russian Foreign Ministry, in a Twitter message, denied numerous reports in the Canadian news media that the men were expelled by Canada for their involvement with Sub-Lieutenant Jeffrey Paul Delisle, who was charged last weekend with passing government secrets over the last four and a half years.

US promotes democracy with suddenly important Togo

01/18/12: CBS News reports that after venturing to reclusive Myanmar, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pressed democratic reforms Tuesday in another place long dominated by dictators, becoming the first American in her post to ever visit the African nation of Togo. The choice of Togo isn't solely about goodwill. The West African country of 6.8 million people, tucked between Benin and Ghana, is as of two weeks ago a UN Security Council member. That means it may vote alongside the world's biggest powers on resolutions that could cover anything from a future Palestinian state to sanctions against Syria.

As US-Pakistani relations sink nations try to figure out a new normal

01/17/12: The Washington Post reports that in a call to her Pakistani counterpart this month, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated the Obama administration’s counterterrorism “red line”: The United States reserved the right to attack anyone who it determined posed a direct threat to US national security, anywhere in the world. The conversation, recounted by US officials, was one of the few high-level exchanges between the two governments in recent months, and it illustrated the depths to which US-Pakistan relations have fallen after an inadvertent November border clash in which a US air assault killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

South Sudan appeals for humanitarian aid amid fighting

01/06/12: CNN reports that South Sudan appealed for international aid for a remote region under attack by roaming fighters, as thousands of residents fled into the bush to avoid the violence. At least 50,000 people fled to avoid the clashes, officials said, but the extent of the violence was unclear. The government declared the state a "humanitarian disaster area" and urged international aid agencies to help provide urgently needed assistance. Ethnic tensions in Jonglei state have flared as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights, leading to cattle raids and abduction of women and children.

Tunisia president sets conditions for handing over ex-Libyan premier to new rulers

01/03/12: The Chicago Tribune reports that the visiting Tunisian president is setting conditions for handing over a Libyan who was prime minister under ousted ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Tunisia is holding the ex-prime minister, Baghdadi al-Mahmudi. Beginning his first state visit to Libya on Thursday, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said Tunisia would have to be assured that al-Mahmudi would get a fair trial and would not be harmed. Marzouki told a joint news conference with Libyan leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil that the ex-premier could be handed over for trial in Libya "after establishing a democratic state and civil institutions."

Commentary: End is nigh for Russia’s ‘reset’ with US

01/02/12: The Financial Times reports that almost as soon as Russia and the US declared a “reset” in their relations in 2009, there were warnings that the thaw was already over. This time, however, it seems the end really is nigh. With the almost assured return of Vladimir Putin to the Russian presidency in March elections, and the outbreak of street protests against election fraud in Moscow and other Russian cities in December, US politicians are distancing themselves from the soft line on Russia peddled by the White House for two and a half years.

Commentary: Iran ramps up courtship of Latin America

12/31/11: Reuters features a commentary piece by Bernd Debusmann concerning Iran’s recent diplomatic efforts in Latin America. Debusmann contends that American foreign policy on Latin America has gone through cycles of neglect and concern for decades. It’s in a cycle of concern again, prompted by an Iranian campaign to make friends and influence people in the American backyard. Washington’s message to Iran’s Latin friends – don’t get too close – does not appear to impress them.

US ambassador leaves El Salvador after Senate vote

12/31/11: The Boston Globe reports that US Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte is saying her goodbyes in El Salvador after Senate Republicans refused to ratify her in the post. Aponte has drawn fire for an editorial she wrote in a Salvadoran newspaper advocating acceptance of gays and lesbians, and long-standing rumors of past involvement with a man once believed linked to Cuban intelligence agencies. She has been serving under a recess appointment by President Barack Obama since September 2010.

US, Saudi Arabia strike $30 billion arms deal

12/29/11: The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration on Thursday announced an arms deal with Saudi Arabia valued at nearly $30 billion, an agreement that will send 84 F-15 fighter jets and assorted weaponry to the kingdom. The administration notified Congress last year of its intent to sell the advanced jets to Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the Middle East and a strategic bulwark against Iran. The final agreement — which also includes the modernization of 70 existing aircraft as well as munitions, spare parts, training and maintenance — comes at a time of increased tensions in the Persian Gulf.

Iraq agrees to move Iranian dissidents from Camp Ashraf

12/26/11: The Washington Post reports that the United Nations and the Iraqi government agreed to relocate several thousand Iranian exiles living in a camp in northeastern Iraq, potentially averting a showdown with its residents. The dissidents, who have not said whether they would agree to move, reported a rocket attack on the camp. The People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, one-time allies of Saddam Hussein in a common fight against Iran, said Katyusha rockets struck near housing units inside the camp on Sunday night, but did not report any casualties.

