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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-May-2011
26-May-11 World View -- Greece deepens Europe's financial crisis

Web Log - May, 2011

26-May-11 World View -- Greece deepens Europe's financial crisis

Tribal violence in Yemen spreads outside the capital Sanaa

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Bitter fights over Greece's debt deepen Europe's financial crisis

Some analysts are comparing Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou to the mythical Sisyphus, because every time he does something to try to reduce Greece's debt, he has to start all over again. EuroIntelligence

Europe's financial crisis continues to grow, as bitter disagreements surface about whether to allow any kind of Greek debt default, and whether such a default would have catastrophic effects, as European Central Bank (ECB) officials are predicting. Moody's Investors Service warned that a Greek restructuring could have a domino effect, leading to downgrades elsewhere. "The full impact on Europe's capital markets would be hard to predict and harder still to control. The fallout would have implications for the creditworthiness [and hence the ratings] of issuers across Europe," Moody's said. Wall Street Journal (Access)

The unforeseeable consequences of a Greek default are causing bitter fights within Greece as well. One of EU's conditions for a bailout was a consensus about austerity measures from Greece's political parties, but consensus is getting harder and harder to find. The reason is that more and more people believe that austerity measures are useless, since Greece is going to default anyway. According to one analyst, "The Eurogroup is caught on the horns of a dilemma. It has no power to threaten Greece because not paying the financial aid would have unforeseeable consequences for all the parties concerned." CNBC

Tribal violence in Yemen spreads outside the capital Sanaa

Explosions from heavy shelling can be heard across town in the south of Sanaa, Yemen's capital, indicating that the conflict is now using heavier weapons than the machine guns and the mortars of the last few days. A full scale civil war may have already begun. Residents of Sanaa are now fleeing the city with their belongings, not believing that any part of the city is safe. The tribal violence pits the forces of president Ali Abdullah Saleh against his former ally, Sadiq al-Ahmar, head of the powerful Hashid tribe. Al-Jazeera

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday ordered nonessential diplomats to depart Yemen, and urged all Americans to leave, as security conditions deteriorated. AP

David Cameron confirms continued heavy U.S. role in Libya

At his press conference with President Obama on Wednesday, British PM David Cameron confirmed a continued heavy U.S. role in Libya:

"In terms of the U.S. role, I would make this point, which I'm not sure is widely understood in Britain or in Europe — is already a huge number of the sorties and the support and the air assets that are actually bringing the pressure to bear are U.S. assets. There was this enormous effort at the beginning, as the president said, but also a sustained amount of assets that have been used.
And as the president said, there are also the unique assets and capabilities that the U.S. has that others don't have that are so vital. And as he said, we all have to ask what is it that we can all do to make sure the pressure is really brought to bear. That is what the British are doing, the French are doing, the Americans are doing. And I know we'll discuss this in the margins of the G8."

Associated Press

Syria's president Bashar Assad loses Erdogan's support

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has been supporting Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, with the objective of helping Assad reach a peaceful settlement with the protesters. But now, after three months of "backing a regime which shoots to kill Muslims in the street," and with the number of Syrian deaths rising past 1100, Erdogan is changing policies, and is now actively opposing Assad. Most troublesome is Assad's repression of Kurdish regions in northern Syria, resulting in ferment among the Kurds of southern Turkey. Unless this repression stops immediately, Turkey will take overt action. Debka

Circassians in Caucasus applaud Georgia's recognition of Russia's genocide

The recent resolution by Georgia's parliament, which passed by a vote of 95 to 0, recognizing the mass killings and deportations of Circassians from the North Caucasus in the nineteenth century as "genocide," is bring applause from the Circassians in the province of Kabardino-Balkaria. Estimates are that the bloody and prolonged war between the Russian empire and the Circassians exterminated or deported some 90% of the Circassian population. The war climaxed in 1864 with a victory parade in Sochi by the Russians. The Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi in 2014, on the 150th anniversary of the conflict, and the genocide claims are becoming increasingly important as the Olympics games approach. Jamestown

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 26-May-11 News -- Thailand election portends more ethnic clashes thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (26-May-2011) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-May-2011 26-May-11 World View -- Greece deepens Europe's financial crisis

Bitter fights over Greece's debt deepen Europe's financial crisis

Tribal violence in Yemen spreads outside the capital Sanaa

David Cameron confirms continued heavy U.S. role in Libya

Syria's president Bashar Assad loses Erdogan's support

Circassians in Caucasus applaud Georgia's recognition of Russia's genocide

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-May-2011
26-May-11 World View -- Greece deepens Europe's financial crisis