Iran
The Pentagon is building a missile-defense radar station at a secret site in Qatar and organizing its biggest-ever minesweeping exercises in the Persian Gulf, as preparations accelerate for a possible flare-up with Iran, according to U.S. officials. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought on Monday to reassure Israel that U.S. efforts to block Iran’s nuclear ambitions are working, but said the Obama administration’s strategy of diplomacy and economic sanctions needs more time to play out. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Wrapping up a whirlwind trip to Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the U.S. and Israel are “on the same page at this moment” in terms of how to deal with Iran and vowed to use “all elements of American power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” – Los Angeles Times
Global banking giant HSBC failed to prevent billions of dollars worth of money transfers that Senate investigators believe were linked to drug cartels and terrorist groups, according to a report released Monday. – CNN’s Security Clearance
The Navy is sending the carrier John C. Stennis to the Middle East much earlier than expected to keep two carriers in the region as civil war rages in Syria and Iran renews its threats to close the vital Strait of Hormuz. – Military Times
Iranian officials are once again threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz as sanctions against the country continue to bite at Iran’s economy. – DEFCON Hill
Iran should receive amnesty from past transgressions or curbs on economic penalties if it agrees to support an international investigation of possible weapon-related atomic activities, Reuters on Sunday quoted experts as saying – Global Security Newswire
Sohrab Ahmari writes: The Iranian regime is convinced—mistakenly—that the West is actively undermining Khomeinism as an ideology and a way of life. Woe onto to them once we actually set our minds to it. – The American Interest
Syria
Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia made clear on Monday that the Kremlin has no intention of supporting a British proposal to enact United Nations sanctions as a solution to the Syrian crisis. – New York Times
In a camp of metal housing containers surrounded by a barbed-wire fence, 11,500 Syrians spend their days waiting and wondering when they might be able to go home. Most of them fled for their lives in an instant, never imagining their exile would last so long. – Washington Post
Some lawmakers are eyeing the conflict in Syria as a golden opportunity to weaken Iran, the United States’s main foe in the Middle East, according to a new Congressional Research Service report. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Clashes in Damascus between rebels and state forces raged for a third day on Tuesday, in the fiercest fighting to hit Syria’s seat of power since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began 17 months ago. – Reuters
The U.N. Security Council will vote on Wednesday on a Western-backed resolution that threatens Syrian authorities with sanctions if they do not stop using heavy weapons in towns, despite a declaration by Russia that it will block the move. – Reuters
There can never be a pretext for foreign intervention in Syria no matter how good the intentions, China’s top newspaper said on Tuesday ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote on a Western-backed resolution that threatens sanctions. – Reuters
Morocco ordered the Syrian ambassador on Monday to leave the North African kingdom and called for a transition to democracy in Syria, and Damascus retaliated by declaring the Moroccan ambassador there persona non grata. – Reuters
Michael Singh writes: Despite hopeful pronouncements to the contrary, mere invitations to diplomatic deliberations do not cause states to revise their interests. Rather, they provide them with a vehicle to advance those interests, for better or worse. Nor do such deliberations succeed best when “everyone with influence” is invited. Rather, they work best when enough states which together have enough influence — and who can find an overlap in their interests which all participants find preferable to the status quo or most likely alternative — are involved. As long as the Iranian regime seeks to ensure its own security by undermining that of its neighbors, it does not qualify. – Shadow Government
David Kramer and Lilia Shevtsova write: Of course, the “responsibility to protect” provision gives the West the right to proceed without arguing that “Russia has the keys to Damascus.” If the Western powers continue to wait for such keys, they may in fact be looking for excuses to do nothing. – The American Interest
North Africa
More than a year has passed since the Arab Spring, the catchall name for the revolutions sweeping the Middle East. The political and economic changes have closed some doors and opened others for business people willing to tolerate risk. – New York Times
Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s former president, was abruptly moved from the relative comfort of a military hospital back to prison on Monday after the country’s public prosecutor ruled that he was fit to serve his time behind bars. – New York Times
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Monday the desert border between Israel and Egypt could become an “operational base” for jihadists if security is not maintained. Israel has raised concerns about the region in the wake of the fall of the Mubarak government. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Ms. Jabralla is just one of some 2,000 Sudanese civic activists, students, opposition party members, and journalists who have disappeared into Sudan’s jails and detention centers over the past few weeks in a government crackdown against growing dissent. – Christian Science Monitor
Gunmen abducted the president of the Libyan Olympic Committee in the nation’s capital, grabbing him from his car and bundling him into a waiting vehicle, his brother said Monday. – Associated Press
Tunisia
Tunisia’s central bank on Monday closed on a $485 million bond offering, leaving the United States on the line for the principal and interest under a deal approved in April. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda has re-elected moderate Rachid Ghannouchi to lead the Islamist party for two more years, sources said on Monday, an outcome that could reassure secularists worried about a slide into religious government. – Reuters
The Tunisian president ousted last year in a popular uprising is willing to hand over to his country any assets found in Switzerland, widely believed to be worth tens of millions of dollars, his lawyer said on Monday. – Reuters
