France elected a new President a few weeks ago, and its not just a change of faces but a full change of attitude, policies, and direction for the Fifth Republic. Left-of-center, socialist President François Hollande took office on May 15th, and has been on a flurry of global functions ever since, including now hanging out in the US for the G-8 Summit followed by a NATO Summit. The Professor discussed some of the big policy changes that are already occurring due to this political shift from right to left in France, including economic policy favoring spending, Eurobonds, and the pulling out of French troops from Afghanistan, and perhaps NATO leadership too!
Vladimir Putin is back in the saddle of the Russian presidency, and one of his first moves involved a double-diss throw down on the US! He refused to attend the big G-8 Summit being hosted in the US! What is up with that? Plenty my friends, and it’s not all about the US either. Putin’s moves reflect a tilt way from the Team West dominated G-8 and NATO groups, and towards grander relationships with Asia and specifically China. Learn all the details of the double-diss here and the deeper meaning behind them.
Was ist das? Germany is bailing out Greece, and will likely have to bail out other failing EU countries too? Why Germany, and not France or the UK? Oh, that’s because Germany has the most dynamic, vibrant, growing, powerhouse, awesome economy of Europe and the 4th largest economy in the world! In this plaid rant, the Avenger points out a slew of reasons why the German economic machine rocks, including their manufacturing emphasis, their education model which promotes skilled labor, their fiscal and monetary savvy, and even the role of the Euro in their economic success story….a story that will go on into the foreseeable future, even as other European economies fall by the wayside. Ich bin ein Berliner! Ja, ja!
Keywords: Germany, economy, manufacturing, exports, industrial, industry, services, fiscal policy, Euro, Deutschmark, European Central Bank, education, skilled labor, family-owned businesses, steel, autos, solar and wind technologies
Brrrrrr…it’s getting cold out there! And for Russians, I’m not just talking about the weather! While there has been a significant cold-snap-smack-down on western Russia and Eastern Europe, this Professor rant deals more with the political, economic, and social chill that has set in on Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The western news media portray the Russian public protest against the government and upcoming elections as a simplistic anti-Putin/pro-democracy thing…but there is much more going on behind the scenes in Russia that is causing this anti-establishment chill to set in. Included in this discussion are corruption, wealth disparity, a fleeing middle class, mafia, and an un-diversified economy that together are creating a sense of hopelessness and political despondency amongst some Russian peoples. And Putin is now paying attention to the change in the Russian political climate!
The violence continues to escalate in Syria, where the entrenched regime of Bashar al-Assad continues a bloody repression of protestors who are trying to bring the ‘Arab Spring’ revolution to their country. In the latest news, Russia has now publicly stated that there is no way in hell they will allow any UN-sponsored and NATO-led invasion of Syria—the likes of which toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last year. Say what? Why would Russia openly support a civilian-slaughtering regime? The Professor talks about some of the reasons for this Russian promise of a veto at the UN, and also why the Syrian regime has lasted longer than other Arab dictatorships which have bitten the dust much quicker.
Keywords: Syria, regime, Russia, veto, UN, Security Council, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Arab Spring, weapons, revolution
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