This house gets sick when someone sneezes

The global economy is deeply interconnected. At present it seems that there is one country with such a powerful and influential economy that a small fault in that economy will cause the economy of the rest of the world to fall into recession. That one country is now falling into an economic recession of its own. That country is the United States.

Now many countries fear the effects of the US’s recession. Even small countries in Southeast Asia worry about its effects. Economists think that, since the US is a major exporter of goods from Asia, China and other major exporters will have to cut prices to gain access to the US markets, out-competing smaller businesses. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/2008/01/24/140402/U.S.-recession.htm

At a World Economic Forum meet, the focus was the fear of the US’s recession. However, some of the economists there believe that the growing economies of China, India, and some other countries will help keep the world from falling into the major recession others are predicting.

http://www.huliq.com/48151/fears-us-recession-dominates-wef-meet

Barak's International Influence

These two articles remind me of a comment I heard at school about how Obama would have more influence in international politics than Hilary because of of his race and because he is male, rather than female and will be regarded with more respect in areas in the Middle East where women are actively discriminated against. These two articles have different takes on the matter.
In this articles, the focus was on the color of his skin rather than his gender. The author states that, for people in the third world, most of whom are colored, Obama will be the first president of the United States, and one of the few big players in international politics, who looks like themselves, the "good guys" not some other leader whose policies will most likely add more strife to their lives. http://www.newsweek.com/id/91621

This article describes Obama's current image in Kenya. because his father was born in Kenya and because he himself pays attention to whatever is going on there, he is widely regarded as a hero.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/ov/archive/2008/01/14/for-kenyans-barack-is-a-hero.aspx

His ties to Kenya give him a lot of power in that country, which is especially important now with regards to the current political turmoil in Kenya.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/01/17/kenyaprotests.ap/index.html

Peace for Palestine and Israel

Israel and Palestine are war-torn and ravaged places. A CNN reporter recorded many of the horrors he saw there. Gaza is now a “wasteland” ruled by Hamas, and because of the Hamas rule, the Israeli government has made it difficult for the people living there to travel or even trade or receive more than is absolutely necessary for life. “No one is staving, but the economy has come to a stand still” and there are severe shortages of other necessary resources, such as fuel for energy, which results in things like hospitals being routinely cut off from energy in order to conserve it. Similar conditions can be seen in the West Bank.

All across both these areas resentment of the ones who let this continue is high. That includes every one from Hamas to the Israeli government to the US, and many fear a third insurgence, far more devastating than the previous two.

Furthermore, there have been and still are many instances of damaging attacks on Israel from Hamas and other anti-Israeli factions.

With this as a backdrop, George Bush has arrived in Tel Aviv declaring his visit “a new opportunity for peace in the Holy Land,” which indicates a good deal of hubris on his part. Rob Malley, an experienced negotiator, believes that there is not a good chance of success in this venture. The constant violence and the need to negotiate between three different groups (Israel, Fatah, and Hamas) in many different sub-conflicts, combined with the fact that a single bomb could at this point launch all three groups into war contribute to this low chance of success. However, Malley says that it is not impossible for some form of treaty to be made, because “all three actors see real merits [in reaching an agreement] because of their relative weaknesses.” There is still a chance for peace in this decades–old war ground.