[Vision2020] Situation in Spain

[nickgier at roadrunner.com]

Hi Sue,

Spain has one of the highest unemployment rates in the EU.  It has been hit hard by its own housing bubble.  It was trying too hard to become the Florida of Europe.  The Economist had a special section devoted to Spain in its Nov. 8, 2008 issue.

You can access those articles and many others at www.economist.com.

Good Luck,

Nick
---- Sue Hovey <suehovey at moscow.com> wrote: 
> Finally, an article which supports the administrations new emphasis on 
> Afghanistan.  Not that there was reason to do so before.
> 
> Nick, what is the economic situation in Spain?  My granddaughter will be 
> doing a year long exchange in Sevilla coming in August.  She won't be 
> working or taking advantage of their insurance, of course, but I just hope 
> the economic situation there won't do her damage.  I've been checking the 
> Economist, but can't find much.
> 
> 
> Sue
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <nickgier at roadrunner.com>
> To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 5:58 AM
> Subject: [Vision2020] Let's Hope that David Brooks is Right about 
> Afghanistan
> 
> 
> > March 27, 2009, The New York Tiems
> > The Winnable War
> > By DAVID BROOKS
> >
> > Khyber Pass, Afghanistan
> >
> > I came to Afghanistan skeptical of American efforts to transform this 
> > country. Afghanistan is one of the poorest, least-educated and 
> > most-corrupt nations on earth. It is an infinitely complex and fractured 
> > society. It has powerful enemies in Pakistan, Iran and the drug networks 
> > working hard to foment chaos. The ground is littered with the ruins of 
> > great powers that tried to change this place.
> >
> > Moreover, we simply do not know how to modernize nations. Western aid 
> > workers seem to spend most of their time drawing up flow charts for each 
> > other. They’re so worried about their inspectors general that they can’t 
> > really immerse themselves in the messy world of local reality. They insist 
> > on making most of the spending decisions themselves so the “recipients” of 
> > their largess end up passive, dependent and resentful.
> >
> > Every element of my skepticism was reinforced during a six-day tour of the 
> > country. Yet the people who work here make an overwhelming case that 
> > Afghanistan can become a functional, terror-fighting society and that it 
> > is worth sending our sons and daughters into danger to achieve this.
> >
> > In the first place, the Afghan people want what we want. They are, as Lord 
> > Byron put it, one of the few people in the region without an inferiority 
> > complex. They think they did us a big favor by destroying the Soviet Union 
> > and we repaid them with abandonment. They think we owe them all this.
> >
> > That makes relations between Afghans and foreigners relatively 
> > straightforward. Most military leaders here prefer working with the 
> > Afghans to the Iraqis. The Afghans are warm and welcoming. They detest the 
> > insurgents and root for American success. “The Afghans have treated you as 
> > friends, allies and liberators from the very beginning,” says Afghanistan’s 
> > defense minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak.
> >
> > Second, we’re already well through the screwing-up phase of our operation. 
> > At first, the Western nations underestimated the insurgency. They tried to 
> > centralize power in Kabul. They tried to fight a hodgepodge, multilateral 
> > war.
> >
> > Those and other errors have been exposed, and coalition forces are 
> > learning. When you interview impressive leaders here, like Brig. Gen. John 
> > Nicholson of Regional Command South, Col. John Agoglia of the 
> > Counterinsurgency Training Center and Chris Alexander of the U.N., you see 
> > how relentless they are at criticizing their own operations. Thanks to 
> > people like that, the coalition will stumble toward success, having tried 
> > the alternatives.
> >
> > Third, we’ve got our priorities right. Armies love killing bad guys. Aid 
> > agencies love building schools. But the most important part of any aid 
> > effort is governance and law and order. It’s reforming the police, 
> > improving the courts, training local civil servants and building prisons.
> >
> > In Afghanistan, every Western agency is finally focused on this issue, 
> > from a Canadian reconstruction camp in Kandahar to the top U.S. general, 
> > David McKiernan.
> >
> > Fourth, the quality of Afghan leadership is improving. This is a relative 
> > thing. President Hamid Karzai is detested by much of the U.S. military. 
> > Some provincial governors are drug dealers on the side. But as the U.N.’s 
> > Kai Eide told the Security Council, “The Afghan government is today better 
> > and more competent than ever before.” Reformers now lead the most 
> > important ministries and competent governors run key provinces.
> >
> > Fifth, the U.S. is finally taking this war seriously. Up until now, 
> > insurgents have had free rein in vast areas of southern Afghanistan. The 
> > infusion of 17,000 more U.S. troops will change that. The Obama 
> > administration also promises a civilian surge to balance the military 
> > push.
> >
> > Sixth, Pakistan is finally on the agenda. For the past few years, the U.S. 
> > has let Pakistan get away with murder. The insurgents train, organize and 
> > get support from there. “It’s very hard to deal with a cross-border 
> > insurgency on only one side of the border,” says Mr. Alexander of the U.N. 
> > The Obama strategic review recognizes this.
> >
> > Finally, it is simply wrong to say that Afghanistan is a hopeless 
> > 14th-century basket case. This country had decent institutions before the 
> > Communist takeover. It hasn’t fallen into chaos, the way Iraq did, because 
> > it has a culture of communal discussion and a respect for village elders. 
> > The Afghans have embraced the democratic process with enthusiasm.
> >
> > I finish this trip still skeptical but also infected by the optimism of 
> > the truly impressive people who are working here. And one other thing:
> >
> > After the trauma in Iraq, it would have been easy for the U.S. to withdraw 
> > into exhaustion and realism. Instead, President Obama is doubling down on 
> > the very principles that some dismiss as neocon fantasy: the idea that 
> > this nation has the capacity to use military and civilian power to promote 
> > democracy, nurture civil society and rebuild failed states.
> >
> > Foreign policy experts can promote one doctrine or another, but this 
> > energetic and ambitious response — amid economic crisis and war 
> > weariness — says something profound about America’s DNA.
> >
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