I'll start with the North Korea dud. How about a bit of India/Pakistan reconciliation? Not sure what to make of it, but it's a pretty big issue, so I'd say even a small bit of progress qualifies for this list. Also, perhaps the night raid agreement in Afghanistan. New election developments in Egypt.
More of the same in Syria.
I'm not sure whether the charges against George Zimmerman count as something that matters at this point. Also in vaguely related news, we had the WH decision against a sexual orientation discrimination ban for federal contractors.
The GSA scandal continued to be in the news, and was joined by a new Secret Service scandal. Not quite sure how to place either of these.
Oh, and Rick Santorum dropped out...I suppose at some level that moves things along, but it's not exactly restructuring the election situation.
What else? What do you think mattered this week?
The fact that you list Syria here week after week after week leads me to believe that each week's events there aren't quite as significant as you think. If the weekly events in Syria are what has really mattered over the past couple of months, it seems like we ought to be looking at a second Arab Spring or WWIII or something by now.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I'm sure they're important to the Syrians, but....
Yeah, I think you're right about that. I do think that the outcome in Syria is awful important within the region, and the region is important to the US, but...I probably shouldn't be leaving it on autopilot.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
The president is in Colombia taking flak from the region's leaders and his Secret Service agents are drunk and not paying their ladies of the night.
ReplyDeleteNot even a choice for what mattered this week.
In case anyone missed it, the first round of the French presidential election is in a week. But since both leading candidates poll around 30 percent, it will most likely be decided in the second round, in three weeks.
ReplyDeleteThe outcome of the election might determine the course of the EU in the next years: currently, about everyone who's anyone is in a party belonging to the center-right European People's Party. A socialist French president might have quite an impact, especially since German polls show the current government at 40 percent, with all the opposition to Merkel's left (but the German election is still more than a year away. Probably).
"I'm not sure whether the charges against George Zimmerman count as something that matters at this point."
ReplyDeleteThe affidavit is really corny, but it may save lives by holding off riots. So it matters because widespread property damage and death are bad.