This shift was reflected in some tough talk this weekend by the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, as the annual meeting of China’s parliament drew to a close.

For more about China’s increasingly assertive tone, Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Michael Kulma, Director of Global Policy Initiatives at the Asia Society.

Our German partner Deutsche Welle reports on Wen’s defiant speech.

All three of the dead were connected to the U.S. Consulate there, underscoring the risks of living and working in that city.

The State Department has authorized the families of its diplomatic personnel across northern Mexico to leave the country.

But, as Tom Ackerman of Al Jazeera English reports, the killings were just a few of dozens in Mexico this weekend.

But there were nonetheless more scuffles as Palestinians tried to enter Jerusalem’s Old City to attend Friday prayers.

The recent upswing in violence was sparked by Israel’s decision to include two West Bank shrines on a list of national heritage sites.

This week, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited the region, meeting with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to push the peace process forward.

To discuss the issues, Daljit Dhaliwal speaks with James Rubin, an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a former assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration, and Ian Bremmer, the president of Eurasia Group, in our weekly roundtable.

At least 43 people were killed, including about 10 soldiers, and 100 more were wounded. Insurgent groups are still very much a force in Pakistan, a year after the army claimed it defeated them.

For more, Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Ahmad Kamal, a Pakistani diplomat for 40 years.

Hashem Ahelbarra of Al Jazeera English obtained unusual access in the Swat Valley.

Schoolgirls outside Cairo’s Alabaster Mosque. Photo: Flickr user Ed Yourdon

The Arab world has over 350 million people and stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf. Unified by a common Arabic culture and history, these 25 countries are at varying levels of economic and political development.

But there seems to be a set of demographic issues that apply to many — if not all — of the nations in the Arab world. We take a deeper look at high birth rates and gender inequality and then compare them to other regions of the world.

Martin Savidge hosts Magda Abu-Fadil and Bernard Haykel to discuss these issues:

• Youth bulge: jobs for young people, emigration, political instability
• Gender gap: young women, variation across Arab states, political power
• Big picture: comparisons to other regions, replacement level, demographic transition

GUESTS:

Magda Abu-Fadil is director of the Journalism Training Program at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and has years of experience as a foreign correspondent and editor with international news organizations such as Agence France-Presse and United Press International.

Bernard Haykel is a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, where his research interests include contemporary politics, Arabian history and Islamic fundamentalism.

Credits:
Host: Martin Savidge
Producer: Ben Piven
Associate Producer: Mohammad Al-Kassim

For more on the Middle East negotiations, Daljit Dhaliwal speaks to two specialists on the region: Ghassan Shabaneh, assistant professor of international studies at Marymount Manhattan College, and in Washington, Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Israeli West Bank barrier. Photo Flickr user ChrisYunker

Palestinian leaders have agreed to a further round of indirect negotiations with Israel, more than a year after the last attempt to reach a settlement broke down in December 2008.

The planned negotiations, which do not yet have a timetable, will be mediated by the U.S., and special envoy George Mitchell will travel between the two delegations. Direct talks are not envisaged at this stage.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization has set a four-month limit on the process, and its leaders have said they do not expect results from the renewed talks, which have been endorsed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Israel and the U.S.

In a recent development that has strained the peace talk proposals, yesterday Israel has approved the construction of 112 new apartments in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit. Israeli officials say the approval was granted before a 10-month moratorium on new construction in Jewish settlements within the disputed territory.

Israel has also approved plans to build 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem, an area not included in the moratorium but which the international community considers occupied territory.

This is how some commentators and bloggers have reacted to the renewed dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian leaders:

From Tikum Olam, a liberal Jewish-American blog:

[A]las it’s all a charade. For all the “proximity” the two sides may have they are universes apart on virtually every major issue that divides them. No commentators I have noticed have remarked upon the fact that these talks are in fact a deep regression from previous rounds of talks which, during the Olmert government, were direct and without U.S. mediation. Those talks too were largely ineffectual. But at least the parties had enough trust in each other that they were willing to talk face to face.

From a Talking Points Memo blog:

Everybody knows the core issues between Israelis and Palestinians, except for the one that will matter the most and can be acted on immediately, before any comprehensive deal; the one where Israel’s concessions will not compromise its security but enhance it. I am speaking of Palestine’s economy, specifically, its private sector, the driver of civil society and spine of any future state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks about “economic peace,” but seems to mean little more than giving Palestinian laborers more jobs in Israeli agriculture and construction projects. What Palestinians need, rather, are entrepreneurs, managers, and professionals with the freedom to build a growing node in an urban and global network. The latter have made a remarkable start, but the occupation is thwarting them in ways few outsiders appreciate.

