By Ben Katcher

American Enterprise Institute Resident Fellow Desmond Lachman is an excellent forecaster and describer of economic trends and their likely consequences.

Oliver Lough is a research intern at the New America Foundation. In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Willy Lam broke a disturbing story on China’s burgeoning police state: “On December 2, senior state-security personnel met in Tianjin to fine-tune a new nationwide antisubversion network to help safeguard the Chinese Communist Party’s ruling status.

The Washington Note Publisher Steve Clemons is flying off to Portland, Oregon this evening to speak to the Portland Business Alliance tomorrow on the subject of America’s “Green Trade Deficit.” Steve will be delivering a presentation based on “Green Trade Balance,” a New America Foundation/Economic Growth Program policy paper.

A new survey commissioned by the New America Foundation and conducted this November by Gerstein Agne Strategic Communications reveals that Israeli opinions of President Obama and the peace process contrast starkly with popular reports — though Israeli support for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his security-focused policies also remains strong.

Some quick thoughts on Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit to Washington this week. -It is clear that Turkey and the United States have different approaches to Iran’s nuclear program. The United States is still calling for “zero enrichment” and is threatening additional sanctions if Iran does not cede to the P5+1 demands.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is leading a delegation of top Turkish political and business leaders in Washington D.C. this week.

Al Majalla, the Arab magazine, recently published a special report on Turkey called “7 years of AKP Rule.” The report provides a variety of perspectives on Turkey’s political situation and the impact of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) seven years in power.

If one thing was obvious about President Obama’s speech on Tuesday night it was how complex the United States’ challenges in South Asia are.

Amidst the analysis of Turkey’s “eastern turn” and the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) alleged ambivalence toward Europe, the ongoing political conflict among Turkey, Greece, Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots, and the European Union over Cyprus remains the largest obstacle to Turkey’s European Union accession.

Jonathan Guyer is a program associate at the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force. Watching Al Jazeera English following President Obama’s Afghan speech, I was struck by Riz Kahn’s question about where Special Representative Richard Holbrooke fits into all of this.