First Read
# Christopher Hitchens has died [his final VF column]
Russia
# "Russia's New Generation Hits The Streets" - Masha Lipman, "The Washington Post"
# "Welcome to the WTO" - Pascal Lamy, "Moscow Times"
# Julia Ioffe on the Vladimir Putin Q & A
# Russia submitted a new UN resolution on Syria
Iraq
# "Remembering Basra" - Susan Glasser, "Foreign Policy"
# A look back at coverage of the Iraq War
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Kayani and Pasha confirmed the existence of "the memo"
# "Growing Isolation" - Cyril Almeida, "Dawn"
# "Leaving Afghanistan to the Warlords" - Stephen Biddle, "Foreign Affairs"
Iran
# An Iranian engineer says his country hijacked the American drone
Of Interest
# Uzbekistan may get U.S. military aid
# Registan notes 20 years since the fall of the USSR
# "Talking to Grown-Ups in the Caucasus" - Thomas de Waal, "National Interest"
# "The Highs and Lows of Democracy" - Phillip Stevens, "Financial Times"
# "The Case Against Santa" - Aikin & Talisse, "3 Quarks Daily"
U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# The U.S. Congress reached an agreement on a spending bill
# The hold on Michael McFaul has been lifted
# The GOP candidates held their last debate before the Iowa caucases
# Christopher Hitchens has died [his final VF column]
Russia
# "Russia's New Generation Hits The Streets" - Masha Lipman, "The Washington Post"
# "Welcome to the WTO" - Pascal Lamy, "Moscow Times"
# Julia Ioffe on the Vladimir Putin Q & A
# Russia submitted a new UN resolution on Syria
Iraq
# "Remembering Basra" - Susan Glasser, "Foreign Policy"
# A look back at coverage of the Iraq War
Afghanistan/Pakistan
# Kayani and Pasha confirmed the existence of "the memo"
# "Growing Isolation" - Cyril Almeida, "Dawn"
# "Leaving Afghanistan to the Warlords" - Stephen Biddle, "Foreign Affairs"
Iran
# An Iranian engineer says his country hijacked the American drone
Of Interest
# Uzbekistan may get U.S. military aid
# Registan notes 20 years since the fall of the USSR
# "Talking to Grown-Ups in the Caucasus" - Thomas de Waal, "National Interest"
# "The Highs and Lows of Democracy" - Phillip Stevens, "Financial Times"
# "The Case Against Santa" - Aikin & Talisse, "3 Quarks Daily"
U.S. Politics/Foreign Policy
# The U.S. Congress reached an agreement on a spending bill
# The hold on Michael McFaul has been lifted
# The GOP candidates held their last debate before the Iowa caucases