President Bush's trip to Europe this week will be rich in symbolism - historical and geopolitical. In Moscow, the American president will join world leaders to remember the end of World War Two in Europe. But just as important will be stops by Mr. Bush in two former Soviet states where the mood is less celebratory. They associate the defeat of Nazi Germany with the beginning of Soviet occupation.

The Bush administration said the main goal of the president's visit to Georgia was to acknowledge and encourage the young democracy. Just 18 months after the Rose Revolution toppled the entrenched government of Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgia has inspired similar peaceful uprisings in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

Two recent books on American foreign affairs suggest that a dramatic shift in U.S. national security policy come January 2009 is both imprudent and unlikely.

The U.S. war ally voices criticism of prewar assessments on weapons. South Korea balks at deploying 3,000 troops to the city of Kirkuk.

President George W Bush is savouring headlines hailing him as a new Ronald Reagan spreading liberty in his wake after his tour of Europe.