From Colin Clark, AOLDefense:  The deputy assistant secretary general [James Appathurai] also highlighted a little known change in policy that was driven by Australia and New Zealand. In return for joining NATO operations in Afghanistan, both countries were granted a seat the council's table

From the Foreign Ministry of Australia:  Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd today announced that Dr Brendan Nelson will be Australia's first Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Australia ended its decades' old ban on exporting uranium to India, opening the world's largest uranium reserves to New Delhi’s lucrative nuclear market. While the sudden policy shift has been framed as one aimed at improving bilateral ties , it is part of a larger strategic realignment in the Asia-Pacific region being led by the United States.

From William J. Broad, the New York Times:  The 32 nations with materials that can fuel atom bombs are typically mum on security, which looks to the public like a closed world of barbed wire and armed guards. Behind the scenes, atomic insiders have long told horror stories of risky practices and security flaws

From Civil Georgia:  The Parliament approved on Tuesday President Saakashvili’s request to send one additional infantry battalion to Afghanistan on top of 936 Georgian soldiers who already serve as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

From Neil Reynolds, the Globe and Mail:  Now, in The New World Order, a study published in November by the London-based Legatum Institute, [American geographer Joel] Kotkin and nine academic associates conclude that the anglosphere will remain the ascendant player on the world stage for a long time to come.

From Rod McGuirk, the AP:  Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Monday that the Australian military training mission in Afghanistan could be completed before the 2014 target date, after an Afghan army commander told a newspaper that Australian troops should be withdrawn immediately.

From Laura MacInnis, Reuters:  President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he was deeply concerned about the continued euro zone crisis, blaming it on a lack of political will, and that market turmoil would continue until Europe has a concrete plan to deal with its debt woes.