Israel unfreezes Palestinian Authority tax millions

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/30/israel-unfreezes-palestinian-taxes?newsfeed=true

Palestinians are set to finally receive tax revenues that have been frozen for about two months. Palestian officals are in a desperate need for the funds to pay security services and public servants. The amount of money is to amount to about $100 million. Israel took action to freeze the account as a punishment for the Palestinian Authority attempt to gain recognition as a state. Many officials from the international community have pressured Israel to release the funds, including UN secretary-general and Hiliary Clinton.

Zeinat Hindi

Ryan, Fri. 10am

Eurozone finance ministers likely to miss rescue target

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15933685

The finance ministers of Europe planned to fund about 1tn Euros to help relieve the financial crisis; but it seems unattainable. The Eurogroup chief said that by expanding the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility), it would be "substantial" , but would not talk further about the issue. The European leaders want to have a lot of money in the EFSF just in case large economies need bailout money, such as Italy and Spain. The ministers also agreed to have private and public investors to engage in the EFSF. Karl Regling, Chief of EFSF said that at this time it is "impossible to give a figure at this stage." The European countries are trying hard to figure out how to end this financial crisis, and Poland's Foreign Minister is looking to Germany to take an active lead because they have the strongest economy. What do you think should be done to end this financial crisis?

Alexandra Christus

TA: John (Friday 11am)

Syria: sanctions sending a message

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15955399

A follow up to Ryan's news on Syria:

Syria's foreign minister has described the sanctions as "economic war".

The UN says violence has left more than 3,500 dead; the Syrian uprising now entering its ninth month.

The Arab League suspended Syria's membership on 12 November and voted to approve economic sanctions which are now coming into play.

The following article has details about the sanctions placed on Syria's economy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15753975

Syria Security Forces 'Commit Crimes Against Humanity'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15926364

In response to the uprising Syria’s security forces have cracked down on anti-government protesters. Since March more than 3500 people have been killed in the violence. A three member UN commission released a report describing the human rights violations currently taking place in Syria. The report contains accusation of abuse, executions, and sexual violence against civilians apprehended during protest. Meanwhile, the Arab League imposed sanctions on Syria; which included an asset freeze and an embargo on investments.

Breanna
Hanrahan
TA:
Ryan (9AM Friday)

Satellite Image Shows 'Extensively Damaged' Iranian Missile Site

Two weeks ago an apparent explosion at an Iranian missile site caused extensive damage to the base and has added to international concern about Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons program. Nothing good will come from this pursuit by one of the most radical Muslim communities in the world. Although Professor V downplayed Amadinejad's (spelling?) influence in the external use of the program his rhetoric is dangerous and the continued development of ways to deliver the nuclear weapon may cause the United States or more likely, Israel to become preemptive in their actions. This can only mean an escalation of involvement in the Middle East and has the potential to move the region into another full scale conflict.

Pakistan to shun Afghan conference

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/29/world/asia/pakistan-afghanistan/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

I think this boycott is a bad idea. This really puts Pakistan, the U.S., and other coalition countries on shaky ground, as Pakistan tries to figure out if they're even still on good terms with the United States. I wonder if there would be a better way for Pakistan to go about voicing their discontent without so much added risk of everything falling apart.

Sumaira Yahya
TA: John (Friday 11:00AM)

Elections in Egypt

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/28/world/africa/egypt-elections/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

I think it is great to finally see the people of Egypt using their voice to choose the member of the Egyptian parliament. What is even better about this election is that people in Egypt are very excited about being able to have a vote. One woman said she was willing to wait more than ten hours just to vote because never in her life has she had the opportunity to vote. Although these elections may not be perfect, I believe this is a right step for Egypt and that they can be on the right path.

Mike Milstein
TA: John

Egypt military chief Tantawi warns over elections

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15909874

Hussein Tantawi military chief is warning protesters in a not so subtle way that he means to retain power. He’s asking the presidential candidates to back his prime minister and warns of grave consequences if the public continues it’s protesting. The irony is they are protesting exactly what he is doing. They fear continued military power and influence and wish it to stop. The military claims that it is there to prevent trouble makers from influencing the election, but this seems like nothing more than an excuse to retain power. So though Mubarak is out, the struggle will continue for some time.

