By George Friedman

The Moscow summit between U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ended. As is almost always the case, the atmospherics were good, with the proper things said on all sides and statements and gestures of deep sincerity made. And as with all summits, those atmospherics are like the air: insubstantial and ultimately invisible. While there were indications of substantial movement, you would have needed a microscope to see them.

An agreement was reached on what an agreement on nuclear arms reduction might look like, but we do not regard this as a strategic matter. The number of strategic warheads and delivery vehicles is a Cold War issue that concerned the security of each side’s nuclear deterrent.| MORE ›

By George Friedman

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington for his first official visit with U.S. President Barack Obama. A range of issues — including the future of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Israeli-Syrian talks and Iran policy — are on the table.| MORE ›

Fox News reports that US special forces are standing by to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and facilities if the Taliban come too close:| MORE ›

This is horrible:

Iran has sentenced an Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, to eight years in prison after convicting her of spying for the United States, her lawyer said Saturday.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was “deeply disappointed” by what the State Department has called baseless charges against Ms. Saberi, and demanded her release.| MORE ›

The Taliban are finally in retreat, the U.S. military said Wednesday. The push-back is a direct result of troop increases:

An influx of new U.S. troops near Kabul this year is reclaiming the Afghan capital’s outskirts from the Taliban, but violence would increase in the short-term, the U.S. commander in the area said.| MORE ›

The New York Times reports that Beijing is becoming increasingly nervous about its high stakes in America’s economic well being:| MORE ›

The Pakistani army continued its offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley (or tribal region) on Friday:

Pakistan’s army, which launched its assault last month, said Thursday that its troops had advanced to within four miles (six kilometers) of Mingora and urged people to flee.| MORE ›

Reuters reports:

Mexican and U.S. health officials searched on Saturday for signs an outbreak of a new flu strain is spreading further, after it killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected eight in the United States.

As Mexico shut schools and museums and axed public events, global health officials stopped short of declaring a pandemic.| MORE ›

Palestinian officials told U.S. envoy George Mitchell to pressure Israel into changing its ways and goals:

Palestinian officials are asking President Barack Obama’s Mideast envoy to push Israel to accept the principle of Palestinian statehood.

Envoy George Mitchell is holding talks Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other leaders in the West Bank.| MORE ›

Good news: President Obama believes America doesn’t have enough czars just yet, so he will appoint a “border czar” who will have to “watch” the Mexico-U.S. border.

I sincerely hope he will do more than “watch,” considering the fact that hundreds of thousands of individuals cross the border illegally every year.

An Obama administration official says Napolitano on Wednesday will name | MORE ›

Israeli President Shimon Peres had some unusually aggressive words for Iran Sunday, seemingly threatening military action if US President Barack Obama’s overtures to the Islamic republic fail to bear fruit, the Jerusalem Post reports.| MORE ›