Elections in Pakistan are over. Though the mandate is regional, as no party has shown a nation wide presence, PML-N has attained a majority in Pakistan’s national assembly after 18 independent candidates joined the party. D. Raghunandan of Newsclick.in discusses the factors governing the present political environment of Pakistan with the senior journalist Seema Mustafa.

In the lead-up to the war in Iraq, President George W. Bush made a promise. “The Iraqi people can be certain of this,” he said. “The United States is committed to helping them build a better future.”

If the US stops Genie Energy from going ahead with oil contract, it invites the wrath of myriad pro-Israel groups.

That Hollywood is swayed by the CIA was confirmed once again on the Oscars night when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave a number of awards including best picture to Argo.

On January 11, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) released its “Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-level Radioactive Waste”. The strategy is the Obama administration’s response to the recommendations issued in January 2012 by the federal Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on America's Nuclear Future.

Prof. Vijay Prashad discusses with NewsClick the Foreign Policy initiatives in the second term of Obama's Presidency. In the first term, Obama had come with huge expectations, with very liberal provisions on the table. But he could not live up to them. Prof. Prashad feels that the Obama administration is following a Rightist Foreign Policy which has a temperamental outlook. It is re-tooled for a push around the world, to recover the lost ground by US.

Aijaz Ahmad in this Part 2 of the discussions looks at what the impact of this war is likely to be for the other players in the region. He believes that Israel will have to pay a heavy price for a course that can only weaken their strategic allies in the region.

Tomorrow, the bankers and corporate chiefs are planning an historic victory party. With the election of Mitt Romney, their takeover of American democracy would be complete.

In an extraordinary paper released last week, former US Ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, outlined a range of military, financial and diplomatic measures that the US should be prepared to take against the Chavez government after the coming elections on October 7th.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was unequivocal in her condemnation.  “We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria,” she said in remarks earlier this year.  “