Chavez keeps trying to lure anti-US allies

12/19/11: The Washington Times reports that a new organization meant to unite 33 nations in the Americas against the United States just adds to the region’s crowded field of largely meaningless multilateral entities, observers say. The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, made up of all of the hemisphere’s sovereign nations except the United States and Canada, last week held its inaugural summit. It was hosted with great fanfare by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

NATO ends its 7-year training mission in Iraq

12/18/11: Star and Stripes reports that NATO has ended its seven-year training mission in Iraq with a ceremony in Baghdad's Green Zone. During Saturday's ceremony, senior Iraqi military commanders praised NATO's role in training Iraqi army and security forces since the program began in 2004. NATO announced on Monday that it would permanently shut down the training mission and withdraw all of its soldiers by December 31 because of the failure to agree on an extension with Iraqi leaders.

Iraq shaped Obama administration’s foreign policy

12/18/11: The New York Times reports that President Obama has made good on his campaign pledge to end the Iraq war, portraying the departure of the last troops as a chance to turn to nation-building at home. But from Afghanistan to the Arab Spring, from China to counterterrorism, the lessons of that war still hang over the administration’s foreign policy — shaping, and sometimes limiting, how the president projects American power in the world. The war that Mr. Obama never wanted to fight has weighed on internal debates, dictated priorities and often narrowed options for the United States, according to current and former administration officials.

Congress moves to restrict money for Egypt, Pakistan in foreign aid bill that avoids deep cuts

12/17/11: The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Congress would impose restrictions on aid to Egypt, Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority in a $53.3 billion bill that avoids the deep cuts in foreign assistance and State Department funding that Republicans had pursued this year. The legislation is part of a sweeping, $1 trillion-plus year-end spending package that provides money for 10 Cabinet agencies through September. The House passed the measure on Friday and the Senate is expected to vote sometime this weekend.

Iraqis unable to defend their borders as US exits

12/14/11: The Boston Globe reports that after billions of dollars and nearly nine years of training, American troops are leaving behind an Iraqi security force arguably capable of providing internal security but unprepared to defend the nation against foreign threats at a time of rising tensions throughout the Middle East. Building up an Iraqi military and police able to protect the country became a key goal of the United States and its allies after they defeated and then disbanded the Saddam Hussein-era force in 2003. As America's role in Iraq fades, the results appear at best incomplete.

Iran says intelligence chief’s visit to Saudi Arabia aimed at refuting US claims

12/14/11: The Guardian reports that a rare visit by Iran's intelligence chief to Saudi Arabia sought to refute US claims that Tehran planned to kill the kingdom's ambassador to Washington, a senior Iranian official said Wednesday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran also wanted to convince Saudi Arabia that the US and Israel are seeking to sow seeds of discord between the two regional powers. Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi was reported to have met the Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdel-Aziz Al Saud during his Tuesday visit. The prince is also the kingdom's interior minister.

Lawmakers freeze $700 million to Pakistan, ties strained

12/13/11: The New York Times reports that a Congressional panel has frozen $700 million in aid to Pakistan until it gives assurances it is helping fight the spread of homemade bombs in the region, a move one Pakistani senator called unwise and likely to strain ties further.  Pakistan is one of the largest recipients of US foreign aid and the cutback announced is only a small proportion of the billions in civil and military assistance it gets each year.  But it could presage even greater cuts.

Panetta in Kabul to review progress in Afghan war as relations with Pakistan hit new lows

12/13/11: The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Afghanistan Tuesday to meet with commanders, as the US grapples with an eroding relationship with Pakistan that has complicated supply routes and helped fuel insurgents in the east. While he was upbeat about security progress in Afghanistan, Panetta was also likely to hear some somber news from commanders as they wrestle with the withdrawal of 23,000 more troops in the coming year, the transition of security to Afghan forces and the near collapse of coordination with Islamabad along critical portions of the border.

As last US troops leave Iraq, Obama and al-Maliki chart next steps in relationship

12/12/11: The Washington Post reports that with the US troop withdrawal from Iraq in its final days, President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will meet at the White House Monday to discuss the next phase of the relationship between their countries. While Obama and al-Maliki have pledged to maintain strong ties, the contours of the partnership between Washington and Baghdad remain murky, especially with Iran eager to assert influence over neighboring Iraq. And serious questions remain about Iraq’s capacity to stabilize both its politics and security. Iraqi leaders have said they want US military training help for their security forces but have been unable to agree on what type of help they’d like or what protections they would be willing to give American trainers.

