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Tougher sanctions are a key component of the U.S. strategy for curbing Iran's nuclear program, but the Obama Administration is facing growing difficulty in enlisting the international support necessary to make sanctions effective. Russia and China indicated earlier this month that they would not support a new round of economic measures against Tehran, deflating Administration hopes of tightening the screws on the Islamic Republic when the U.N. General Assembly convenes next week in New York City. But if the reluctance of Beijing and Moscow to back new sanctions was expected, support may also be waning in at least...
...Obama has pushed for renewed talks with Iran, which are now scheduled to start Oct. 1, he and his advisers have made it clear they would impose what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "crippling" sanctions if Iran did not heed international demands. Without the threat of such sanctions, key Administration policymakers believe, Iran will have little incentive to give anything up, whether or not they are engaged in talks. (See pictures of the protests against Iran's election around the world...
...intensified CIA-operated drone strikes - yielding a flurry of successes. Air strikes may have killed two prominent al-Qaeda commanders over the past fortnight. If confirmed, the deaths would be further blows to the terrorist group. Last month, Baitullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban and a key al-Qaeda ally, was killed in a remote part of South Waziristan. Mehsud's death has sown discord among his followers, with the new leader struggling to maintain control of the increasingly fractious alliance. The tribal areas "can no longer be described as a safe haven," says a senior Western diplomat...
...being painted six months ago, when terrorist attacks frequently struck major cities and the Taliban had advanced to within 70 miles of Islamabad, Pakistan's offensive in the Swat Valley is cause for moderate optimism - and it has been a popular success. But, as fighting continues in pockets and key leaders remain at large, it remains to be seen whether Pakistan can hold on to territory and see through a reconstruction effort. (See pictures of refugees fleeing the Swat Valley...
...spirit of U.S.-Cuba engagement that Obama expressed in his presidential campaign and at the Summit of the Americas earlier this year, it may be because he's found that conservatives can still give him headaches over Cuba and the Latin-American left. Republicans are currently holding up key diplomatic appointments in Congress, for example, to protest Obama's support of leftist Honduran Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a military coup over the summer. (That issue may become more complicated with the news Monday that Zelaya smuggled himself back into Honduras...