Thousands of people have been killed in Colombia, a country of nearly 40 million people, in 38 years of war between the leftist rebels and the government and right-wing paramilitaries.

BBC: Colombian rebels call off truce

Kennan gave counsel to the Administration during the Korean War, and was instrumental in setting up the covert-operations wing of the Central Intelligence Agency.

NEWYORKER: Getting Real

You want a more centrist Republican alternative, more or less exactly like the option that John McCain offered as a candidate during the 2008 presidential election, but which you, a self-styled centre-right newspaper, rejected in favour of Barack Obama, who thus far seems to be the most left-wing American president since the second world war.

ECONOMIST: Letters