As the information age deepens, a globe–circling realm of the mind is being created — the “noosphere” that Pierre Teilhard de Chardin identified 80 years ago. This will increasingly affect the nature of grand strategy and diplomacy. Traditional realpolitik, which ultimately relies on hard (principally military) power, will give way to the rise of noöpolitik (or noöspolitik), which relies on soft (principally ideational) power. This paper reiterates the authors’ views as initially stated in 1999, then adds an update for inclusion in a forthcoming handbook on public diplomacy. One key finding is that non–state actors — unfortunately, especially Al Qaeda and its affiliates — are using the Internet and other new media to practice noöpolitik more effectively than are state actors, such as the U.S. government. Whose story wins — the essence of noöpolitik — is at stake in the worldwide war of ideas.

The promise of noöpolitik | David Ronfeldt and John Arquilla

I was surprised by the extraordinary hospitality I encountered on my trip. And I still remember the politeness with which one elderly gentleman addressed me in a bookshop. He held a copy of my latest novel, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," and examined the face on its cover, comparing it to mine. Then he said, nodding once as if to dip the brim of an imaginary hat: "So tell me, sir. Why do they hate us?"

That stopped me cold.

'Why Do They Hate Us?'

Publishers Weekly Starred Review:

In this compelling and sober portrayal, Chebab, an intrepid Palestinian journalist (who was nearly blown up in 2002), explains how the highly organized and notoriously militant Islamic group Hamas was elected to head the Palestinian government in January 2006, to the surprise of much of the world. Having tracked Palestinian resistance for decades, Chebab gained extraordinary access to key players in Hamas, like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the group's spiritual leader until his 2004 assassination, and political leader Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Rantisi, also assassinated that year. Along the way, he details the group's history, from the dawn of the first intifada in 1987 to the present day, and looks to the political and economic dilemmas that hang over the group's future. Most fascinating are hidden figures Chebab brings to light: like Yehia Ayyash, "the Engineer," who introduced the suicide bomb into Hamas's deadly repertoire; suicide-bomb hopefuls who claim that "martyrdom is like a dream"; and proud mothers like Umm Nidal, who has three (of six) sons who have died as suicide bombers. The book is likely to be recognized as among the most definitive and important accounts of this divisive organization, whose goal remains to "reclaim the whole of Palestine as it had been before 1948... and to dismantle the [Israeli] settlements."

Inside Hamas: The Untold Story of the Militant Islamic Movement

Russia appears to be a nation off of its crutches and seeking to define its place in the world. Yet Russia has singularly failed to make others see clearly what it wants, or see the world as it does—revealing a dangerous flaw in its foreign policy implementation.

A closer look at Russian foreign policy reveals a lack of strategic priorities and a Russia alone and adrift. Trenin argues that a foreign policy based on openly defying the United States is laced with liabilities and at odds with the central fact that the United States is indispensable to Russia achieving its national objectives of modernization, economic integration, and security.

This post is something of a follow-up to discussion of The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers.

Russia’s Strategic Choices

A double agent for Saddam’s notorious Mukhabarat and Israel’s Mossad has returned to Canada. How did he get here? Did Canada once deliver him into torture? And has Sumaida finally found sanctuary?

The Very Strange Case of Hussein Ali Sumaida

Keep your eye on the ball.

Today's global liberal democratic order faces two challenges. The first is radical Islam -- and it is the lesser of the two challenges. Although the proponents of radical Islam find liberal democracy repugnant, and the movement is often described as the new fascist threat, the societies from which it arises are generally poor and stagnant. They represent no viable alternative to modernity and pose no significant military threat to the developed world. It is mainly the potential use of weapons of mass destruction -- particularly by nonstate actors -- that makes militant Islam a menace.

The second, and more significant, challenge emanates from the rise of nondemocratic great powers: the West's old Cold War rivals China and Russia, now operating under authoritarian capitalist, rather than communist, regimes. Authoritarian capitalist great powers played a leading role in the international system up until 1945. They have been absent since then. But today, they seem poised for a comeback.

I am skeptical of the idea that Russia is poised for a comeback. Putin and his government may be poised, but the people are not. Russia will have a political role, due to its Security Council seat, but economically, what does it have to offer?

The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers | Foreign Affairs

A major British arms contractor paid more than $2 billion clandestinely into bank accounts in Washington controlled by Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, two British news organizations reported Thursday. Prince Bandar denied accepting “improper secret commissions.”

... the government canceled an official inquiry last December into the claims of corruption that have swirled around the transaction.

Mr. Blair said, “We would have lost thousands, thousands of British jobs.”

$2B from BAE to Bandar

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI on the relationship.

America's relationship with Russia is on a downward slide. President Vladimir Putin's recent threat to retarget Russian missiles at some of America's European allies is just the latest flash point.

How to Avoid a New Cold War | TIME

During a private meeting in Washington last February, Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert M. Kimmitt warned Bulgaria’s Finance Minister that the Economic and Investment Bank (EI), chaired by the girlfriend of powerful Sofia mayor and presidential aspirant Boiko Borissov, was a target of a North Korean money-laundering effort.

EI Bank board Chairwoman Tsvetelina Borislavova, who acknowledged in an interview with CQ that she was “living with” Borissov, said she had been informed of Kimmitt’s warning “personally, by the finance minister,” Plamen Oresharski, upon his return from Washington last February.

But she said the tip was based on “false information” concocted by political enemies of her boyfriend Borissov, who before he became mayor last year was a top official in Bulgaria’s powerful Interior Ministry.

Drama ...

Turmoil Erupts Over Bulgaria Bank on Eve of Bush Visit

Rebecca Roberts talks with Nathan Hodge, staff writer for Jane's Defense Weekly, about the U.S. missile shield that has angered Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin expressed discontent with U.S. plans to put missile interceptors and radar in Eastern Europe.

NPR : Missile Defense, the U.S. and Europe