The World This Week: Taiwan - Iraq - Iran - more

March 21, 2008 View this newsletter as a web page on CFR.org In this Issue: • Politics in the Strait • The Iraq War: Five Years On • Conservative Conundrum in Iran • Talking to Hamas? Politics in the Strait A new president in Taiwan may herald an era of better relations with China, though events in Tibet have energized Taiwan's campaigning. Read more Backgrounder: China-Taiwan Relations CFR.org Interview with John D. Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State: China Mostly "In Sync" With U.S. on Iran Task Force Report: U.S.-China Relations—An Affirmative Agenda, A Responsible Course CFR Experts on China and Taiwan The Iraq War: Five Years On On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, CFR.org offers a selection of recent analysis and other resources to provide context to the conflict. Read more Council Special Report: After the Surge—The Case for U.S. Military Disengagement from Iraq Interactive Slideshow: Five Years of War in Iraq Campaign 2008 Issue Tracker: The Candidates on Iraq CFR Experts on Iraq Conservative Conundrum in Iran Western powers criticize Iran's election, but the vote could weaken Iran’s president and advance an explicit if unstated goal of Washington and its allies. Read more CFR.org Interview with Farideh Farhi: New Iranian Majlis Will Be Critical of Ahmadinejad on Domestic Issues Op-ed: "Iran's Orchestrated Elections" by Ray Takeyh (International Herald Tribune) CFR Meeting Video: Intelligence Analysis—Continuity and Change with Thomas Fingar, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis CFR Experts on Iran Talking to Hamas? In an interview with CFR.org, Steven Cook says he sees no chance the United States would deal directly with Hamas in the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. Read more Foreign Affairs: "The New Middle East" by Richard N. Haass Interactive Timeline: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict CFR Experts on Israel and the Palestinian Authority New Council Book on Sharia and the Islamic State In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world. Click here to read the transcript of a recent Council meeting with Noah in which he discusses his new book and the issues it addresses. CFR Experts in the News Iraq War (3/20): Amity Shlaes breaks down the cost of the Iraq war, in the Chicago Tribune. U.S. Economy (3/19): Amity Shlaes argues that the Democrats, not the Republicans, are repeating Herbert Hoover's mistakes, on Bloomberg.com. Campaign 2008 (3/19): Michael Gerson writes that Obama's speech on race in America did not explain "his strange tolerance for the anti-Americanism of his spiritual mentor," in the Washington Post. Sharia (3/17): Noah Feldman looks at the role of sharia in modern Islamic politics, in the New York Times Magazine. France (3/11): Michelle Smith and Charles Ferguson evaluate Sarkozy's nuclear deals in the Middle East, in the International Herald Tribune. Daily Opinion Roundup Added to CFR.org E-Newsletter Offerings The Council's signature morning e-newsletter, the Daily News Brief, now includes a summary of opinion pieces from the new Daily Opinion Roundup, CFR.org's selection of op-eds and editorials from the U.S. and abroad. You can sign up to receive both here.