Egypt proving to be a leader in digitally preserving culture (Investor’s Business Daily): “Since the advent of the Internet, the Egyptian government has been doing an admirable job in preserving the ancient archaeological heritage.” Farouk El-Baz, Director, Center for Remote Sensing

Debt deal still leaves all players bankrupt (Boston Herald): “I think there are a lot of ticked-off people on the Democratic side here, because President Obama, he’s basically giving (the GOP) 80 percent of what they want. I don’t see how he can declare some kind of political victory here.” Tom Whalen, Associate Professor of Social Science, College of General Studies

Angry liberals seek silver lining in debt deal (Washington Post): “The challenge Washington faces is to cut the bloated Pentagon budget without being capricious and arbitrary about it.” Andrew Bacevich, Professor of International Relations, College of Arts & Sciences

Afghanistan is broke, US drowning in debt – so what about a war ceiling? (EconomyWatch): “The total cost of war, the longest in American history and one that was paid for by borrowing rather than by increased taxation, should not be measured solely by the costs of financing the troops and the extensive aid programs administered by the State Department. It should also include long-term costs of the war, primarily veterans’ benefits for returning soldiers, who will require medical and mental health services for many years to come. Long after the last troops depart from the country, that hidden part of the bill will come due.” William Keylor, Professor of International Relations, College of Arts & Sciences

Slot open, Ch. 7 may raise anchor (Boston Globe): “They have been definately tinkering with the formula…It’s not unlike a chef working on a new recipe. Summer is a traditionally slow time for television, ratings overall are down, which is a great time to experiment with different combinations.” Geoff Klapisch, Lecturer, College of Communication

U.S. Steel is latest manufacturer to adopt Chief Risk Officer role (Industry Week): “Let’s say U.S. Steel is going into a market to get ore, maybe a third-world country where labor isn’t good or working conditions are poor. They have to understand whether they’re willing to take that risk of an accident or death and how that can damage their reputation. So this is where a senior-level person comes in.” Mark Williams, Master Lecturer & Executive-in-Residence, School of Management

Will President Obama lose the 2012 election? (PoliticoArena): “If Obama continues to govern like a Republican (as he did with thde debt ceiling debate) he will surely lose – Republicans will go for the real thing…” Kevin Gallagher, Associate Professor of International Relations, College of Arts & Sciences

The ‘Oreo Problem’: When drug marketers know too much about doctors (CommonHealth): ”If it’s Oreos, it’s only a snack and I’m buying them for my family. What we worry about for physicians is that they’re making an important medical decision for somebody else. We’re trusting the physician to make the right decision, without inappropriate influence from drug companies.” Kevin Outterson, Associate Professor of Law, School of Law

Grounding the FAA brings surprising economic ripples (Marketplace): “When you’re outta work, you’re not spending money. And when you’re not spending money, you’re not buying things, and the companies that are producing products, they’ve got to lay people off. It affects the economy thru the ripple process and there’s a giant ripple process with 70,000 people.” Allen Michel, Professor of Finance, School of Management

“This is part of Karzai’s high-wire act.

“Without the U.S. and other Western allies defending his government, Karzai has no chance of surviving the combined pressures from the Taliban and Pakistan, which, as ever, seeks to control Afghanistan’s destiny so that India won’t.

“So while he says he wants a long-term deal with the U.S., he needs to show the Afghan people that he — not the United States — is dictating the terms.”

Mills can be reached at 617-353-3492 or nmills@bu.edu

“I wrote the sections about civilian killings, and what I wanted to do is describe how it is that people not only die when they’re bombed, but they die because infrastructure is destroyed or because they can’t get health care or vaccinations as a result of that destruction. In political science we call this structural violence. There’s been some effort to quantify this, but you need much more detailed work on conditions prior to war, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One of the things I was trying to get across was that when the fighting stops, the dying continues, and the dying is this indirect debt. Also, when you kill innocent civilians, it creates resistance and promotes insurgency, fueling a semicovert war.”

Contact Neta Crawford 617-353-4040, crawfor@bu.edu

William Keylor is a professor in BU’s Department of  International Relations and the author of “A World of Nations: The International Order Since 1945.” He can be reached at 617-358-0197, wrkeylor@bu.edu

Graham Wilson is the chair of Political Science Department and the author of “Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective.” He can be reached at 617–353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu

Charles Dunbar is a professor of international relations and a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen. He can be reached at 617-353-5633, cfdunbar@bu.edu

Tom Whalen is an associate professor of Social Sciences. He is an expert on modern American politics and the American presidency. He is a regular contributor to PoliticoArena. He can be reached at 617-353-4785, tjw64@bu.edu

Tom Fiedler is dean of BU’s College of Communication. A former executive editor of the Miami Herald, he is an expert on American politics. He is a regular contributor to PoliticoArena. He can be reached at 617-353-3488, tfiedler@bu.edu, Twitter: @BUCOMDEAN

“Withdrawing military forces at the end of wars in which the enemy has not been defeated is arguably the most difficult mission of all. The dangers of being attacked as the troops depart increases substantially.

“If violence escalates during the draw down, the White House may well be under pressure to hasten the timetable for pulling out altogether.

“This will probably be the greatest security policy challenge that Obama will face, all the more challenging since it will begin in the middle of an election year.”

Contact William Keylor, 617-358-0197, wrkeylor@bu.edu

“During the Cold War, France periodically pushed for a European (and mainly French) military capability apart from the overwhelming military force of the United States. From Charles de Gaulle to Francois Mitterrand, various schemes were hatched to achieve this result. None of them amounted to anything.

“In the same period, France launched military interventions on numerous occasions in its former colonies in sub-Sahara Africa, defending proteges from domestic threats or ousting leaders who had lost favor with the former colonial power.

“Now, President Sarkozy seems intent on resurrecting this old policy of robust military interventions, this time for humanitarian reasons in partnerships with the United Nations. Unlike in the past, now Washington appears to be supportive of these independent French operations. And polls show that the French public is strongly supportive as well.

“But the big question is, where is the European Union and its much celebrated European Security and Defense Policy?”

Contact William Keylor, 617-358-0197, wrkeylor@bu.edu

“They’re right and we’re wrong.  We’ve done about all we could for Karzai and his cronies and its time to cut losses (as we should have done in Vietnam).

“What we’ve mostly shown in the ten years of our efforts and sacrifices, which on the whole have been pretty good, is that Afghanistan is a place on the map and not a coherent country.  If it’s ever to be run as most in the west think a country should be run, the Afghan people collectively are going to have to decide to abandon tribalism and traditionalism and do it themselves.

“We should do what DeGaulle did in Algeria: declare ourselves the winner and go home.”

Contact Michael Corgan, 617-353-3553, mcorgan@bu.edu