Rational World

Great story about France’s action in Mali. The author also provides a very brief but very good background about the conflict in Mali:

“The fall of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya changed all that. Weapons from Gadhafi’s warehouses spilled across the region and into the hands of the highest bidder – often, al Qaida’s. Gadhafi’s fall also prompted hundreds of armed desert tribesmen known as Tuaregs to return to Mali, where they rebelled. Al Qaida and its allies then pushed those secular rebels aside, taking control of all of northern Mali.”

- Alan Boswell, McClatchy Newspapers.

“In an earlier clash, the three-week winter war of 2008-2009, many Palestinian rivals blamed Hamas’s rocket-firing bravado for bringing Israel’s military might down on Gaza.

That war ended with over 1,400 Palestinians in early graves and a territory scarred by bombing, shelling and invasion. Israel lost 13 lives in the lopsided battle, and Hamas licked its wounds.

This time is different. The Arab Spring has changed the Middle East, and Hamas has more powerful weapons…

Hamas also scored a diplomatic hit, with solidarity visits last week by the foreign ministers of Egypt and Tunisia while its positions were under attack. Both countries were ruled by Western-backed autocrats last time Gaza was invaded, but popular uprisings have since swept them aside, and Islamists now dominate in Cairo and Tunis, representing masses who back their fellow Sunni Islamists, Hamas.”

- Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Al Arabia News.

This latest round of violence between Hamas and Israel is at least for now proving to be a PR victory for Hamas, but it could be a turning point on a couple of different fronts.

First, Hamas took a severe beating in the previous round of fighting. The war of 2008-2009 was (as far as my memory can recall) the most intense conflict between Hamas and Israel. During that fighting, Hamas was hurt severely. Since then Hamas had been relatively quiet leading some to speculate if Hamas had “forgotten about fighting” Israel. If this round of violence escalates to that level and Israel beats Hamas as badly as last time, it could cause some in the Middle East to question why they support an organization that is so ineffective.

But then again, current events may not escalate to that level. Even if they do, it may not go as well for Israel if Hamas has used the time since 2009 to regroup, organize and strengthen their capabilities.

Secondly, this conflict could bring about a change in Egypt’s foreign policy. So far President Morsi has upheld the peace treaty with Israel, tightly regulated border crossings with Gaza, and promised to protect the US embassy in Egypt if it is attacked. In other words he has tried not to offend the West.

Although, he has condemned Israel and their latest incursion into Gaza. Additionally, Morsi may face intense pressure from his own party (the Muslim Brotherhood) to take a stronger stand and to intervene militarily.

The next few weeks will likely be crucial in determining the trajectory that the Middle East will follow for the near future. The way I see it much is riding on the policy decisions of President Morsi.

”A senior advisor to the Chinese government has called on authorities to impose “tough measures” on Japan, such as sanctions and bond market manipulation, so as to force Tokyo to reverse its decision to nationalise the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands…

Jin then took the opportunity to take a slight dig at the U.S., claiming that China could “take a cue from the U.S.,” by imposing economic sanctions on countries that go against their own security interests. The US’ capability to impose economic sanctions on other countries is based on its economic strength, huge share in global trade, financial institutions and global intelligence network. China, too, has the capability to impose sanctions on other countries now that it is the second largest economy, has the largest foreign reserves, and is the largest exporter and second largest importer.”

- Economy Watch

This article illustrates one of the reasons why our national debt is problematic. China, like the US, is not going to hesitate to use its increasing economic might to do some arm twisting to get its way.

A good question to ask is: how can we prevent China from doing this to us?

An excellent round up of news stories from the last two weeks.

(via Foreign Policy)

Well… this is interesting.

This, somewhat, alters my opinion about how the Akin campaign is doing. I still think that this election could be close if Akin refuses to drop out and can avoid facing a third party challenge.

Although, this story will definitely hurt his campaign. People like to support winners, not having enough money is a sign of a loser.

Sanford Weill, former CEO and chairman of Citigroup, announced on CNBC that he thinks the ‘too big to fail’ banks should be split up.

Considering the source, should anyone even listen to him? According to this article Weill was the architect of ‘bigger is better’ banking. Many of the problems we have now were caused by people like him.

Yet, on the other hand, he has a tremendous amount of knowledge about the industry and knows how banks operate inside and out.

Has he simply seen the error of his ways? Is he now advocating for the best policy, or is he still looking out for the interests of the bankers?