A site dedicated to the discussion of world politics, international relations, and anything else that crosses my mind

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Morning Notes for June 9th, 2005

Okay, so posting will be more sporadic than I had anticipated. I have an article manuscript to edit, research for a professor to complete, comps to study for, and--oh yeah--I have to work all day. In any event, here are some stories that I am following.

Could the "Non" and "Nee" votes evetnually cripple the EMU?

Wolfgang Munchau had an excellent piece in the Financial Times yesterday about the potential breakdown of the EMU (European Economic and Monetary Union). While some commentators were quick to dismiss the potential link between the rejection by France and the Netherlands of the EU constitution and the EMU which is the basis for the euro (and believe me, politicians were even quicker, attempting to lessen the fallout from the markets), Munchau points to a number of stressors that could build upon one another a trigger a euro-crisis. The most interesting part was the fact that Roberto Maroni, Italy's welfare minister, stated for the first time last week that his country ought to bring back the lira. It was the first time that an EU member state had publicly raised the possibility of abondoning the euro in favor of its previous currency. This type of rhetorical opening is sometimes all it takes to provide others with similar feelings an opportunity to echo those sentiments. And with many in Europe unhappy about the euro (both from an economic and identity/symbolic standpoint) many politicians might sieze on this opportunity to score some electoral points.

Taiwan enacts constitutional reforms

Taiwan enacted constitutional changes this week which, depending on who you are, make any attempt at formal/legal independence either easier or more difficult. Future changes to the constitution will have to be decided by referedums, but these referendums require 50% of the entire electorate--not just those who vote. So if you are China you do not like the fact that President Chen Shui-bian could fast track legal independence by by-passing the legislature, but he would have a near impossible hurdle to clear given the 50% threshold. We will just have to wait and see how China reacts, although I do not think this will garner that large of a reaction given their current focus on disputes with Japan, the EU, and the US.

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