From Beneath the Surface, commentary on the peace talks:

Most people saw through Netanyahu’s peace bluff in June, but for those who believed the “outstretched” arm he supposedly gave the Palestinians, he just went against his campaign promises. Does Israel want peace with Palestine? By the decisions made the last couple of days it doesn’t seem like it, it seems like Israel want Palestine to surrender to their terms. Netanyahu has been given credit by vice-president Joe Biden for his indirect initiative to peace negotiations, but in reality the prerequisites that he laid aground for these negotiations were a joke!

From an opinion article in Haaretz, an Israeli center-left newspaper:

Israel must talk to Hamas. Not secretly. Not indirectly. Not for a politician to rehabilitate himself on the way to taking over the leadership of a party, as Kadima’s Shaul Mofaz tried to do, but openly and seriously. Just as the United States regularly talks to the Israeli opposition, Israel should maintain a dialogue with the Palestinian opposition. The dialogue should cover all core issues including a final settlement.

View footage of a checkpoint outside of the Beitar Illit settlement, which has a majority ultra-Orthodox Jewish population:

- James Matthews

The AP says preliminary estimates show that the coalition led by the current prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is doing well in Baghdad and in the Shiite south of Iraq.

In the capital’s green zone, ballot boxes were delivered today to the independent election commission as the counting process began.

Despite a wave of violence Sunday that killed at least 26 people, 62 percent of 19 million eligible voters turned out — lower than during the last Iraqi parliamentary election.

Both the top U.S. general and the American ambassador praised the election process, echoing what President Obama said yesterday. And General Ray Odierno re-affirmed the phased withdrawal of the 96,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq.

For more, Daljit Dhaliwal speaks with Michael Wahid Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation.

Mike Hanna of Al Jazeera English followed one elderly woman who was voting for the future.

An Iraqi woman votes in Nasiriyah. Photo: Flickr user DVIDSHUB

According to Iraq’s 2005 constitution, women are granted a quarter of the seats in the nation’s 325-member Parliament.

Iraq remains a male-dominated society, but women have nevertheless made significant progress in the post-conflict society.

The parliamentary elections were held Sunday, the day before International Women’s Day. This year’s theme has been dubbed: “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all.”

In an interview with NPR, Professor Christina Asquith of the University of Vermont explains how the quota for female parliamentarians has a positive impact on the Iraqi political arena:

I hands down would say the quota has been absolutely fantastic for women. Because I think we have to imagine what the situation would be like if not for the quota. I think we would see almost no women running. It would be just difficult for women to get an edge in, get a foot in the door.

You see all of the candidates talking about the same thing, which is basically security, stability, rule of law. So, I think that, you know, the women, while they may have been quote, unquote “used” the first time around, that’s happening less and less now as women are able to reemerge. They’re really coming forward. And if not for the quota, I just don’t think we would see women at all.

One Iraqi candidate for Parliament is against this quota but remains an inspirational figure for women in Iraq. Jenan Mubarak is the founder of Iraq’s first all-female political party.

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting writes, “She has a dream: that women’s representation in parliament should be equal to that of men.” Mubarak elaborates:

I want to tell women, ‘You can do a lot.’ I want them to know they have choices; that they can be whatever they want. ‘Your achievements are who you are.’ That’s my message to women.’

Mubarak has thousands of female supporters who back her position on increasing the quota for female seats in the Iraqi Parliament. She continues:

Only a few women have been active in decision-making during the former legislatures because they are members of political parties run by others, and they can’t express their own opinion…We need a strong woman’s voice that has the ability to convince others in parliament.

Salama al-Khafaji, one of 1,801 female candidates up for election, told EuroNews:

The vision is still a masculine one and parties still nominate men rather than women to the high positions due to the fact that these positions are always given to men who assume ministerial positions and are nominated by their parties or political bloc.

But Maysoun al-Damlouji, a prominent Sunni lawmaker, explains:

The politicians who worked mostly against women’s rights and the quota are now introducing another vision that women have to take part in the political development as well as economic and every other development that Iraq needs.

- Stephanie Savage

We also examine what has changed in the Middle East in the seven years since the Iraq invasion.

Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Gideon Rose, managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, and Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.

Just a few years ago, Iraqi women running for parliamentary seats didn’t show their pictures on any campaign signs because of Iraq’s conservatism. But that’s different now.

Al Arabiya also highlights the story of so-called “forgotten Iraqis” — desert Bedouins.

Worldfocus’ Mohammad Al-Kassim translated this report.

View a montage of Iraqi election advertisements compiled by Al Jazeera English.

Turkey supports the U.S. in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and has had a long military relationship with the U.S.

By a margin of one vote, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a non-binding resolution calling the World War I-era killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks a “genocide.” Turkey contends that the death toll is inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war.

Ironically, the vote comes as relations between Turkey and Armenia have recently improved.

