Ron Synovitz is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL.
As winter weather eases in Afghanistan, a clear Taliban strategy for 2009 is emerging. What was once known as the "spring offensive" is now a multi-pronged approach of roadside bombings, attacking supply routes, threatening villagers, and pushing communities away from the authority of Kabul.
Kyrgyzstan has threatened to kick U.S. troops out of an air base that's vital to the supply of forces in nearby Afghanistan. The intensity of the warnings and questions about Moscow's role suggest the situation could pose serious challenges to the new U.S. administration in relations with Russia and Central Asia.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received a hero's welcome in Istanbul upon his return from the World Economic Summit in Davos, where he engaged in an angry exchange with the president of Israel over its Gaza offensive. In another possible reflection of Turkey's new, more assertive foreign policy approach, Davos also saw a demonstrative failure of efforts to rekindle diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Movers and shakers in the global energy sector have been discussing the outlook for the world's energy market at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Speakers on the panel included Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri.
As the World Economic Forum opens in the Swiss resort town of Davos, leading economic pundits are discussing what steps to take to help pull the world economy out of a state of crisis.
Political leaders, central bankers, and business elite from around the world are gathering in the Swiss resort town of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum -- a five-day event that starts January 28.
A new study has found a link between the economic "shock therapy" of mass privatization in postcommunist countries in the early 1990s and a surge in the death rate for working-age men. But one of the authors says it would be inaccurate to say that mass privatization policies are the direct cause of premature deaths.
In countries with strong historical and cultural ties to Russia, cuts of natural-gas supplies in the dispute between Ukraine and Russia are causing millions of Europeans to face freezing winter temperatures without heat. In some cases, people are reexaming the wisdom of relying solely on Russia for energy. But in places like Transdniester and Serbia -- where state media has been more sympathetic to Russia in the dispute -- many blame Ukraine.
The arrests of four Iranians for alleged involvement in a U.S.-financed plot to topple Tehran's Islamic government come amid fresh U.S. media reports that President George W. Bush has authorized a major program for covert operations in Iran.
Pakistan had been an important element in the war on terrorism before 2008, but with militant attacks across South Asia being linked to Pakistan by its neighbors and Afghanistan's deteriorating security situation, the country has emerged as a new focal point.
Azerbaijan's parliament has taken steps to scrap presidential term limits -- a move that could cement the role of a political dynasty that has ruled the oil-rich former Soviet republic for decades.
From the closure of factories in eastern China to the collapse of construction booms in Europe and the Middle East, the global economic crisis has caused millions of people to lose their jobs. And the first to do so are the foreign migrants who formed a cheap labor pool when times were good.
The United States and NATO, facing an increase of attacks in Pakistan against Afghan-bound supply convoys, are stepping up efforts to secure alternative supply routes into Afghanistan.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged Pakistan's government to launch a "robust response" to last week's terrorist attacks in India. Rice was in Islamabad after visiting India, which blames elements in Pakistan for the attacks. Pakistan's government initially denied any link to the attackers, but it now says it will "take strong action" against anyone in Pakistan found to have been involved.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in New Delhi for talks aimed at defusing tensions between Pakistan and India over last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
With India accusing Pakistan of links to the Mumbai terrorist attacks, relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors are at their lowest point since the two countries pulled back from the brink of war in 2002. Experts say this creates a major foreign-policy challenge for the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama -- how to keep tensions between India and Pakistan from derailing the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Pakistani sources suggest that closing that country's powerful intelligence community's political arm will have little effect on foreign policy or the ISI's role in counterterrorism. But the change comes as Washington has been privately urging Islamabad to rein in ISI elements with alleged links to Islamic militants.
UN officials say they are concerned about the spate of executions that has taken place in Afghanistan this week. But a growing number of Afghans -- weary of lawlessness and increased violent crime in their country -- are demanding that the government execute more.
Delegates from Central and South Asia have gathered in Dushanbe today -- together with a senior official from the U.S. State Department -- for talks on how regional cooperation can improve Afghanistan's security situation. Hosted by Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon, the gathering includes representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
The fight against militant extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan is one of the major challenges facing U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. But the often conflicting views of U.S. and Afghan officials, regional analysts, and Obama advisers on the issue reveal the difficult decisions ahead.
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