The Rundown - December 1

News & views on RFE/RL's broadcast region

Afghanistan
#
Obama's new strategy may not include more Afghan troops and police
# David Brooks thinks Obama's new strategy can work
# Peter Beinart on Obama's messaging
# Craig Whitlock on Kosovo as a model for Afghanistan
# The "Washington Post" ed board on paying for the war
# Dana Milbank on Obama's liking the military as an audience

Iran
#
Iran is holding a UK yacht crew in the Strait of Hormuz
# David Keyes on Ahmadinejad's prowess for blogging
# Massoumeh Torfeh says defending human rights is the best negotiating tool
# Michael Adler on Iran's desperate nuclear move

Russia
#
A train was bombed in Dagestan
# Boris Nemtsov has been ordered to pay a $17,000 fine in a libel suit
# Ivan Krastev on the need for Obama to be firm with Russia

Ukraine
#
James Marson on Ukraine's Orange Revolution

U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
#
Ian Kelly has been named Ambassador to the OSCE
# H.D.S. Greenway on Obama's foreign envoys
# Al Kamen's "In the Loop"
# Embassy Row - the "Washington Times"

-- Zach Peterson