Israel At Level Ground in The Washington Post

The Washington Post's PostGlobal launches a new measure of world actors' ability to achieve shape our world.

From where you write, who's gaining power, who's losing it, and who is coming in fast from the outside?

Winners: Iranian hegemonic aspirations, whether in its nuclear abilities and political and strategic realms, namely an incremental, grudging respect for their power and influence by western European nations - and even the US, and a steadily strengthening Hizbullah/Syria/Hamas axis.

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My previous PostGlobal entry is here.

'Peace breaking out' Index: Pals call Olmert's peace plan a 'conspiracy'

And the Kassams keep on coming...

From The Jerusalem Post:

In violation of a day-old cease-fire, terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip launched two Kassam rockets at Sderot Tuesday evening. The rockets landed in open territory and no one was injured in the attack.

"The IDF played only a partial role in the decision to reach a cease-fire agreement with the Palestinians," IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee earlier Tuesday.

From Israel National News:

According to new orders issued in the last 24 hours to IDF units operating along the Gaza Strip perimeter, PA terrorists positively identified as members of specific rocket-firing cells may be targeted for elimination by ground or air forces.

However, soldiers will require authorization from Southern Command officers before opening fire. The new orders modify IDF rules of engagement initially implemented in light of the recently agreed-upon ceasefire between the PA and Israel. In consultation with other senior officers, IDF Southern District Commander Yoav Galant issued the revised open-fire orders after PA terrorists fired Kassam rockets at Sderot on Monday.

And from the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority:

'This is a conspiracy. This is a new maneuver. Olmert is speaking about the Palestinian state without giving details about the borders,' said Ghazi Hamad, a government spokesman.

And meanwhile, from eastern neighbors:

Jordan's King Abdullah II called for renewed efforts to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a speech Tuesday, a day before he meets the U.S. president, but he warned Jordan would not accept a deal that causes an influx of Palestinians.

The 'Global Power Barometer' shows the weight, direction of of int'l political power

A new feature from The Washington Post: The Global Power Barometer:

This contraption basically churns through thousands of op-eds from around the world and analyzes what the world is saying about key nations and ideologies. Are they gaining power or losing it? Are they in or out of favor?

The idea is to provide a quick visual snapshot of who is managing to affect world opinion day by day, week by week, and month by month. You can click through the graphic display to see a small sample of the thousands of articles from around the world that were used to make the calculations of the day.

This is an interesting item, but I wonder how the core analysis of what to include or leave out in compiling the database is accomplished.

Just guess which way Israel's arrow is pointing...