Analysis

Albania, often accused in the past of harboring unemployed mujaheedin and al-Qaida cells, has offered to contribute 70-75 fighters to Bush's anti-Iraqi "coalition of the willing". Earlier this month, it co-signed the US-Adriatic Charter, enshrining closer cooperation with America, Croatia and Macedonia.

The mysterious poisoning death of the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is straining Russian-British relations. Judith Latham talks with journalists about the political implications of the case.

China’s expanding economic presence in Africa is proving to be a mixed blessing, spurring growth on the one hand and squeezing out local competition on the other.

The Kremlin has endorsed an ambitious plan to build a new generation of reactors at home and abroad. It also says it is ready to build an international center to offer nuclear energy technology to the world while keeping weapons proliferaters at bay. It's not the first time Russia has sought to rekindle its atomic industry. So what's behind Russia's latest vision of a nuclear future?

The US reaction to any force rivalling its global position militarily or economically is to monitor it with watchful eyes and prepare for action rather matter of factly. China appears to be rather aware of this.

The terrorist status of the exiled Iranian resistance might be used to pressurize Iran's regime over the next few months as the US, the UN and the EU step up efforts to get the country to comply with specific rules on its nuclear program.

When he was elected Mexico's president five years ago, Vicente Fox ended the Institutional Revolutionary Party's seven decade grip on power. But many observers say his ambitious programs to reform the country's politics and economy have been disappointing at best.

One of the major worries the international community has expressed about Iran's audacious continuation of its nuclear program has been just how the new regime might position itself in any negotiations or confrontations ahead.

The Iranians are busy getting the less exciting bits of their nuclear program back on track in the wake of failed negotiations with the EU Troika for reasons that appear to be, if anything, foolishly politically motivated.

The tensions between South Asian alliances and the US could be a harbinger of the return to the multi polar set up of the world in years ahead.

As of next year, Central Asia will have come fully online to Western energy markets, as twin oil and gas pipelines linking the Caspian sea to Turkey will begin to deliver. By this time, the world will likely finally understand that US foreign policy, known to be energy focused, is intent on more than just bringing Iraq to its knees.

Massive rallies are planned for the upcoming Gleneagles summit of the G8 early next month. If the current reports of the organizers are anywhere indicative of its success it is likely that Gleneagles might be rather overcrowded.

The much disputed Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank is rapidly becoming an issue that most people involved in are recycling years' worth of violence and political tensions into.

Pipelines traversing international territories often get played up at moments as opportune as their location is strategic. An attack on a major oil or gas pipeline might not be as outlandish as it sounds, but in fact might be rather logical.

Russia is intensifying efforts to assert the idea of 'managed democracy' that topped the public agenda at the onset of President Vladimir Putin's rule a decade ago. The many questions that arose at the time regarding the future of the Soviet Union have by far not been answered. But one thing is clear; inactivity is the ultimate in destruction.