National Security | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Nat’l Security / Foreign Affairs: May 24, 2012
- Euro Zone Crisis Boils as Leaders Fail to Signal New Steps
- Iran Talks Are Extended as Signs of Common Ground Are Seen
- Egyptians Vote for Second Day in First Free Presidential Election
- Syria’s neighbors are growing restless
- Greece and the Euro: Exodus, chapter 1
Excerpts and more stories below
Euro Zone Crisis Boils as Leaders Fail to Signal New Steps - NICHOLAS KULISH and PAUL GEITNER, NY Times
At a summit meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, regional leaders failed to signal any significant new steps to stimulate the sputtering regional economy or resolve the competing agendas of President François Hollande of France, who favors stronger action to spur growth, and his German counterpart, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has opposed aggressive moves to ease the pressure on Europe’s weakest economies.
Iran Talks Are Extended as Signs of Common Ground Are Seen – Steven Erlanger, NY Times
Iran appeared to balk at a proposal by six world powers to curb its nuclear program but agreed to keep talking.
Egyptians Vote for Second Day in First Free Presidential Election - DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, NYTimes
Egyptians went to the polls on for a second day on Thursday to choose their first freely elected president, hoping to recapture the promise of a popular uprising that defined the Arab Spring, end 15 chaotic months of military rule and perhaps shape the character of political Islam across the region.
Syria’s neighbors are growing restless - David Ignatius, Washington Post Op-Ed
The Middle East sometimes resembles a string of detonators wired to explode together — and this seems especially true now of Syria and its neighbors.
Greece and the Euro: Exodus, chapter 1 - The Economist
The odds of a Greek exit from the euro shorten by the day. The obvious trigger for a Greek exit would be an election result signalling rejection of Greece’s austerity programme. But events could move faster still if Greeks start voting with their mouses and begin a bank run.
==More News==
Hollande Steals the Show from Merkel - Carsten Volkery, Der Spiegel
French President François Hollande managed to set the tone at his first EU summit with his proposal for euro bonds. It was the first such meeting in years that was not dominated by Chancellor Merkel. Hollande wanted to send the message that France will be more assertive in the future.
Interview: How Sanctions Affect Iran’s Economy – Dr. Hassan Hakimian, Council on Foreign Relations
Some experts and U.S. officials believe that recently imposed sanctions on the country’s financial and oil industries are taking an economic toll and encouraging Iran to negotiate. However, Hassan Hakimian, director of the London Middle East Institute and an economics expert, says Iran’s economy seems to be doing better than some believe…
Drug Trafficking and Raids Stir Danger on the Mosquito Coast – Damien Cave, NY Times
After an influx of American military support, residents in a remote area of Honduras now say they feel threatened from outside and from within.
Mexico’s two major crime cartels now at war – William Booth, Washington Post
The two most important criminal organizations in Mexico are engaged in all-out war, and the most spectacular battles are being fought for the cameras as the combatants pursue a strategy of intimidation and propaganda by dumping ever greater numbers of headless bodies in public view — the victims most likely innocents.
China’s economic crisis – Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post
Ruchir Sharma, who runs Morgan Stanley’s Emerging Markets Fund, makes a different and more persuasive case in his new book, “Breakout Nations,” pointing not to China’s failures but to its successes: “China is on the verge of a natural slowdown that will change the global balance of power, from finance to politics, and take the wind out of many economies that are riding in its draft.” Evidence is accumulating to support his view.
China Tries to Spur Growth, Cautiously - Grace Zhu and Liyan Qi, The Wall Street Journal
As evidence gathers that the Chinese economy continues to slow, Beijing is outlining steps to prop up growth, including targeted tax cuts and support for favored sectors.
Syria’s neighbors are growing restless - David Ignatius, Washington Post Opinion
The Middle East sometimes resembles a string of detonators wired to explode together — and this seems especially true now of Syria and its neighbors.
US drone strike kills 10 in North Waziristan – Associated Press via Dawn.com
A suspected US drone fired two missiles that killed 10 alleged militants in northwest Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Prison Term for Helping C.I.A. Find Bin Laden - Ismail Khan, NY Times
A Pakistani doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency pin down Osama bin Laden’s location under the cover of a vaccination drive was convicted on Wednesday of treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison, a senior official in Pakistan said.
The Seeds of the EU’s Crisis Were Sown 60 Years Ago - Clive Crook, Bloomberg
The arc of Europe’s postwar history is turning toward tragedy. It isn’t just that much of the continent has fallen into a new Great Depression, or that in some countries things will get worse before they get better. It isn’t even that the whole mess was avoidable. It’s that the crisis is dividing Europe along the very lines the European project was intended to erase.
Euro Zone Crisis Boils as Leaders Fail to Signal New Steps – Nicholas Kulish and Paul Geitner, NY Times
Regional leaders meeting in Brussels failed to signal concrete steps to stimulate the economy or resolve the competing agendas of the German chancellor and the French president.
U.S. uses Yemeni Web sites to counter al-Qaeda propaganda - Karen DeYoung and Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post
State Department officials recently carried out a counter-propaganda campaign on Web sites being used by al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, challenging the group’s anti-American rhetoric with information about civilians killed in terrorist strikes, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday.