For more, Daljit Dhaliwal speaks to Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Tarek Bazley of Al Jazeera English reports on Turkey’s reaction.

Frozen bluefin tuna ready for auction at Tsukiji Market. Photo: Flickr user Hashashin

Japan says it will defy any ban on trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna. Conservation groups say the fish is at risk of extinction if current catch rates continue.

While the U.S. announced its support of a ban this week, the fish is prized for high-end sushi in Japan, where 80 percent of the fish ends up.

An international conference on endangered animals and plants will vote on giving the tuna endangered status at a meeting that begins next weekend.

If Japan defied a ban on trading an endangered species, what would be an appropriate international response?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Please be respectful and on-point. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted, and repeat offenders will be banned.

As the battle for Marjah goes on, NATO is making plans for an even larger campaign in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city and a center of the Taliban insurgency.

To help manage that growing effort, the Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. and its allies will create a new U.S.-led command in Southeast Afghanistan.

For more on the challenges that lie ahead, Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Marvin Weinbaum, a scholar at the Middle East Institute and former State Department analyst on Afghanistan.

To shed light on the legacy of conflict in Afghanistan, our German partner Deutsche Welle reports on the lessons of Russia’s long war there through the experience of one former soldier.

Today, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the talks could begin as early as Sunday.

Few people know the Middle East as well as Martin Fletcher, a former NBC News correspondent who spent nearly 20 years as the Tel Aviv bureau chief. Daljit Dhaliwal speaks to Fletcher about the latest developments in the peace process.

Young Dutch Muslims at Suikerfeest in Amsterdam. Photo: Flickr user CharlesFred

The Netherlands today held municipal elections in hundreds of cities and towns across the country.

The Freedom Party, a populist, anti-Muslim and anti-immigration party led by Geert Wilders, ran in just two of those elections.

In one city, it came in first, and in the other city, the Hague, it came in second. The party wants to outlaw Muslim headscarves in Holland.

What should be done about growing anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Please be respectful and on-point. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted, and repeat offenders will be banned.

With national elections now only days away, today saw three separate suicide bombings, which killed at least 30 people in the the northeastern provincial capital of Baqouba today.

For more on Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Iraq and what they mean for the country’s long-term stability, Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Michael Wahid Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation. Hanna discusses the key players in the upcoming elections and the influence of sectarian rivalry on the process.

Anita McNaught of Worldfocus partner Al Jazeera English reports on the violence.

The expectation is that the U.S. would act as the intermediary between the two sides.

An Israeli government spokesman welcomed the news, saying he hoped Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would resume soon.

For more, Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Daniel Levy, co-director of the Middle East Task Force of the New America Foundation.

What will it take to secure a long-lasting peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Please be respectful and on-point. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted, and repeat offenders will be banned.

[Sidebar photo: MaanImages/POOL/Thaer Ganaim]

U.S. athletes win gold and silver medals in women’s downhill at Vancouver. Photo: Flickr user Beachpiks

Our northern neighbors are concerned. Perhaps buoyed by hosting the Winter Olympics, a Canadian TV interviewer asked me about a “touchy” subject recently: Has America lost its mojo? How are Americans feeling these days? Are we going to be OK again?

I had to be honest that Americans are in the dumps. Many of us are experiencing the hardest times of our lives, and meanwhile China, India, and others seem to have bounced right back.

Our national gloom explains why the ruminations on America’s decline are coming fast and furious. Book titles tell the story: The Post American World, The End of Influence, When China Rules the World, Freefall.

It is bleak now, but America should step back from the ledge because the future is looking up. Here are 10 things to remember about America and decline:

1. America’s fate is in its own control

This is cold comfort given the dysfunction in Washington, but it is nonetheless important to remember that the decisions Americans make at home determine our fate far more than anything China or any other pivotal power does — including keeping its currency undervalued, as destructive as that is.

America can put itself in a position to thrive in a world with stronger powers by investing in its own future, and first and foremost in the innovation that drives economic growth. This includes funding basic research and development, improving education, reforming health care, and renewing infrastructure.

America also needs to trim and refocus the defense budget, rein in the budget deficit, and shift to renewable energy sources. All of these steps are easier said than done, but let’s put the onus for our fate where it belongs.

2. We are still number one

We shouldn’t forget that America is still far ahead of all other emerging and established powers by nearly every important measure. And we have demographics on our side. Because we welcome immigrants and because many parents are bravely choosing to have three kids or more, America’s population is set to grow over the coming decades.

Of the other major pivotal powers, only India can say the same. The rest are either already shrinking — Japan, Russia, much of Europe, and Brazil — or looking at a huge baby boom problem within 20 years: China.

