Mideast

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has become the de facto winner of the runoff election slated for November 7 after presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah decided to boycott it. Abdullah dropped out of the race in the face of likely defeat, given that Karzai had a slight lead in the polls and that the Independent Election Commission is stacked with Karzai supporters. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a congratulatory note to Karzai for his “victory in this historic election.” Stratfor reports that the U.S. is now forced to rebrand Karzai as a credible U.S. partner—despite blatant election fraud. “Washington earlier made no secret of its disillusionment with Karzai, his renewed alliances with Afghanistan’s top warlords and his corrupt practices. … [T]he election fiasco has been a rude awakening for Washington. Regardless of who is sitting in the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan simply cannot be ruled by a central authority, much less one working with an economy that runs almost exclusively on the poppy trade and foreign aid” (November 2). For Afghanistan, a country mired in corruption, insurgency and tribal politics, democracy is not solving its problems.

Iran has smuggled rockets that have a range of 37 miles to Hamas, according to Israel’s head of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin. Israel tracked a missile Hamas test fired last week, Yadlin told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday. It traveled 37 miles, making it the longest-range missile Hamas has ever tested. Security sources say that Hezbollah has the same missile in southern Lebanon. In an overnight raid Tuesday, the Israeli Navy discovered hundreds of tons of weaponry on a ship near Cyprus. Defense officials said the ship was carrying weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. The weapons included Katyusha missiles, assault rifles, mortar shells and grenades, and also an advanced anti-aircraft platform that has not been used in the region before, according to Israel Radio.

Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani arrived in Iraq Wednesday for a four-day visit, according to Mehr news agency. Larijani, accompanied by eight members of parliament and the Iranian deputy foreign minister, was scheduled to discuss bilateral relations and regional and international issues with Iraqi officials. Relations between the two neighbors continue to improve as Iraq looks to Iran as the dominant power in the region, especially as U.S. influence wanes.

Relations between Iran and Kuwait are also strong, with the Iranian foreign minister meeting with Kuwait’s emir on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah discussed bilateral and regional issues. The Kuwaiti emir voiced support for Iran’s nuclear program, and stated, “We regard Iran’s security as our own security.”

Europe

The Lisbon Treaty has now been ratified. Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed the Lisbon Treaty on Tuesday, the last European Union leader to do so. The treaty is to come into force December 1. An EU president and foreign minister will be selected within the next few weeks. With the Lisbon Treaty signed, watch for the European project to progress even faster.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Italian schools can no longer display crucifixes. Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini have condemned the ruling. “Nobody, much less a European court that is steeped in ideology, will be allowed to strip our identity away,” said Gelmini. Berlusconi stated that this was an attempt to “deny Europe’s Christian roots.” The Catholic Church plays a dominant role in Italy, and the pope frequently reminds Europe of its “Christian roots.” Developments like this will prove eventually to be a prod on the Vatican to imposing those “Christian roots” across the continent.

Asia

Capitalism and democracy are losing favor in the former Soviet states of Eastern and Central Europe, according to a poll published on Monday. Most respondents reported a stronger feeling of economic comfort under communism. Agence France-Presse said, “Only 30 percent of Ukrainians asked said they now approved of the change to the multiparty system, down from 72 percent in 1991.” The poll shows that the Kremlin’s efforts to pry Kiev away from the West and toward Russia are paying off. The Ukrainians surveyed gave capitalism the lowest approval rating of any country, with only 36 percent saying they approved. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has made clear to the West that he thinks of the Ukraine as Russian property, and this poll indicates that more Ukrainians than ever agree with him. Putin recently called the Soviet Union’s collapse the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century, and this survey shows that he is not the only Russian with these sentiments about his country. Well over half of the Russian respondents said they agreed with the statement, “It is a great misfortune that the Soviet Union no longer exists,” and 47 percent believe “It is natural for Russia to have an empire.” With Russian nationalism on the rise, and Ukrainians looking toward Moscow, it is clear Russian power is growing.

Africa/Latin America

The Movement for Democratic Change has renewed its participation in the unity government in Zimbabwe or, as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai put it, “suspended our disengagement.” The powerless party has given President Robert Mugabe one month to share power, during which time the prime minister will again attend cabinet meetings and do the one thing the president cannot: raise money from the international community. The International Monetary Fund has loaned nearly $1 billion to Zimbabwe with the prime minister as its contact, and Mugabe would still like to spend the money—even though he will not share power.

Colombia has agreed to give the U.S. military access to bases, the ability to use major international civilian airports, and diplomatic immunity for its personnel and defense contractors for the next 10 years. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says the deal will help drive out drug gangs and rebel groups as the U.S. carries out anti-drug and counterterrorism missions. Yet even this positive development for the U.S. shows just how far U.S. influence has slipped in Latin America. A leading opposition senator in Colombia said the deal amounted to U.S. occupation of his country. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez broke off diplomatic relations with Bogota, saying Colombia could be used as a platform for U.S. attacks against Venezuela. Chile and Brazil also expressed concern. One would have expected the concern to come from the gangs and drug suppliers, not from Colombia’s neighbors.

Exiled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya may be returning to his country under the terms of a U.S.-brokered deal. The deal, reached on October 29, called for a unity government to be in place by November 5 though, and has not yet materialized. Also, it requires that the Congress and Supreme Court approve President Zelaya’s reinstatement, which both have already rejected once. This time, however, his powers would be reduced, leaving him in place as president but stripping him of his authority as commander of the military. New elections are scheduled for November 29, and if the exiled president is not reinstated by then, many countries may refuse to recognize the legitimacy of those elections. The real question then is this: How many times will the Congress, Supreme Court and voters in Honduras need to eject Mr. Zelaya from office before the rest of the world accepts the result?

Anglo-America

News outlets reported Tuesday that a San Francisco cosmetics company has admitted its key ingredient in its anti-aging creams is derived from skin-cell proteins from an aborted baby boy. The company, which has provoked outrage, stated that its product was similar to scientists who use fetuses to make vaccines.

On Thursday, a rampaging gunman murdered 13 people and wounded 30 more at Fort Hood in central Texas. Fort Hood is the largest U.S. military complex in the world and is home to many American soldiers deploying to and returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The killer, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a lifelong Muslim and natural-born American, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” before he began shooting—though the mainstream press has bent over backward to deny the relevance of these facts to the shooting. Hasan was shot but is in stable condition.

News outlets this week proclaimed sunny forecasts for the American economy, saying productivity is surging, joblessness is recovering and stocks are rallying. The optimistic news, while backed by a handful of statistics, is taken out of the context of insurmountable debt, gigantic deficits and endless spending. These are, in fact, false indicators adorning an economy whose fundamentals have decayed past the point of no return.

British morals are sliding even further: The government is imposing compulsory sex education for youth 15 and over. When their children reach age 15, parents will lose the right to withdraw them from sex education classes under the new laws. Even private schools run by religious organizations will not be allowed an opt-out. Children as young as 7 will be exposed to a sexual curriculum.

The Bank of England Thursday dumped an extra £25 billion into the UK economy and kept interest rates at 0.5 percent as economists clamored for the national bank to respond to the nation’s slumping statistics by printing more money. The Independent reports that “major world economies, including the U.S., France and Germany, have emerged from recession in recent months, leaving the UK behind ….” Britain’s economy took a surprise 0.4 percent hit in the third quarter in spite of the government’s desperate attempts to turn the tide.