One Week Later...

Israel lobby controversy

In An unhealthy consensus? we said that political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt would fan the growing debate over Washington's Israel policy.

• Late week saw a flurry of book reviews. Internet forums were thrown open to the public. Many users argued that a highly influential group of pro-Israeli politicians, journalists and academics have indeed succeeded in pushing US policy in the Middle East in directions that do not necessarily serve Washington's best interests.
• Barack Obama was careful to distance himself from the controversial book

Eleventh-hour hitch for Calderon

In Calderon to shine, we saw a productive week in store for the Mexican president.

• But the week did not start well for Calderon. His government's attempt to push through fiscal reforms were thwarted by an eleventh-hour hitch and failed to get through in time.
• The package should be passed in the next few days. 
• Calderon's approval ratings will remain extremely high.

Saving 'Made in China': harder than it looks

In  Saving 'Made in China' , we predicted that the commitment and efficiency of local authorities would be especially hard for Beijing to guarantee as it weeds out defective products.

• Steven Mosher, the president of the Population Research Institute, said last week that the main factor behind the ongoing global recalls and heightened concerns over many of China's exports was corruption existing at all levels of the inspection and regulatory chain in the country. 
• Eventual compliance with the central government is expected, given the need to protect local industries from health and safety concerns about their exports.

Still an outpost of tyranny…

We discussed Belarus (Europe's last dictatorship) and expected Big Brother-style behaviour to continue.

• Last week, the United States rebuffed efforts by Belarus for improved relations and said sanctions would be strengthened unless President Alexander Lukashenko's government accepted democratic standards.
• Washington is unlikely to change its assessment of Belarus' internal political system in the short-term.

Rate freeze

We predicted that an interest rate freeze from the ECB was more likely than a hike.

• The governing council of the ECB, led by Jean-Claude Trichet, announced after its meeting that it would keep interest rates in the Eurozone on hold at 4.0%.
• We think the ECB will keep rates on hold at 4.0% for the foreseeable future -- its rate raising campaign has peaked.

News to us:

Life after Mugabe?

President Robert Mugabe's government has put a bill before parliament that would allow the leader room to choose a successor if he were to retire.

Oil spat

Oil major Exxon Mobil wants compensation from Venezuela over the takeover of its assets.

And finally…

Outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is admitted to hospital a day after announcing his resignation.