Many people argue about when the process of globalization began (I think it began when the first group of homo sapiens started walking and bumped into another group of homo sapiens). The Economist has a very interesting essay on the question, and adds some provocative insights.
Angela Merkel’s election victory needs to be sealed by building a coalition with other political parties. The most likely coalition would be a center-right Party (Merkel’s Christian Democrats) and a center-left Party (Known by its German initials, SPD). Apparently, however, it seems as if few parties wish to work with Merkel, largely because she has been so successful at overshadowing her previous coalition parties. It is hard to figure out what an acceptable compromise would be to a party that fears becoming irrelevant if it joins the government. The center-left coalition with the SPD would be good for those European countries who are undergoing the austerity programs pushed by Merkel, so non-German related issues might determine the outcome.
There is much discussion about a possible meeting between Iranian President Rouhani and US President Obama at the upcoming UN opening meeting. The pressures for and against such a meeting are quite intense, but all behind the scenes. If the meeting does occur and is more than perfunctory, it may signal the beginning of a new relationship between the US and Iran. Most observers agree that President Rouhani has made more than sufficient overtures to justify reciprocity from the US.
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