Regional tensions increasing

I see that the UK government has now reacted to President Obama's stinging attacks against BP with the suggestion that President Obama tones down the aggressive rhetoric or that might damage transatlantic relations.

Also that the US is blaming Europe for Turkey's opposition to UN sanctions against Iran. No less an official than Robert Gates has suggested that it is the EU's reluctance to admit Turkey as a member that could be pushing it away from the west. Nothing could be further than the truth. I have said for a very long time and on various platforms that the essential question is for Turkey to decide: there is a civil war on inside the country on the question of whether it is to be an Islamic state or a modern state. It used to be a much more secular state. Now it is increasingly an Islamic one. Once Turkey has decided that question properly one way or the other, then the EU (and other countries) have some basis on which a decision can be taken regarding the clubs to which it can and should be admitted.

Both the matters above are signs of increasing regional tensions, as countries (including the USA) look around for scapegoats.

Expect more such scapegoating, and more regional tensions - till world leaders realise the only sensible alternative, which is moving to minimum global rules for finance, economics, ecology and humaneness. Sphere: Related Content