So lets tally up all the recent protests and revolution attempts (some successful, some pending), and feel free to add more if I leave some out:
Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Iran, China, and Libya.
I have no real clue what to make of all this. I just figured we should start some dialogue on it now.
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You forgot Wisconsin here in America. I did not know there were protest in China. I read that there was an attempt to organize one but that it never got off the ground.
ReplyDeleteI have not heard much about these from the normal news. I have heard some about this from the Glenn Beck show so my information on this is not very objective. According to him, this is bad for America and could lead to a caliphate in that region of the world and thinks that these protest will spread to the rest of the world. He brings in Iran and their leaders stated desire to bring the return of the 12th Imam or whatever it is called. He talks about a one-world government.
I do know that the protest in Egypt were started in part to reaction against higher food prices. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has been recognized as a political party. They are a terrorist organization. Egypt has granted Iran the right to let their ships go through the Suez Canal.
Bahrain is important to America because it houses the 5th fleet which is vital to America interest in that region of the world.
One way these protest could impact America and the world is that they will lead to higher gas prices due to the fact that so much oil flows through the Suez Canal and the fact that much of our oil comes from the Middle East. This could led to higher oil prices and cost push inflation. (I do know that inflation will hit around 30% sometime in the future as global trade will probably be reduced by a third due to the coming global financial crisis.)
One of those nations is very close to Spain. This could led to refugees escaping to Spain as it already has. This could further destablize that nation and the Eu due to their financial crisis. (Portugal is about to receive a EU bailout so another EU domino has fallen.)
I don't think anything dire will come immediately out of these protest, but I do think that it could possibly led to the formation of a government in Egypt that is not friendly to America, especially if the Muslim Brotherhood is a major part of that government. And these protest will not produce anything that is good and will eventually impact America in a negative way.
I do think that these protest are a glimpse of what will come when the global financial system receives a massive shock that will result from the massive debt and financial crises facing all major economies of the world. There will be massive world wide protest that result from this and will require an unprecendented response from the global community. I think these are just the beginning of what will come in the following decades. But overall, I am not too knowledgeable on these events and can only speculate, aside from the global economic crisis.
The current unrest in Libya is a factor in the rising oil prices, "Brent crude oil prices hit $108 a barrel for the first time since 2008 on Monday on fears that spiraling violence in Libya could lead to wider supply disruptions from the OPEC member."
ReplyDelete"U.S. oil prices led the rally to jump by more than $5, the most in over two years, as traders also rushed to cover short positions in the key Brent/WTI spread, which had blown out to a record $16 a barrel. The April spread narrowed to $10 during the day, but widened to over $12 in after-hours trade."
"The focus was on deadly clashes in Libya, where one oil firm was shutting down some 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production and others evacuated staff. The leader of the Al-Zuwayya tribe threatened oil exports to the West would be cut off unless authorities stopped violence." http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_markets_oil
America depends on the Middle East for a majority of its oil. America sends billions of dollars to that region of the world in exchange for its "black gold".
It is interesting because the entire Muslim world is getting fed up with their dictatorial oppressors. But, as everyone says, it could go either way: will they overthrow the dictators (some of whom cooperate with the US, some don't) and replace with freedom-loving democracies, or will they replace with new Fundamentalist Islamic Republics? Could be good or bad, but the good thing is the people have seen the power they have to overthrow their oppressors.
ReplyDeleteNow, if only we had an Administration that had an interest in actually getting the US energy independent rather than dinking around with cutesy green-energy scams...but alas, instead we will be tied to whatever chaos and resolution occurs over there.
From the news I have read and seen, it seems as if the outcome of this will not lead to the creation of governments that are based on a representative democracy and conductive of freedom. Especially considering the involvement of the Muslim Brotherhood. I think that these events and uprisings will lead to the establishment of governments that will not be friendly to America or the nation of Israel. I think that these events will not lead to anything good for America or the world. I think these events will lead to higher oil prices in the short, long run and this could send the economies of the world over the edge as they are already on the edge. I think higher oil prices will compound the inflation problem in the world. I could be wrong though although I doubt it.
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