Free Republic

Who on Earth wants to be known as the last foe of freedom? Not Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who Thursday joined a chorus of leaders telling Syrian President Bashar Assad to end his nation's three-decade occupation of Lebanon. Not Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who abruptly announced plans to hold the first free, multiparty election in his country's history. Not President Mahmoud Abbas, whose path to Palestinian independence is now blocked less by Israel than by peace-averse militant groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas. And certainly not the brave peoples of Afghanistan, of Georgia, of Ukraine, of Iraq,...

It was a scene the Arab world's autocratic regimes have dreaded -- and through the power of satellite TV, it could catch on as fast as the latest hit music video: Peaceful, enormous crowds carrying flags and flowers bringing down a government. What happened in Lebanon this week, analysts say, is the beginning of a new era in the Middle East, one in which popular demand pushes the momentum for democracy and people's will can no longer be disregarded. Television stations broadcast Beirut's protests live into homes, coffee shops and clubs across the Middle East, with the dramatic images of...

Hundreds of protesters waving Lebanese flags returned to central Beirut Tuesday to demand Syria leave Lebanon as the United States and France offered to help the country hold free elections. Officials began a complicated search for a new premier after two weeks of unprecedented protests forced the pro-Syrian cabinet of Prime Minister Omar Karami to step down Monday, piling pressure on Damascus. Market fears of a political vacuum put the Lebanese pound under intense pressure, forcing the central bank to dip deeply into its foreign exchange reserves to defend the currency. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed what she called...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- "America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy," by Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay Brookings, 246pp, $22.95 -0- There are three prevalent myths about President George Bush's foreign policy and this spirited and objective -- but still critical -- analysis by two veterans of Bill Clinton's National Security Council explodes each one. The first myth is that Bush is a foreign policy novice whose policies are run by more experienced veterans like Vice President Dick Chaney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Ivo Daalder, now at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, and James Lindsay,...