The Rundown - February 17

News & views on RFE's broadcast region

Protests Across The Arab World
# Police in Bahrain cleared protesters overnight, killing at least two
# Activists in Libya are attempting to organize protests today
# The "BBC" has an interactive map of the protests
# "Don’t Party Like It’s 1989" - Leon Hadar, "American Conservative"

Iran
# The Iranian regime has called for a day of protests against the opposition movement
# "U.S. Must Empower The Green Movement" - Ray Takeyh, "The Washington Post"
# "Stuxnet Was About What Happened Next" - Michael Schrage, "Financial Times"
# A U.S. intelligence estimate says Iran's regime is divided over the nuclear issue

Russia
# "Neo-Feudalism Explained" - Vladislav L. Inozemtsev, "American Interest"
# "When Fewer Nuclear Arms Means More Security" - Yevgeny Bazhanov, "Moscow Times"
# "Why the Kremlin Can’t Fight Terrorism" - Amy Knight, "NY Review Of Books"
# Muslim women in Russia face scrutiny over the headdress

Pakistan
# "Pakistan’s Mubarak Moment" - Shahid Javed Burki, "Project Syndicate"
# "Raymond Davis Case: Bitter Truths" - Raza Rumi, "Express Tribune"
# U.S. Senator John Kerry is in Pakistan

Iraq
# Protestors in Iraq burned some state buildings
# Colin Powell wonders why the CIA didn't warn him about "Curveball's" unreliability

Of Interest
# "Revolution U" - Tina Rosenberg, "Foreign Policy"
# "Crackdown In Belarus" - Editorial, "The Washington Post"
# Eben Moglen has invented a low-cost "freedom box" for web circumvention
# U.S. authorities broke up a large Armenian gang ring

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# "The Wall Street Journal" reports on America's Internet freedom strategy
# "The New York Times" on the writings of Gene Sharp
# "The Daily Beast" reports on the U.S. drone program
# Al Kamen's "In The Loop"