There are very few silver linings to current record-high oil prices — but a more stable future for embattled Iraq may be one of them. Many experts believe that the countrys growing oil revenues will yield three benefits: an improving economy that can diminish some support for the insurgency, more money to develop Iraqs security forces, and a greater willingness by other countries to invest in Iraqs future.

The latest round of Turkish air raids against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq, continuing from this past weekend into Monday, underscore the fact that Turkish incursions have become part of the wars indelible landscape.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of Yousaf Raza Gilanis conduct upon his ascension as Pakistans new prime minister has been his lack of apparent vitriol toward President Pervez Musharraf.

To some commentators, the results of Pakistans Feb. 18 elections in its restive North-West Frontier Province appear to be a significant strategic victory for the United States.

By mid-2007, when the fighting in Somalia was routinely described as an "Iraq-style insurgency," victory seemed likely for the extremist Islamic Courts Union. But rifts within the insurgency that were simmering last year may now have reached a boiling point, providing a strategic opportunity for Somalias transitional federal government (TFG) and its Ethiopian allies.