Zachary Tolan
Friday 10:00am, Ryan Maness

Moderate Islamist Party Winning Morocco Election

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/world/africa/moderate-islamist-party-winning-morocco-election.html?_r=1&ref=world

This weekend in Morocco, the Justice and Development Party won its first plurality vote since the country's new Constitution has been put into effect. Protests last spring supporting a push towards democracy has since then led to a newly drafted and approved constitution, created by Morocco's King, Mohammed VI. The constitution allows for only a slightly more popular government. The king, however, has the power to choose a prime minster and possesses power in religious and military arenas. This has leaders of the movement boycotting and resisting to vote, yet the turnout suggests that many Moroccans support the king's decisions of the constitution.

Mercedes Tate
John 11 a.m.

Egypt unrest: Protesters gather for Tahrir Square rally

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15831733

This article was about how the Egyptian protesters gathered around Tahrir Square rally to protest to the government that there is no point in voting for the election if the military are controlling the power. Their Prime Minister Essam Sharaf believes that they should just calm down because he has responded to what they want. Also the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf)is expected to make a statement about the problem. But these protesters have sacrificed 28 people and hundreds wounded, within the three days of protesting. They also notice that these protest have been going around Egypt and some people have died or wounded.


Hikaru Kato
TA: Ryan Maness
Friday 10am

Tension between US and Pakistan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15027923

The US has been growing more suspicious of Pakistan. Admiral Mike Mullen said, "The Haqqani network, for one, acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency." This is quite a direct accusation of the Pakistani government and if true it may signal growing conflict for the US in the region. If Pakistan is using militant groups like these as proxies to gain regional power, this may give the US incentive to invade Pakistan. The US has also decided to "withold hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid" this year. This may be another sign that relations have been growing sour for a while and it was only with the raid on Bin Laden that this tension was brought to the public eye. While another war may be looked upon as unfavorable, it would be more effective than fighting small insurgent groups. If these terrorist organizations are being funded by Pakistan it would make sense to attack them at their source, so as they will run out of resources.

Matei Guran
TA: John Friday 9AM

Syria conflict 'similar to civil war', Russia says

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15769804

The Russian foreign minister,Sergei Lavrov, is attempting to use the continuing violent attacks and uprising in Syria to motivate the international community to condemn the conflict. As the statement shows, the difference between terrorism and civil war is not always clear, as both are violent means used in order to change government. In this case it was the Free Syrian Army which attacked an army base, as they are a group of renegade soldiers it is obvious that this was a terrorist action. Lavrov's warning though will hopefully help to show other nation's that action is required in order to help create a stable government in Syria.

Emily Frisk
TA: John Friday 10:00am

Iran 'influenced' Iraq over US troops' exit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15724404

Iran influenced Baghdad's decision to refuse to allow the US to keep troops in Iraq beyond the end of this year. The US must be out by December 31st. The US attempted to work towards a new agreement that would allow a small contingent of several thousand soldiers in Iraq that the government in Baghdad had refused. "Adviser Sa'ad Youssef al-Mutalabi says that while the decision had been Iraq's, Iranian sensitivities had played their part." However, Michael McClellan, who is the spokesman for the US embassy in Baghdad, said "We are not being pushed out and I don't think it's at the behest of Iran. Since 2003, our objective here has been to have an Iraq that is sovereign, stable and self-reliant. They are sovereign because they did make their own decision. We did not just come back at them and say: 'Sorry but we're going to keep our troops here anyway." There are around 30,000 soldiers still in Iraq but they all must be gone by the end of this year except the few that will remain to protect the embassy.

