Fred Halliday

An in-depth encounter with Hizbollah in the group's Lebanese heartlands gives Fred Halliday an unmatched insight into the "party of God's" long-term thinking and strategy.

The Iraq war is only one aspect of a "greater west Asian crisis" that carries the extreme danger of further, terrible violence.

Events of the past week have underlined both the importance and pitfalls that beset discussion of international affairs.