Geopolitical Monitor - Politics - Geopolitical Analysis on Political Issues Facing Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East

DOHA May 16, 2008 (Nadim Ladki, Reuters) - Qatar's emir formally opened talks on Friday between rival Lebanese leaders which aim to resolve a protracted political conflict that has pushed their country to the brink of a new civil war.

HARARE May 16, 2008 (Nelson Banya, Reuters) - Zimbabwe said on Friday it would hold a delayed presidential election run-off on June 27, when the opposition hopes to oust veteran leader Robert Mugabe after nearly three decades in power.

Dubai recently announced its partnership with China in the creation of a billion dollar investment fund. Saudi Arabia recently announced its commitment to double oil exports to China by 2010. These two announcements exemplify China’s Middle East energy strategy: to entrench itself economically in the region, even at a loss, so as to obtain the political leverage required to secure access to oil and gas.

BOGOTA May 15, 2008 (Patrick Markey, Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday said he was reviewing ties with Colombia after an Interpol report authenticated rebel computer documents that Bogota says prove the leftist leader has supported guerrillas.

May 15, 2008 (AFP) - Visiting US President George W. Bush vowed on Thursday to support Israel in battling "terror" groups as the nation marks its 60th anniversary still struggling to find peace with Arab neighbours.

BEIRUT May 14, 2008 (Yara Bayoumy, Reuters) - Lebanon's government cancelled measures on Wednesday that angered the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and triggered the worst internal conflict since the country's 1975-90 civil war.

May 14, 2008 (AP) - Three Mexican police chiefs have requested political asylum in the U.S. as violence escalates in the Mexican drug wars and spills across the U.S. border, a top Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.

BAGHDAD May 13, 2008 (Reuters) - Gunmen launched numerous attacks on U.S. troops in the Baghdad bastion of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr overnight, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, in a sign that many militia are ignoring a pact to halt fighting.

LES CAYES, Haiti May 13, 2008 (Reuters) - The demonstrators who ignited last month's violent protests against rising food prices in Haiti have accepted U.S.-sponsored jobs rather than follow through on a threat to launch new riots in the impoverished Caribbean country.

May 12, 2008 (Christof Maletsky, Namibian) - The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has described as "laughable" claims by a senior Zimbabwean government official that the arms shipment carried by a Chinese ship had made its way into that country.