I woke up in Rome, Italy this morning — the 4th of July — to the very surprising news that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was resigning her position at the end of the month. I don’t know whether this is a July 4th gift — or a warning of a nationally divisive presidential run.

This is a Tehran dispatch from an anonymous student in Iran who has been blogging for The Washington Note and other sites and publications, including the New York Times, as “Shane M.” The dispatch that follows appeared in Salonand at Juan Cole’s Informed Comment. A clip from Tehran Dispatch: Basijis Hang Around, Do Nothing. ….

Political journalist Robert Dreyfuss has a terrific survey piece on Iran’s tumultous political scene in the aftermath of recent elections there. Dreyfuss was in Tehran and is now back in Washington.

Here is a several minute long clip of a short discussion I had with Sir Richard Dalton, former UK Ambassador to Iran from 2002-2006 and editor of a new Chatham House report, Iran: Breaking the Nuclear Deadlock.

Caroline Esser is a Research Intern at the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s discussion of President Obama’s upcoming visit to Russia strikes a cooperative, friendly tone. But toward the end he quotes John F. Kennedy, who said during the Cuba Missile Crisis that “If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

I have the privilege of chatting with many political, economic and foreign policy journalists from around the world. I generally like almost all of them and appreciate their interest, but some stand out above the others on occasion — and Hoda Husseini of Asharq Al-Awsat was one of these.

Each month, I receive from Leo Hindery an update on “America’s effective unemployment rate” which includes not only the official unemployment figures but other data points showing off-the-books unemployed or underemployed people. The numbers are staggering and are aggregates of official data.

Recently ousted President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras has vowed to return to his country this weekend to reclaim his position as President of the Republic.

As President Obama prepares to visit Russia next week, Columbia University‘s Robert Legvold has a thought-provoking article on the state of U.S.-Russia relations in the current issue of Foreign Affairs. Legvold helpfully identifies current U.S.