TEL AVIV — This Passover season, Israel is facing the economic downturn just like the rest of the world, but there is one group that is feeling no pain: the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). In 2009, according to Haaretz columnist Reuven Pedatzur, the defenders of the Jewish State will spend more than $15 Billion (with almost $3 Billion from Uncle Sam), an amount that is close to 10 percent of Israeli GDP. By contrast, Europe and the United States spend less than 4 percent. Israeli critics of this extravagant spending say that to call any defense funding wasteful in the [...]
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s bid for a second term has received an enormous boost after initial counting from last week’s legislative elections gave his Democratic Party a decisive edge over its rivals. His party was aided by its well-regarded handling of the economy in the face of the world economic crunch and collapsing oil prices, both of which have punished government coffers and will underpin the presidential campaign over the next three months. The country needs billions of dollars to create jobs, build infrastructure, overcome endemic graft and boost the pace of growth beyond the 3-4 percent forecast for [...]
Citing national security concerns and a need to crack down on drug trafficking, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, with the support of leading lawmakers, dispatched federal agents and security forces to take over major seaports and airstrips in four Venezuelan states last week. Chávez opponents blasted the move as a bid to tighten political control amid plunging oil prices, which have softened the OPEC nation’s economy. Three of the ports are in states governed by opposition politicians, and Chávez has suggested that anyone who interferes could face prison. The true motives of the controversial Venezuelan leader may be as varied and [...]