Yemen
Machine guns, sniper rifles, aerial drones, and two new operating bases are all part of a $75 million Pentagon counterterrorism package for Yemen sent to Capitol Hill. – DEFCON Hill
Gulf States
A 677-foot United States Navy refueling ship in the Persian Gulf opened fire on Monday with a .50-caliber machine gun on what appeared to be a 30-foot sport fishing boat after it ignored repeated warnings to stop, killing a crew member and causing a spike in oil prices that reflected the heightened tensions in the region between Iran and the United States. – New York Times
Iran on Tuesday criticized the actions of a U.S. navy ship that shot at an approaching fishing boat off the United Arab Emirates, saying the incident showed foreign forces threatened regional security. – Reuters
The United Arab Emirates deported an online activist to Thailand on Monday after stripping him of his right to live in the country, part of a widening crackdown on alleged challenges to the state since the Arab Spring uprisings, a rights group said. – Associated Press
United Arab Emirates has detained at least four Emirati Islamists after saying it was investigating a foreign-linked group planning “crimes against the security of the state”, relatives and activists said on Monday. – Reuters
An Omani court has sentenced six people to jail terms of 12 to 18 months over social media posts it called “slander” against the country’s ruler, a defense lawyer said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Iraq
Michael O’Hanlon writes: Iraqis made the crucial decision for American troops to go. It was their right. And it is useful for the United States to prove to the Middle East and the world that, when asked to leave, we do in fact leave. That counters many myths about our supposedly imperial intent and discourages countries from taking our presence and our help for granted. On balance, this outcome is a reasonable gamble on the part of Baghdad and Washington. Obama’s record to date on Iraq may not be Churchillian and may not be his proudest achievement, but it is a solid and sober one. – The National Interest
Ayad Jamaluddin writes: The current head of the Najaf Hawza, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, is an elderly man. Iran’s government is eagerly awaiting his death, at which point it will try to put forward a Khomeinist candidate as his successor. Its most likely choice will be Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, the former head of the Iranian judiciary. If he assumes the mantle of leadership in Najaf, Khomeini’s work will be complete—the old Shiite faith, with its institutions and its moderate outlook, will have been replaced by the new faith of Khomeinist political Shiism. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Israel
Visiting Israel for the first time in nearly two years, with the Palestinian peace process seemingly on perpetual hold, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that “the status quo is unsustainable” and urged leaders from both sides back to negotiations. – New York Times
Although it is the leading Arab university in the Jerusalem metropolitan area, graduates of its medical school are not allowed to take the Israeli licensing exam needed to work in the city. As a result, a heavily burdened health-care system in the Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, where specialists are sorely lacking, is deprived of an infusion of new physicians to help serve a population of about 300,000. – Washington Post
Turkey
Dozens of lawyers went on trial in Turkey on Monday on charges of links to Kurdish militants and foreign jurists rallied outside the court to protest at the latest in a series of cases that have drawn criticism of Ankara’s human rights record. – Reuters
South Asia
The United States and its allies have devoted years of effort and billions of dollars to improve the delivery of basic services in rural Afghanistan. If Afghan leadership were to have taken hold anywhere, it might well have been in Karz, a farming area on the outskirts of Kandahar city still populated by relatives and tribesmen of the man who has ruled Afghanistan through a decade of war. Instead, what is emerging in ever starker relief is a governance vacuum as U.S. forces begin to draw down. – Washington Post
U.S. commanders increasingly are turning to a relatively obscure battlefield detective to find buried bombs, a major killer of Americans in Afghanistan. But getting permission to buy the detection system has not been easy, a congressman says. – Washington Times
Images from spy planes and sensors that detect wires that trigger explosives have helped to mitigate the No. 1 threat to U.S. troops in Afghanistan — roadside bombs — over the past year. – USA Today
A rogue Afghan soldier who killed four French soldiers in a January attack that prompted Paris to accelerate its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan has been sentenced to death, a defense ministry spokesman in Kabul said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Editorial: Until Pakistan develops a democratic civilian government capable of purging that belligerence, the United States will have to settle for a pragmatic combination of buying off Pakistan when it is possible — and containing it when it is not. – Washington Post
East Asia
A day after dismissing its military chief, North Korea on Tuesday announced the promotion of a little-known general to vice marshal, a move widely seen as the new leader Kim Jong-un’s attempt to tame the military and reshape the regime’s power elite to consolidate his authority. – New York Times
American intelligence agencies recently obtained new information on China’s second new stealth fighter-bomber revealed on the Internet in the past two years, according to U.S. officials. – Washington Free Beacon
Hong Kong’s embattled new leader, Leung Chun-ying, announced a series of welfare measures on Monday and pleaded for time to deal with scandals that have rocked the city, including illegal structures in his own home. – Reuters
Taiwan for the first time July 16 tested how a fleet of advanced submarine-hunting aircraft and attack helicopters would be utilized in the event of an attack by rival China, officials and media said. – AFP
Mongolia’s Democratic Party, which failed to win an outright majority in last month’s elections, will discuss forming a new coalition government with a controversial party opposed to foreign mining, members said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Michael Auslin writes: Japan will be on its own when it comes to playing dangerous games over these islands. Yet Japan can’t simply give up its claims to either group, since that would spur all its neighbors to make demands. Tokyo will have to perform a solo balancing act but expect it to focus more on the growing power in Asia: China. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Southeast Asia