NATO may end Iraq training mission

12/12/11: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that NATO says it is considering shutting down its military training mission in Iraq at the end of this month. Officials say talks on extending the 8-year mission stalled over the question of legal immunity for the foreign trainers — an issue that earlier torpedoed plans to keep a residual US military presence in the country. The alliance said in a statement Monday that despite "robust negotiations" agreement on the extension of the program was not currently possible. It says NATO's governing body will soon decide on the issue.

Egypt's military to decide fate of Guantamo returnee

12/12/11: The Miami Herald reports that Adel el Gazzar emerged from eight years of imprisonment at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, with one leg, no US charges against him and no chance of returning to his native Egypt, where he was sure to have been locked up again by President Hosni Mubarak's government. So, Gazzar was transferred instead to a Slovakia migrants center until last winter, when Mubarak fell in the Arab Spring uprisings. The revolt against three decades of authoritarian rule presented Gazzar with a gamble: Would the new Egypt grant a fair trial and eventual freedom to a man once branded as a terrorist? His answer is expected December 27, in a military court case that could set precedent for how Egypt deals with the jihadists who are trickling back now that the Mubarak has gone.

US commander defends night raids in Afghanistan

12/12/11: ABC News reports that the US Special Operations commander who directed the operation that killed Osama bin Laden defended the unpopular night raids on homes in Afghanistan that have provoked the fury of the country's president and held up a security agreement with the United States. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for an end to the raids, in which troops borne in by helicopter search homes, because he says the forces conducting them treat too many civilians as if they were insurgents and violate privacy in an intensely conservative society.  McRaven said in a rare interview with journalists late Saturday that the U.S. understands Afghan concerns about night raids and has allowed its partner Afghan forces to take the lead in those and other operations.

US ambassador asserts Afghan attacks will not spur sectarian violence

12/11/11: The Voice of America reports that US ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said Saturday it was unlikely that this week's deadly attacks on Shi'ites in Afghanistan would spark a cycle of sectarian violence in the country. The veteran diplomat said that, based on the reaction of the Shi'ite leaders who have called for calm, he did not see the attacks turning into a sectarian conflict. Two blasts, one in Kabul and another in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, killed at least 59 people Tuesday on Ashura, the holiest day of the Shi'ite Muslim calendar.

Libya will allow British police to visit for Lockerbie inquiry

12/09/11: The New York Times reports that Libya’s post-Qaddafi leaders signaled new flexibility in prosecuting the Libyan perpetrators of the Lockerbie bombing and the killing of a London policewoman during the 1980s, telling a visiting British official that British investigators would soon be invited into the country to conduct inquiries, Britain said Thursday. Both the United States and Britain have made clear they expect the new Libyan government to help find those responsible for the attacks, and the new Libyan leaders had been giving mixed signals about their intention to cooperate.

Iran blocks US embassy on the web

12/08/11: The New York Times reports that barely 24 hours after its debut, the United States’ “virtual embassy” in Iran was blocked from view inside the country. The semiofficial Fars news agency reported that blocking the site “was a decisive reaction by the Iranian authorities to the latest plots hatched by Washington against the Iranian nation.” The Fars report mocked the American effort at digital diplomacy, saying the site would have been ineffective anyway: “The Web site would turn into a social Web site with no tangible result for the US.”

Putin accuses Clinton of instigating Russia’s protests

12/08/11: The New York Times reports that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of instigating protests over the results of Russia’s parliamentary elections by baselessly criticizing the vote as “dishonest and unfair” and he warned that Russia needed to protect against “interference” by foreign governments in its internal affairs. “I looked at the first reaction of our US partners,” Mr. Putin said in remarks to political allies. “The first thing that the secretary of state did was say that they were not honest and not fair, but she had not even yet received the material from the observers.”

US donation to help Paraguay fight guerrillas

12/07/11: The Miami Herald reports that the US government is giving Paraguay more than $1 million in equipment and training to help it combat a small guerrilla band in the north of the country. A US Embassy news release on Wednesday says the donation includes vehicles, communications gear and improvements to police facilities in the jungle region where the Paraguayan People's Army operates.

Iran promises better protection for embassies

12/07/11: The New York Times reports that Iran’s foreign minister promised that Iranian protesters will not overrun and vandalize any more embassies in Tehran, the way they did Britain’s diplomatic facilities in Tehran last week. “This will not recur,” the foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi, said in an interview published Tuesday in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a leading German newspaper. He called the pillaging of Britain’s embassy and a residential compound on November 30 “unlawful actions.”

