Give the Kremlin credit for ambition. Just weeks after its invasion of Georgia ignited a major conflict in the Caucasus and dramatically altered the status quo in the 'post-Soviet space', the Russian government appears to have set its sights on another strategic prize.
Politkovskaya trial begins;
Capital flight fails to dent defense budget
China to help Pakistan with 10 nuke plants;
North Korea shells Chinese fishing boat
Iran's preconditions for dialogue;
Wooing Sistani;
Fiscal fixes, and their discontents;
Ahmadinejad's challengers begin to emerge
Damascus tightens Internet controls;
Russian advances in Central Asia...;
...and the Gulf;
Syrian-Saudi cold war continues