US Defense Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, has urged both China and Japan to tamp down the rhetoric over the disputed islands between them. The dispute is bringing out a strong nationalist impulse among the populations of both states, and such emotions are sometimes very difficult to control. The US clearly fears any military conflict in which it might have to choose sides.
The anti-US riots in recent days have highlighted an important difference in values that exist in the world. In some Islamic societies, blasphemy is a crime punishable by death; in liberal societies, such language is typically protected by freedom of speech. Such laws are not simply a difference of opinion–they reflect the relative weights given to the protection of society as opposed to the protection of the individual, and, as such, they are fundamentally different ways of viewing the world.
There were huge protests in Spain and Portugal over the weekend. The protests were aimed to show discontent with the austerity measures imposed on the two states by the European Union. It is not clear whether the governments of the two states can effectively respond to the protests–they need the outside money in order to prevent a debt default. It is a classic rock and a hard place scenario.
World Politics News 
Leave a comment