World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The global protests against governments continue, this time in Russia.  One should examine the protests that have gone on (in the Arab world, in Europe, in the United States, over the last year first in terms of the local conditions that precipitated the protests–each protest is unique.  But there is also a pattern to these protests that suggests that there is a unifying, underlying current of discontent in the world, focusing on the question of political legitimacy.  One can make a strong argument that many in the world are increasingly looking at their governments with a jaundiced eye.  The charge of corruption crosses all these protests and it is a worrying sign.  Losing faith in one’s government is a precondition of a willingness to think more seriously about alternatives that offer quick or forceful responses.

The Climate Change Conference in Durban seems to be falling apart as its end grows near.  Rather than narrowing the disagreements, states seem to be widening them.  Perhaps something will come together by Friday, but the outlook looks bleak for an international agreement.

The EU (with the exception of Great Britain) has agreed to enforce more rigorously its rules about government budget deficits.  This solution does really address the short term pressures on the euro, but it does relieve some of the psychological pressure on the markets in that the governments can now say that a similar crisis will not happen in the future.