Trying to be a political pundit it is infinitely harder than predicting the next winner of the Triple Crown in horse racing, yet the hype and the drama being built around Iran's nuclear program and possible weapons ambitions suggests that the Bush Administration would like to have the proverbial shot at Iran. A preventive strike would seem the chosen option rather than an all out invasion à la Iraq style, especially given the U.S. failures in both Afghanistan and Iraq. A new front in Iran might be too much for even a super power to chew on. From the Israeli point of view, a strike at Iran's nuclear facilities, irrespective of their status of being peaceful or weapons oriented, is something that Tel Aviv wants to see happen. The idea of a covert operation, as Hersh suggests, is the least likely to bear fruit if its aim is to strike these facilities from the ground, given the logistics and support needed to do a ground operation are cumbersome and need advance planning of at least a year.

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The Current Discussion: The G-8 summit is Bush's last hurrah as a world leader. What's one thing he can do to strengthen his legacy?

The legacy of George W. Bush is not something many would be proud of. Political leaders are often judged in the media for their actions at a particular point in time and thus it’s always hard to make a proper assessment of the legacy without stepping back and seeing the man in the broadest perspective.

OK, I just took a few steps back. Frankly, the legacy shows little of a statesman and more of a man with a low political intellect and a propensity to resolve most things he doesn’t understand through the use of military power. His two major military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan are political, military and social disasters. He has done nothing worthy on the domestic front. What ishis legacy, really?

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The Current Discussion: France has rejected a citizenship application from a burqa-wearing Moroccan woman on the grounds that she has "insufficiently assimilated" to French culture. Should cultural assimilation be a requirement for citizenship?

Is cultural xenophobia a good thing? Has the concept of nation-state reached a point where rigid lines of acceptance or rejection become the sole driving force for cultural preservation? I can understand the overwhelming desire for people to protect their 'culture.' But in an interdependent world, 'assimilation' should absolutely not be the only criteria for immigration. While I personally do not think the veil is an issue and think it is and should continue to be a matter of personal choice, to use it as the sole reason for rejecting an applicant is short-sighted and closed-minded. As much as I did not agree with the Taliban forcing their style and view of Islam, I equally do not agree with the French using people’s preferences as a means to discriminate.

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The Current Discussion: The Olympics open in two weeks, and offer a perfect platform for anti-government protests by ethnic minorities and dissident groups. Who's likely to protest and how should Beijing respond?

Politicizing sports is not new, especially when it comes to the Olympics. The first modern-day Olympics to be boycotted on political grounds was the 1956 Olympics, with about eight countries boycotting on account of both the Suez Canal Crisis and the Soviet repression of the Hungarian uprising. Since then the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics have all had boycotts varying in size and covering countries ranging from throughout the world. Thus to argue that politics and sports are two different subjects is contrary to what has been happening for over 50-odd years of Olympic history. China is an interesting case as the host of the Olympics, as it has a history of boycotts over Taiwan's participation under the Republic of China flag.

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