Geopolitical Monitor - Topic: Politics

September 1st, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - The killing of four Israeli settlers near Hebron on the eve of a new round of peace talks in Washington has shifted the likeliness of forward progress in the peace process from ‘not likely’ to ‘not going to happen.’

August 31, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - Just hours before an official end to US combat operations in Iraq, President Nouri Maliki used a major speech to declare that Iraq is now independent and its security forces are up to the task of keeping order.

The anniversary of Japan’s surrender in WWII has come and gone with two noteworthy developments: no visits from the Japanese cabinet to the Yasukuni Shrine and a strongly-worded apology from Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

As they ponder ways to develop Mongolia’s abundant natural resources, political leaders in Ulaanbaatar are opting for more expensive infrastructure options in order to bolster the country’s sovereignty.

Now that Colombia’s crackdown on the FARC has significantly weakened the group, there are signs that it is setting up in neighboring Venezuela and preparing for a rebirth of sorts.

August 25th, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - Grim figures out of the housing market in the United States emerged yesterday. According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes dropped 27.2 percent in July to reach their lowest level in ten years.

August 24th, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor) - Al-Shabab’s latest attack displays a level of planning and execution that doesn’t bode well for the AU-backed transitional government in Mogadishu.

Iraq has between 25 and 50 percent unemployment, a dysfunctional parliament, rampant disease, an epidemic of mental illness, and sprawling slums. The killing of innocent people has become part of daily life. What a havoc the United States has wreaked in Iraq.

The appearance of four bodies hanging from a bridge in Cuernavaca serves as a grim reminder that Mexico’s drug war is far from over.

August 19th, 2010 (Geopoliticalmonitor.com) - An explosion in China’s restive Xinjiang province has once again raised fears of a repeat of last July’s violent riots.