13 November 2013   Leave a comment

The details of the P5+1 and Iran negotiations are not known in any specific detail, but The New York Times has an informative graphic on the issues that are being raised and the parameters of a possible agreement.  I will not ask any questions about the specific details of the graphic, but a review of the issues can clarify what is being discussed very quickly.

The Palestinian peace negotiators have resigned their posts, and the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are at a standstill.  The negotiators stepped down because the recent Israeli announcements concerning settlements have rendered the talks irrelevant.   The timing of the resignations is designed to place pressure on US Secretary of State Kerry at the same time Israel is pressuring Kerry on the Iranian nuclear issue–both sides are competing for US attention to their positions.  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the negotiators would either return to the negotiations or be replaced.

The reshuffling of Middle East politics continues as Egypt pursues better relations with Russia.  It seems as if the Egyptian military is looking to the Russians to supply military weapons after the US decided to cut back on military aid because of the coup against President Morsi.  At one point in the 1960s and 1970s, the Russians had very good relations with Egypt, but that phase ended when the Egyptians decided to pursue peace with Israel and the US embraced Egypt as a very strong ally.  Now, along with the  US-Saudi Arabian alliance, it appears as if the US-Egyptian alliance is weakening.

The European Union is going to do a review of its members’ national economic policies, and attention is particularly focused on its examination of whether Germany’s trade imbalance is damaging the overall economic health of the Union.  Some feel that Germany should rely less on exports to boost its economic growth and shift to boosting domestic consumption in the hope that that new consumption would include goods and services produced in other Union state.  This issue i a very sensitive one, and the Germans, as the largest contributor to the finances of the Union, will not take an investigation into its economic policies lightly.

Posted November 14, 2013 by vferraro1971 in World Politics

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