3. Our relative decline is inevitable

Relative to other pivotal powers such as China and India, we are declining — the huge gap between the United States and the others is shrinking. That is a function of two factors completely out of American control: the size of their populations being many times larger than ours, and the fact that they are at earlier stages of their economic growth, still climbing out of poverty and moving people off subsistence farming.

There isn’t a causal connection—they are not growing because of our decline. One day, they will likely have economies larger than ours. But we can’t go around hoping that poor countries will stay poor. Moreover, their growth will lift us, too, if we make smart investments (see number 1) because their new middle-class consumers will buy quality American products.

4. Primacy isn’t what it used to be

It is not as important as it used to be for a power to remain on top by a huge margin. Countries used to acquire power by conquering each other, and in that world, primacy is a life or death matter. The contest today is to see who can grow and lure more innovative talent, and become energy independent first. Land grabs are a waste of time and money.

Sheer military power is also not enough anymore for America — or any other country — to keep its own population safe. Terrorist attacks, freakish weather events and lethal flu viruses are harming Americans — not other big countries. The United States will need to work with other nations to address those border-crossing evils whether we are on top or not.

5. Americans have it really good and will for generations

Here’s another key point to remember: China and India’s growth will not change living standards for the vast majority of Americans if we make the right choices at home. Even if China’s economy does grow to be larger than ours one day, there is no reason to think Americans will be worse off. We could even be better off. Look at the British — they enjoy very comfortable lives and take a lot more vacations since they gave up their empire.

The fact that the American middle class did not gain during the last expansion was as much the result of domestic policy favoring the wealthiest as it was new wage competition from abroad. A strong China or India will make our lives different, and America will not always get its way, but American standards of living will remain high if we deal with our demons at home.

6. Americans are safe

Americans enjoy an unimaginably high degree of safety from outside threats compared to most other peoples. We are protected by oceans, a strong military deterrent, and a stable society based on the rule of law. The growing strength of other powers will not change that fact.

7. The trajectories of future powers is unknowable

It seems that China, Brazil, and India are rising inexorably, and maybe they are. But maybe they aren’t. The Soviet Union looked like it would be around forever in 1988, and in 1990, Japan was seen as the undefeatable hegemon. We just don’t know, and can’t control, the futures of other big powers — which is yet another reason to focus on getting our own act together.

8. American leadership is vital, and everyone knows it

Even after eight years of stomach-churning foreign policy under the Bush administration, most countries acknowledge that American leadership is vital to solving major global problems and keeping order. If China could snap its fingers and halve America’s power, it is not clear it would — who would protect its oil tankers? No other power has the same credibility, capacity, and inclination to step into our shoes. China doesn’t want to lead, and other powers trust Beijing even less than they do Washington. America will thus continue to be influential even as its relative power declines.

9. Previous bouts of self-doubt have proven unjustified

As Atlantic correspondent James Fallows recently explained, Americans are prone to cyclical periods of self-doubt. Our worries have been part of American culture since the days of our founders. We have beaten ourselves up and written ourselves off on many past occasions including Sputnik in the 1950s, culture wars of the 1960s, oil crises of the 1970s, and Japan paranoia in the 1980s. The only difference now is a 24-hour news cycle that makes a profit by probing and sensationalizing our malaise.

10. We still have fundamental strengths

America doesn’t have nationwide broadband, consistent cell coverage, high-speed rail, or large-scale solar, though we need them. But it does have a high tolerance for failure, which encourages zany and sometimes very profitable ideas. We also have deep and broad capital markets that reward risk, although hopefully no longer in crazy financial instruments; great universities; creativity; diversity; and a willingness to embrace anyone who works hard.

So don’t count America out just yet. Instead, contact your senator. You know what to say.

- Nina Hachigian

The main pub in Stanley, Falkland Islands. Photo: Flickr user WoolieDales

With just over 3,000 inhabitants, this small island archipelago in the South Atlantic recently made it back into the headlines, as Argentina and the U.K. dispute sovereignty issues surrounding oil exploration by a British firm.

Known in English as the Falkland Islands and in Spanish as Las Malvinas, we want to look at why this little-known place brought two influential nations to war in 1982 — a conflict that now threatens to reignite.

Martin Savidge hosts Juanita Brock and Professor Maria Victoria Murillo to discuss:

• Falklands history: 1982 war, Argentinian claims, British control
• Current dispute: Nationalism, oil resources, trade relations
• U.S./Big Picture: Hillary’s visit, Latin American diplomacy, American intervention

GUESTS:

Maria Victoria Murillo is a professor of Latin American politics at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She has done fieldwork in Argentina, Chile and Venezuela.

Juanita Brock is bureau chief for the Falkland Islands News Network, which is a part of the South Atlantic Remote Territories Media Association. She resides in Stanley, the capital city.

Credits:
Host: Martin Savidge
Producer: Ben Piven