“Council on Foreign Relations”This Week: U.S. Politics – Pakistan – Kenya – more

		January 4, 2008

		View this newsletter as a web page on CFR.org In this Issue: • Obama, Huckabee Stake Their Claims in Iowa • Pakistan’s Frayed Politics • Kenya’s Political Mess Obama, Huckabee Stake Their Claims in Iowa Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee triumphed in Iowa’s caucuses, vowing change at a time of deepening economic concerns. Read more Interview with Richard Haass on the Challenges Facing the Next President (Nikkei) Op-ed: “Presidential Hopefuls and the Middle East” by Steven A. Cook (Arab Reform Bulletin) Campaign 2008 in Foreign Affairs: A series of articles by the top candidates previewing the foreign policy agendas they would pursue if elected CFR Experts on U.S. Strategy and Politics Pakistan’s Frayed Politics Bhutto’s assassination and the turmoil that followed highlight serious problems in Pakistan’s transition toward democracy. Read more Gwertzman Interview with Richard Haass: Pakistan Faces “Prolonged Difficult Future” Backgrounder: Pakistan’s Institutions and Civil Society Policy Options Paper: Pakistan CFR Experts on Pakistan Kenya’s Political Mess CFR’s Michelle Gavin discusses the violence and political tumult that have erupted in the wake of Kenya’s December elections. Hear more Council Book: Beyond Humanitarianism – What You Need to Know About Africa and Why It Matters Interactive Map: Horn of Africa Council Special Report: Planning for Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe CFR Experts in the News Russia (1/2): Ray Takeyh looks at the evolving relations between Iran, Russia, and the United States as they pertain to global energy markets, in the International Herald Tribune. U.S. Foreign Policy (1/2): Richard Haass argues that today’s global challenges warrant an interest-based foreign policy, in The National Interest. Pakistan (12/28): Mohamad Bazzi urges Congress to “increase pressure on the Bush administration to drop its support of the autocratic and ineffective Musharraf,” in the Daily News. Persian Gulf (12/27): Walter Russell Mead argues that the security of domestic energy supplies plays a relatively small role in U.S. Persian Gulf policy, in the Wall Street Journal. Britain (12/23): Walter Russell Mead writes that “British politics are boring no longer,” in the Washington Post. U.S. Economy (12/21): Mark Fisch and Benn Steil write that the U.S. must “root out bad debt or more pain will follow,” in the Financial Times. Iraq (12/21): Mohamad Bazzi looks at the implications of Muqtada al-Sadr’s decision to become an ayatollah, in the Nation.