Tyler Coleman
TA: John 11:00AM

Afghan- Pakistan Border Suspicions Regin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/on-afghan-pakistan-border-suspicions-reign/2011/11/10/gIQAWj4PKN_story.html?hpid=z3

American soldiers were fired upon by people within the area of a Pakistani military checkpoint. The reasons for this are not known, but some possibly motives were to either provide cover for insurgents who were traveling, or there were insurgents who were firing upon the Americans who were simply utilizing a Pakistani military checkpoint. Though there is no proof for either of these theories, this is still a representation of the growing tensions between the American forces and Pakistan's involvement with insurgents. Their motives and loyalties have been called into question on many occasions, such as accusations that Pakistan was harboring insurgents. Due to the fact that many soldiers can reported being fired upon by forces on the Pakistani border, I think that a major conflict with Pakistan could possibly be in the United States' future. Do you think that these growing tensions will lead to another major conflict?

By: Marisa Gilna
TA: Ryan F(10-10:50)

Cyberattacks

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-government-security-services-websites-down-in-suspected-cyber-attack-1.394042

Over the weekend several Israeli government websites crashed. They believe that this was cyberattack. The purpetrator name is anonymous (really original), and the reasoning behind this attack was upoladed in a Youtube message. Anonymous said that if the siege on Gaza continuous, and more flotillas are intercepted then the attacks will continue. In this case, only a couple of servers crashed for a short period of time, but what happens when cyberwarfare becomes more prevalent, and governments are faced with bigger ulitimatums from hackers. Do you guys think that cyberwarfare is a major or minor issue? How should countires address this issue moving forward?


Peter Gountanis
TA:Ryan Maness
POLS184
Friday-10AM

Israel and Iran Create World Tension

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15617657

World War I was sparked by an event between two minor European powers who had the rest of Europe tied into the war through alliances. It is interesting to see a similar spark beginning to unfold between Israel and Iran. Israel has an unconditional ally, USA. Iran has two very strong allies, Russia and China. In this article Russia warns Israel that an attack on Iran would be a "very serious mistake fraught with unpredictable consequences", Russia's foreign minister has warned.

Israel wants to move in on Iran with a preemptive strike to prevent the development of Iran’s Nuclear program. Iran claims that it only wants to use nuclear power for commercial use. What will happen if Israel attacks Iran, and Russia steps in? World War III?

Chris Laskowski
TA: Maness
POLS 184
Friday - 9:00AM

Greek's prime minister to resign

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/06/world/europe/greece-main/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

On the condition that the bailout deal is approved, the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will resign. I think this is a bad idea because the Eurozone will probably need his support in the future since the debt crisis isn't magically going to go away once it is passed. Greece still has a long way to go and other debt problems are arising in Italy. The Eurozone has a whole needs the leadership of Papendreou since he could help the countries that will be having problems shortly since he has already had to deal with a debt crisis.

I know that he is doing what the vast majority of Greeks do not want, but he was elected to make the hard decisions. The Greek citizens, as with citizens in all republics, do not have the time in their lives to get the full understanding of what needs to be done, which is why we elect people to these offices to do it for us since they will have the time necessary. His job is to do the right thing for his country even if it isn't necessarily the most popular. Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, and Johnson were all in a similar situation involving civil rights. Their positions were definitely not the most popular at the time, but they did what was right and necessary for the United States. Papandreou is doing the exactly what he was elected to do in my opinion: Make the hard decisions that no one else is able to make.

Brad Herrmann
Maness 10am

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/world/europe/greek-leaders-split-on-euro-referendum.html?_r=1&hp

On Thursday Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou called off the public referendum that was set to decide whether Greece would accept the recently developed debt deal with the euro zone. This decision relieved some of the political tension that had escalated because of Greece's initial decision to hold a referendum. European Union leaders looking to keep the EU intact, primarily Germany and France, were appalled that the Greek public would decide whether or not to accept their debt deal. The agreement reached last week would write down Greek debt in exchange for austerity measures and a commitment to the euro as Greece's currency. News that the referendum was called off spurred an upturn in European markets as well as markets abroad. Prime Minister Papandreou faces a tough confidence vote this Friday which will have large implications on the fate of the Euro zone debt crisis.

Matt Russo
POLS 184
John 11:00AM Discussion Section