The US is planning to send heavy military equipment and about 5,000 troops to the Baltic states and other eastern European countries. The move, which has not yet been fully approved by the Defense Department, is designed to send a message to Russian President Putin that NATO is not willing to accept any further Russian moves like the one in Crimea. Of course, the Russians will interpret the move as an attempt by the West to encircle and contain Russian aspirations. A classic case of the security dilemma.
The slow motion train wreck that has impoverished Greece over the last five years seems to be coming to a head, although many have thought the end point had come many times earlier. So one should not think that a Greek default is inevitable. But talks between the Greeks and the troika broke down over the weekend and the Greeks refused to make any changes to their pension plans. The complete Greek payment to the IMF is due on 30 June, but the Greeks have already missed the full installment and it is unlikely that the Greeks can come up with the full amount if they could not make the first payment.
Today is the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta. It was an agreement between King John of England and 40 nobles who were tired of being taxed by the King to finance his failing war against France. Many regard the document as the beginning of what we now know as liberal society. Its most important clause reads: “no free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.” King John repudiated the document a month after it was signed, but the idea of restraints on the monarchy was an idea that refused to die.
World Politics News 
Leave a comment