Saudi Arabia Is Arming the Syrian Opposition What could possibly go wrong?. BY JONATHAN SCHANZER

Saudi Arabia Is Arming the Syrian Opposition What could possibly go wrong?. BY JONATHAN SCHANZER

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah scolded Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week for failing to coordinate with Arab states before vetoing a United Nations resolution demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down. Emboldened by the lack of international action, Assad's forces are now slaughtering civilians in the streets at an even greater rate. Referring to the bloodshed, the king ominously warned Medvedev that Saudi Arabia "will never abandon its religious and moral obligations towards what's happening."

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How to Beat Obama The president is far more vulnerable than he thinks on foreign policy. BY KARL ROVE AND ED GILLESPIE

In an American election focused on a lousy economy and high unemployment, conventional wisdom holds that foreign policy is one of Barack Obama's few strong suits. But the president is strikingly vulnerable in this area. The Republican who leads the GOP ticket can attack him on what Obama mistakenly thinks is his major strength by translating the center-right critique of his foreign policy into campaign themes and action. Here's how to beat him.

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Racing for the exits. By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

More Afghans are seeking asylum now than at any time since war in Afghanistan began, figures from the United Nations show. Last year more than 30,000 Afghans sought asylum worldwide, topping 2010's numbers by 25 percent - and those are just the recorded cases.  More than 45,000 Afghans are said to have illegally escaped into Greece alone.  Australia is another popular destination for asylum, though it is harder to pull off due to distance.

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Are we already at war with Iran?. Posted By Thomas E. Ricks

I suspect that we may be, in some way. Maybe a "shadow war." Someone clearly is killing Iranian nuclear scientists. Someone is messing with their centrifuges. They seem to be under cyberattack. Someone is helping ethnic Baluchi rebels down in the southeast. And of course there are the less hidden steps, such as sanctions.

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Should Central America's drug violence be considered a global crisis?. By Joshua Keating

A new report from the U.N.'s International Narcotics Control Board contains more grim news about the drug violence in Central America:

In Central America, the escalating drug-related violence involving drug trafficking, transnational and local gangs and other criminal groups has reached alarming and unprecedented levels, significantly worsening security and making the subregion one of the most violent areas in the world. Crime and drug-related violence continue to be key issues of concern in Central American countries. Drug trafficking (including fighting between and within drug trafficking and criminal organizations operating out of Colombia and Mexico), youth-related violence and street gangs, along with the widespread availability of firearms, have contributed to increasingly high crime rates in the subregion. There are more than 900 maras (local gangs) active in Central America today, with over 70,000 members. According to a recent report by the World Bank, drug trafficking is both an important driver of homicide rates in Central America and the main single factor behind the rising levels of violence in the subregion. The countries of the so-called "Northern Triangle" (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras), together with Jamaica, now have the world's highest homicide rates.  

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