Making my list, checkin' it twice..

I know they are vapid and often meaningless, but I can't help my attraction to "Best of___" lists and "World Rankings" indexes. Well, Christmas/Eid came through this year in the form of Foreign Policy magazine. First off we get the, rather pompous sounding, "Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2007"*. There are some cute little stories about about the maturation of cyber and robotic warfare, but there were a few more specific to the Middle East:

#3: Dear Osama We're Breaking Up. Influential Saudi cleric, Salman al Awdah, condems Bin Laden's tactics. It is surprising that this or Sayed Imam al Sharif's change of heart didn't get more press coverage. Probably because they are both tools and were forced to do so by their governments.

#4: Waiting on the Iraqi Navy. The US isn't going to be able to pull out of Iraq until there is a viable Navy. While the Iraqi Army seems to be slowly coming along, the Navy is a long way off.

#9: American Jews turn away from Israel. Hey don't yell at me, its their list! Also, I thought this survey got a fair amount of coverage, or at least in important news outlets.

Ironically, on FP's own weblog there is a tidbit about the US State Dept. that I found way more important that most of their top 10 list:

State's budget in 2000 was half of what it was in 1985, in real terms

By 1997, State was short some 700 foreign-service officers

In 1997, only half of FSO in "language-designated positions" were getting the language training they needed

By 2000, Johnson estimates, the department was short anywhere from 2,000 to 3,500 positions

Holy crap! No wonder we suck at diplomacy. Lastly, enjoy FP's ominous sounding "The Failed States Index of 2007". No real surprises, the bottom 60 are littered with Arab countries. The survey does make a strong connection between those states that are the most religiously intolerant and those that are the weakest. Enjoy.

* Editors Note: We here at Kabobfest miss nothing. Nothing.