Growing concern about specific terrorist threats targeting Europe in the past few weeks, with the focus on Britain, France, and Germany, led the State Department yesterday to issue a “travel alert” related to Europe. Here is the key portion of the alert: The State Department alerts U.S.

Wow. President Obama’s new Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Austan Goolsbee has gone “TED-ish” in his economic commentary. Goolsbee’s talk is coherent, straightforward and doesn’t talk down to folks. And the production style is more modern than virtually anything I have seen from the White House. Excellent job Austan.

Bob Wright has a piece on the New York Times‘ Opinionator which should be read in full as he provocatively suggests that we take the earnestness out of the pursuit of a two-state peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians.

I just got this email from Republican House Whip Eric Cantor: Do You Have Time for a 30 Minute Strategy Call? Dear Steven, Will you join me for a 30 minute strategy call on Thursday, September 30th at 4:30 PM? My colleague in the GOP Young Guns program, Representative Kevin McCarthy, and I would like…

The New York Times yesterday filed a report on India’s efforts to force communications companies that rely on encrypted or hard-to-track communications systems, like Blackberry and Skype, to make their technology accessible or risk being banned from the country.

Many are lauding President Obama’s UN General Assembly speech highlighting America’s rededicated, slightly shifting course on which countries to focus development aid on — and which not.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was compelling and showed real vision in this talk at the New America Foundation sponsored by the American Strategy Program and the Palestine Note. It’s worth the watch.

The violent clashes currently underway in East Jerusalem, sparked by the shooting of a Palestinian man by a private guard protecting Israeli settlers, have once again demonstrated the volatility and hair-trigger tensions in Jerusalem and in the region that can explode at the slightest provocation.

There are so many layers of geostrategic humor in this clip. Watch — and just think about it. Not gonna say more at the moment.

A giant panda eats a special-made mooncake in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province on Sept. 21, 2010, one day ahead of China’s Mid-autumn festival this year.