Next year, when Yale University welcomes students to its joint venture with the National University of Singapore, campus political life will likely bear little resemblance to that of its Ivy League model…But the Singapore campus won’t allow political protests, nor will it permit students to form partisan political societies. – Wall Street Journal
The fast-growing 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which aims to form an EU-style economic bloc by 2015, insists it remains united despite its failure for the first time in 45 years to agree a concluding summit statement. But Reuters’ interviews reveal deep discord and frayed tempers at last week’s summit that are sharply at odds with the group’s self-styled reputation for harmony and polite debate. – Reuters
Russia
The Ryzhkov-Gudkov footage was just one in a series of grainy videos and audio recordings recently leaked to Kremlin-friendly tabloids by security and law-enforcement agencies. The recordings, analysts say, were part of a concerted Kremlin effort to discredit and divide their opponents. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Russian investigators charged a former policeman on Monday with helping to organise the killing of journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya almost six years ago. – Reuters
Josh Rogin reports: Four members of Russia’s upper chamber were in Washington last week to ask Congress not to pass human rights legislation targeting Russia and to accuse the late Sergei Magnitsky, for which the legislation was named, of stealing millions through tax fraud. – The Cable
David Satter writes: Russia now stands on the verge of important events that may have significance not only for Russians but also for the West. There will be temptations toward radicalism as Russians, under the pressure of the battle with an authoritarian regime, are exposed to the political appeal of extreme ideologies. They can avoid these extremes and create a new basis for their country’s future, but to do that and to take advantage of post-Soviet Russia’s second chance at democracy, they will have to focus on the value of the individual and let truth be their guide. – National Review (subscription required)
Rachel Denber writes: Russia’s international partners should take a firm stand against the laws designed to close the space for civil society, and make clear that Moscow’s place in the international arena very much depends on its human-rights record. – Wall Street Journal Europe
Poland
Poland continues to be suspicious of money from Russia, its historic foe, and over the weekend nipped in the bud a Russian company’s expansion in the Polish chemical sector. – WSJ’s Emerging Europe
United States of America
As critics accuse President Obama of a weak response to the political and humanitarian crisis in Syria, the president quietly signed an order Monday proclaiming “Captive Nations Week.” – Washington Times
The State Department on Monday released its annual digest of U.S. views on international law for the year 2011, which covers the raid against Osama bin Laden and the NATO intervention in Libya. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Josh Rogin reports: The State Department has gaps in its embassy staffs all over the world, despite several years of hiring increases, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). – The Cable
Rogin also reports: Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s policy on the future of U.S.-led war in Afghanistan war is unclear and confusing, complicating attempts to either support or criticize it during the campaign, according to leading senators from both parties. – The Cable
Zalmay Khalilzad writes: The American electorate is rightly focused on economic issues. But amid troubling shifts in the global balance of power and the range of emerging challenges, the candidates also should embrace a substantive debate on the international dimensions. – The National Interest
Cuba
Nearly two years into the Cuban government’s economic overhaul aimed at slashing public payrolls and bolstering private enterprise, the reforms have slowed so much that many Cuban entrepreneurs and intellectuals are questioning the aging leadership’s ability — or will — to reshape one of the world’s last Communist systems and shift nearly half of the island’s output to private hands. – New York Times
Many Cubans essentially lease their homes from the state at nominal rents. Other government entities are beginning to let small shared spaces for the likes of craftspeople and repair technicians. But Mr. Leal’s initiative is blazing a new trail in this communist-run country by directly renting prime, indoor real estate to private small-business people so they can set up long term, compete with government shops and joint ventures between the state and foreign companies — and truly stand to make a buck. – Associated Press
West Africa
Nigeria’s military appears ready to begin a major operation to raid suspected hideouts across the central Nigerian Plateau State, where insurgents responsible for last week’s violence are thought to be based. – Christian Science Monitor
The European Union is to send experts to Niger to train its security forces to fight al Qaeda, signaling the depth of EU concern over the growing threat Islamist militancy poses to Africa’s Sahel region. – Reuters
Malian Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine can be part of a negotiated political solution to reunite the divided West African country if it breaks with al Qaeda and its allies, a senior African Union official said on Monday. – Reuters
Somalia
Pervasive corruption and infighting in Somalia’s donor-backed government could revive an embattled Islamist terrorist movement, warns a leaked UN report. – Financial Times
A car bomb killed a Somali lawmaker allied to the president, an official said on Monday, in an attack claimed by the al Shabaab militant group that is fighting the Western-backed government. – Reuters
Three Kenyan police officers were killed in an ambush in northeastern Kenya near the Somali border on Monday, the local police chief said, the latest in a rash of attacks in the region. – Reuters
Zimbabwe
The UK has floated a proposal to ease EU sanctions on Zimbabwe in exchange for further democratic reforms, but not those levelled against the country’s president, Robert Mugabe. – Financial Times
