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Top of the Agenda: G7 to Hold Emergency Eurozone Talks Finance ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations are set to hold emergency talks on the eurozone sovereign debt crisis today, amid growing international concern over a potential Spanish banking crisis (Reuters). The United States and Canada have both called for the EU to take bolder action to combat the crisis and implement measures to stimulate short-term growth. At the same time, Germany has reportedly urged Spain to request bailout funds from the EU, following in the steps of Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. Analysis "Time to solve Spain's debt crisis is running out. Doing so requires a radical rethink in Madrid, but above all in Brussels and Berlin. Spain's government should be free to focus less on fiscal austerity and more on cleaning up the banks. Its European partners should also help by allowing joint rescue funds to be injected directly into banks," says the Economist.
"What if the European elites have got it entirely wrong and, rather than fearing and avoiding a 'Lehman moment', Europe in fact needs one in order to move beyond this interminable state of crisis? Could Greece play the part of Lehman Brothers? There is a strong argument that it should," writes Michael Tory for the Financial Times.
"But, more broadly, EU commitments have now become relative, which implies that jointly guaranteed Eurobonds cannot be the silver bullet that some hope. As long as member states remain fully sovereign, no one can fully reassure investors that in the event of a eurozone breakup, some states will not simply refuse to pay, or at least refuse to pay for the others," writes Daniel Gros for Project Syndicate. PACIFIC RIM Putin Arrives in China Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China today for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (NYT), during which he will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao to discuss the ongoing violence in Syria and Iran's controversial nuclear program.
NEW ZEALAND: Prime Minister John Key signed an agreement with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Ramussen (BBC) to increase cooperation across a range of platforms, including terrorism, military training, disaster relief, and intelligence. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA U.S. Drone Strike in Pakistan Targets Senior al-Qaeda Member A deadly U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's North Waziristan region yesterday targeted Abu Yahya al-Libi, a senior aide to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (al-Jazeera), but U.S. officials were unable to confirm whether he was killed.
CFR's Micah Zenko writes about U.S. drones and civilian casualties on his blog Politics, Power, and Preventive Action.
INDIA: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in New Delhi (TimesofIndia) for two days of bilateral meetings meant to expand U.S.-India military and strategic cooperation. MIDDLE EAST IAEA Announces New Talks with Iran The director general of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, announced yesterday new talks with Iran focused on allowing the agency to access the country's restricted nuclear sites (NYT). The meeting will be held at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on Friday.
Nuclear talks between Iran and leading world powers are unlikely to lead to a deal in the short term, but they have had some impact: easing tensions and calming oil markets, says CFR's Richard Falkenrath in this CFR Interview.
YEMEN: Hundreds of Yemeni troops are preparing for an assault on the southern coastal town of Shaqra, in an effort to expel al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (al-Jazeera) from the area. AFRICA ICC Calls for Aid to Be Cut Off to States That Help Sudan's President The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, said yesterday that aid should be cut off to countries that help Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to elude arrest. The ICC indicted Bashir for war crimes in 2009 (Reuters).
SOUTH SUDAN: President Salva Kiir accused seventy-five current and former senior government officials of stealing at least $4 billion from the state's coffers (BBC), amid an economic crunch precipitated by the country shutting down its oil production following a dispute with neighboring Sudan. EUROPE Merkel Calls for Greater EU Oversight of Banks German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday urged more centralized oversight of the EU's financial sector, while calling for greater political integration (WSJ) to combat the two-year-old eurozone sovereign debt crisis. AMERICAS Argentina Agrees to Trade Consultations with EU Argentina accepted yesterday a request from the European Union to hold a round of consultations at the World Trade Organization over the former's protectionist trade policies (MercoPress), while criticizing the United Kingdom for refusing to negotiate over the disputed Falkland Islands.
CANADA: German police arrested in Berlin a Canadian man accused of murdering and dismembering a student in Montreal (Reuters), whose body parts were sent to political parties in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. CAMPAIGN 2012 U.S. Voters More Polarized Than Ever, Study Says A new study from the Pew Research Center finds that political identity now divides the United States more than race, class, or gender, and that this election year is the most polarized of any point in the last twenty-five years.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican who has sought to limit collective bargaining, faces a tough recall challenge today from Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett that has implications for unions and the results of the presidential election (NYT).
The election-year opportunity to critique incumbent Barack Obama's foreign policy is being squandered, says Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic, while analysts struggle to define Mitt Romney's foreign policy (NPR) after he has been slow to do so himself.
Editor's Note: For more information on the presidential election and foreign policy, check out CFR's campaign blog, The Candidates and the World.
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