AMMAN -- The landmark visit by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to Syria this week and his comments about the important role Damascus plays in regional peace and stability provides further momentum for a Syrian comeback to the Western fold, perhaps setting the stage for a shift in U.S. policy toward the country in preparation for President-elect Barack Obama to take up office.

Barack Obama the candidate had promised changes. He had promised changes both in domestic and foreign policies. Obama the president-elect is beginning to work on getting those changes implemented as soon as he moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in a little over 60 days – two months. The word on the street is that as president, Obama will ask New York Senator Hillary Clinton to be his secretary of state.

After eight years of misguided policy by the U.S. George W. Bush administration in the Middle East, the time is overdue for an enlightened strategy to tackle the regions woes. This must include an approach that will bring hope to a region shattered by violence, consumed by conflict and division and filled with disdain toward the United States.

AMMAN -- As the Iraqi government struggles to finalize a crucial security pact with the United States that can be accepted by Iraqi leaders, it is also making diplomatic efforts to assure its neighbors and fellow Arab states that the accord is not as dangerous to their security and sovereignty as they fear.

Time is running out for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He will have to decide in the next few weeks whether his overture to the West is genuine or not. To Assads credit a slew of events are pointing to his good faith, but he is still afraid to totally break loose from Irans grip. Whatever decision the Syrian president makes will have a great impact on the region.

JERUSALEM -- In what appears to be a desperate and last-bid effort to salvage what remains of his tattered reputation, U.S. President George W. Bush has allegedly offered Syria the return of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in return for Damascus breaking ties with its Iranian patron.

PARIS -- The establishment of diplomatic relations earlier this month between Syria and Lebanon is a symbolic act of considerable importance. It is the first time these neighbors have established such relations since they wrested their independence from France in the 1940s.

MOSCOW -- Syria and Lebanon established diplomatic relations on Oct. 15, some 60 years after gaining independence from France in the mid-1940s. Why have they waited so long?

AMMAN -- The latest U.N. report on the implementation of a controversial Security Council resolution on Lebanon is being seen as balanced, for the first time since the international decision was passed four years ago, thanks to significant political changes that have swept Lebanon in the past six months.

Security in the north of Lebanon has deteriorated in the past few months due to sectarian fighting between the Sunni population and the Shia-Alawite community and recent terrorist attacks against the Lebanese armed forces in the area.