Economic Crisis Poses Threat To Global Stability

NPR ^ | 02/18/09 | Tom Gjelten

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Economic Crisis Poses Threat To Global Stability

by Tom Gjelten

Morning Edition, February 18, 2009 · Around the world, unemployment is rising and incomes are falling, and it isn't clear how long the recession will last or how deep it will get. The global economic situation is so serious that the head of U.S. intelligence agencies now says it has surpassed terrorism as the top threat to national security.

National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair's dramatic report last week — that the economic crisis is now the United States' top "near-term security concern" — caught some members of Congress by surprise. But it makes sense.

The global economic downturn could easily change the world. Previously stable countries could become unstable. The geopolitical lineup could shift sharply, some countries becoming more powerful while others get weaker. Allies could turn into adversaries.

And no one knows for sure how things will turn out.

Threats Of A Long Recession

"This is one of these moments where our assumptions are being challenged," says David Gordon, a former intelligence officer who now leads research at the Eurasia Group. Until last month, he was the director of policy planning at the State Department.

"I think there is a lot of uncertainty right now where things are going, and that makes it hard to plan," Gordon says. "But it also means that you have to broaden the way you think about things, include different kinds of scenarios."

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Economic Crisis Poses Threat To Global Stability

[bigbob]

“And no one knows for sure how things will turn out. “

Geez, NPR, ya think?

Such profundity.

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How long before everyone realizes that many countries are technically bankrupt? Does China really have the money they are loaning us? If so, they got it from selling products to us that were made in by political slaves. Is that what we want?