The Foreign Minister, Adam Rotfeld, assures that it will not be a political operation of placing people connected with the present government in embassies and consulates.

The freedom enjoyed in Najaf as a result of American actions in 2003 and 2004 will not matter if the United States has no diplomats permanently in Shiite Islam's Vatican City, ready to make Washington's case; America's enemies will define our legacy.

Against this backdrop--Pakistan careening from one crisis to the next and the U.S.-Pakistan relationship at its lowest point in years--come two contrasting books from experts on the country.

Could Russiacon the United States into dealing with the "dirty work" inIran?

In clandestine intelligence collection and covert action, bigger is rarely better.

Some American allies are expressing anger at the uneven treatment that their citizens are getting when they visit the United States, while Europeans from nations with longer, but now more strainedties to America get no additional scrutiny at the border.

If Washington fails to provide a comprehensive system that actually engenders respect for the rules, the rule of law will be damaged to such an extent that it may not recover.

Iran's nuclear program raises the stakes of its deceit to U.S. national security.