This time last year the big question about the last act of the outgoing administration of U.S. President George W. Bush was whether it would launch military strikes against Irans nuclear sites. For the past few weeks, the big question has been whether the United States would start diplomatic relations by opening an interest section in a friendly embassy in Tehran.

PARIS -- The signature on Nov. 17 of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker is a significant move toward the restoration of Iraqs sovereignty. But many hurdles remain.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obamas historic election victory may have done a lot more for Israeli moderates than just boost the election prospects of the Kadima party and its new leader Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. A remarkable public speech by one of the Jewish states espionage chiefs Monday suggests that Obamas emergence is encouraging Israeli doves to spread their wings, even in the military high command.

Professor Rashid Khalidi, who unintentionally came into the national limelight during the final week of the campaign when the John McCain camp labeled him a "terrorist," and then proceeded to tie him to Dem. Sen. Barack Obama, gave a speech in 2002 at the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committees 19th national convention in Virginia where he told the audience that "the first thing Arabs should do is stop whining. "We are very good at whining," said Khalidi.

In just under 75 days at exactly noon on Jan. 20, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, after which he will travel the short distance of about a mile and a half from Capitol Hill to the White House. Later that evening there will be about a dozen inauguration balls for him and the first lady to attend. But President Obama will have very little time to celebrate his victory.

A series of meetings between United States and Syrian diplomats, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, at the United Nations last week are stirring speculation that Washington may at last be moving toward engaging Damascus.

Last months five-day war in Georgia, a tiny neighbor of Russia and Turkey, rekindled memories of the beautiful American ballad, "Georgia on My Mind," which was written in 1930 and became a famous hit only in 1960 when the popular blind American singer, Ray Charles, introduced it nationwide.

Veteran Russian admiral Eduard Bautin was outspoken last week. He noted that there were more U.S. and NATO warships operating in the Black Sea than ever before but he assured reporters in Moscow it was no problem – They could all be sunk by the Russian Black Sea fleet and its land-based support aircraft within 20 minutes.

On Sept. 6, the New York Times published a story by Sophia Kishkovsky titled "Conflict Tests Ties Between the Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches." The author explains the struggle and sorrow experienced by Orthodox leaders of the two respective churches over the recent military engagement between Russia and Georgia.

The drums of war are beating louder, amplified by Irans pursuit of its nuclear agenda and the West and Israels determination not to let it do so. Continuing rhetoric by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about "wiping Israel off the map" does little to help. Meanwhile, the U.S. administration wants to see Tehrans uranium enrichment issue resolved before January 2009, when the next administration is sworn in. The clock is ticking.