Foreign policy and political experts assess the president's speech. Below are responses from Frederick W. Kagan, Kimberly Kagan, Matthew Dowd, Meghan O'Sullivan, Gilles Dorronsoro, Douglas E. Schoen, Andrew J. Bacevich, Ed Rogers and Dennis Kucinich. READ MORE

Foreign ministers from Europe's main security organization met in Athens to try to work out a response to Russia's proposal for a new Euro-Atlantic security pact. READ MORE

An agreement easing the terms under which Russia supplies gas to Ukraine, reached on 19 November between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine colleague Yulia Tymoshenko, appears to alleviate fears of another gas crisis this winter. READ MORE

Next year, in accordance with a decision made at the 15th OSCE Ministerial Council in November 2007, Kazakhstan will preside over the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Thus, a former Soviet republic will occupy this position for the first time. Under the circumstances, it would be natural to expect Kazakhstan to do all it can to consolidate its positions on the world arena. Its officials have already announced their intentions to include illegal immigration and drug trafficking on the OSCE agenda, problems that are particularly relevant for all CIS countries. READ MORE