Reading in January

More on George Bush's Middle East trip, this time from the Economist.

Anna Dahlberg in Expressen writes on the discreet life of Swedish foreign policy thinktanks, especially notable as their input would contribute both to policymaking and to public debate. Dagens Nyheter's Ingrid Hedström ponders the importance of the Eurovision Song Contest in European integration politics, here with a not so happy example from Serbia.

An analysis of Al Qaida by Faisal Devji, published in Svenska Dagbladet. What can you tell me about him?

An article on an English man's love for Delhi, sparked by reading his Times obituary.

Expressen tells of a brave girl and her family in Egypt - a very young mother whose life would have deserved a different turn.

The daily possibilities of women in Saudiarabia may be progressing, if in small steps. Svenska Dagbladet writes on being able to check in to hotels. We're still waiting for driving. In Iran, women candidates for parliament are discussed here by the BBC. The lifting of the headscarf ban at Turkish universities is a related issue, here in an article from International Herald Tribune.

Al Jazeera gives attention to the socio-economic situation in Kurdish-majority south-eastern Turkey. Also on Turkey, Today's Zaman reports on the visit to Ankara by Greek PM Karamanlis.

Patrick Seale writes in Gulf News on Lebanon's ongoing political ordeal. BBC here on the same topic, also.

Much media attention has been given to the breakout from Gaza into Egypt. I believe personally it only serves to illustrate the futility of ignoring actual political forces such as Hamas. For the regional equation to add up politically, they must be calculated into the solution. Here is Svenska Dagbladet, Dagens Nyheter, Swedish radio (especially on consequences for Egypt), BBC and Svenska Dagbladet again.