The Rundown - March 11

News & views on RFE/RL's broadcast region

First Read
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"Study Abroad with Al-Qaeda" - David Case on Theo Padnos, an American writer who pretended he was a Muslim and settled himself into Yemen’s radical mosque scene

Afghanistan/Pakistan
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Pakistan and Afghanistan will revive the Jirga process
# Kamila Hyat on the media environment in Pakistan
# Pakistan's spy chief will stay one for one more year
# Tom Ricks on the British experience in Pakistan

Russia
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"A Franco-Russian Rapprochement...Again" - Cohen & Daniels, "Wall Street Journal"
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Vladimir Sorokin on listening to Led Zeppelin in Moscow in the 70s
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Russia has arrested 10 in connection with the Nevsky Express bombing
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The Kremlin is set to unveil "Russia's Silicon Valley"

Iran
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"Whither Iran Policy?" - Emanuele Ottolenghi, "Commentary"

Of Interest
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"From Chechnya, A Cautionary Tale" - Anna Badkhen, "Boston Globe"
# "When Gorbachev Took Power" - Archie Brown, "International Herald Tribune"

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
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"How to Win the War of Ideas" - James Glassman, "Foreign Policy"
# "Foreign Policy" interviews Ryan Crocker
# "Foreign Policy" reports on a recent BBG statement
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Al Kamen's "In the Loop"
# Embassy Row from "The Washington Times"