Afghans say they will need aid until 2030

12/05/11: The New York Times reports that as dozens of nations and organizations met on Monday to plan a transition beyond the withdrawal of American and other international forces from Afghanistan in 2014, the Afghan government had a new deadline in mind: 2024. President Hamid Karzai and other Afghan officials called for political and military support for at least another decade — and for financial assistance until 2030. That would be nearly three decades after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, that led to the international intervention in Afghanistan.

Official says US needs time to assess aid to North Korea

12/01/11: The New York Times reports that the United States needs more time to decide on possible aid for North Korea because it is not sure humanitarian assistance would reach the people in need, the top American aid official said on Thursday. Rajiv Shah, the head of the United States Agency for International Development, made the comment amid growing appeals from American and United Nations relief agencies, which have recently called for urgent aid for the most vulnerable of the North Korean population, especially its children.

US diplomat accuses Uruguay major of assault

11/24/11: The Las Vegas Sun repots that an Uruguayan official says a US embassy official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has accused an Uruguayan army major stationed in the country with assault. The South American country has sent more than a thousand troops to Congo as part of a UN peacekeeping mission. Uruguayan Colonel Mario Stevenazzi says the United Nations and the Uruguayan government are investigating the alleged assault, which he says doesn't appear to be sexual in nature.

No armed FBI agents at 2012 Olympics

11/23/11: The Associated Press reports that the national security coordinator for the 2012 London Olympics sharply rejected reports that armed FBI agents would be taking part in securing the games, insisting Tuesday that Britain did not need outside help to keep the event safe. Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison dismissed a Guardian newspaper report suggesting that the United States would send dozens of armed FBI agents to protect US interests.

US, Russia and UK back Israel at Mideast meeting

11/22/11: The Houston Chronicle reports that, in a boost to Israel, Russia joined the US and Britain on Tuesday in backing the Jewish state's view that the Middle East cannot be turned into a nuclear arms-free zone without progress on regional peace. The three nations — who are charged with registering new members to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty — also blunted Arab efforts to get them involved creating such a zone, telling an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting that was the sole responsibility of countries in the region.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II pays rare visit to West Bank

11/21/11: The Boston Globe reports that Jordan's King Abdullah II paid a rare visit to the West Bank on Monday to show support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as the two moderate leaders try to engage with previously shunned Islamists now on the rise in the region. Abbas is holding power-sharing talks later this week with Khaled Mashaal, the top leader of the rival Islamic militant group Hamas. The two will try to end a bitter split caused by Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007 that left Abbas' government in control only of the West Bank.

Hundreds of Afghans protest long-term pact with US

11/20/11: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that more than 1,000 university students blocked a main highway in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday as they protested against any agreement that would allow US troops to stay in Afghanistan after a planned transfer of authority in 2014. An assembly of more than 2,000 tribal elders and dignitaries known as a loya jirga endorsed the idea of such agreement in a conference that ended Saturday, though they also backed a series of conditions proposed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai including the end of night raids by international troops and complete Afghan control over detainees.

China appears open to constructive resolution of dispute over South China Sea

11/19/11: CBS News reports that China signaled a gradual evolution toward resolving quarrels with its Asian neighbors over disputed waters of the South China Sea. A senior US administration official described the development as an encouraging step forward in easing tensions over the busiest trade route in the world. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered a measured response after 16 of the 18 leaders attending a major Asian summit raised the issue of maritime security, primarily on the South China Sea.

Saudi Arabia expands its power as US influence diminishes

11/19/11: The Washington Post features an opinion piece by David Ignatius concerning the balance of power in the Middle East.  According to Ignatius, over this year of Arab Spring revolt, Saudi Arabia has increasingly replaced the United States as the key status-quo power in the Middle East — a role that seems likely to expand even more in coming years as the Saudis boost their military and economic spending. Saudis describe the kingdom’s growing role as a reaction, in part, to the diminished clout of the United States.

Obama gets little pushback on Asia trip

11/19/11: The Albany Democrat Herald reports that an assertive President Barack Obama got much of what he wanted during his Asia-Pacific trip because the results didn't depend on negotiating with the world. He mostly just announced them. Obama expanded the US military presence in southeast Asia, sent tough signals to China in its backyard, ordered his top diplomat on a breakthrough mission to Myanmar and presided over the jobs-creating sale of Boeing planes to an Indonesian airline company.