I just finished reading the Independent Committee on Turkey’s report on Turkey’s EU accession negotiations. The Committee consists of European elder statesman who support Turkey’s membership and are alarmed by the “vicious circle” of events that is jeopardizing Turkey’s EU prospects.

In today’s New York Times, Ronald Asmus provides a useful summary of the German Marshall Fund’s recently released Transatlantic Trends report. The report indicates that support for American foreign policy has risen dramatically in Western Europe, but not in Eastern Europe or Turkey.

Does anyone even remember that this was supposed to be about Osama bin Laden? How did we get into a full on war with the Taliban and thus in the middle of an Afghan Civil War in which neither side likes us much? The Obama administration has made a major mistake in allowing a sleight-of-hand…

The Obama administration today lightened travel and remittance restrictions for US-based relatives of Cuban citizens residing in Cuba. The limit on relatives is noted at “second cousins.” Hooray! — not. OK — it’s some progress. But this is progress that the Cuban-American right wing wanted.

The way that the nuclear weapons world works today is that if you are “trusted” by the US and Europe — you can overtly or covertly hold on to your nukes, particularly if a nation is not part of the non-proliferation regime. But if you aren’t trusted, you can’t have them under any circumstances.

I haven’t read Max Blumenthal‘s new book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party, just yet — but I had a good laugh when I just got these “early reviews” from The New Yorker‘s Hendrik Hertzberg and Ann Coulter — yes, that Ann.

I really enjoyed participating in this Schieffer series panel discussion titled “Understanding Japan’s Elections: What the Elections Mean for Asia and the United States” moderated by CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer.

Cato Institute foreign policy program Christopher Preble has a smart piece on the Partnership for a Secure America blog “Across the Aisle” today correctly noting that there is no bipartisan divide on US strategy in Afghanistan. Instead, there is a divide between “two bipartisan consensuses.

This is an eight minute exchange with retired 4-star General and former CENTCOM Commander and Israel/Palestine presidential envoy Anthony Zinni. It’s well worth watching.

Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He is one of the leading voices who warned early of the impending housing bubble — and his economic analysis, as measured by forecasts and then results, has been extremely impressive over the years.