7.31.2009

Foreign Affairs Friday: Quick Revisits

This week, I'd like to bring up a couple of happenings related to past FAF posts:
  • Iran: While sporadic post-election protest continue, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is poking his hard-line allies with a stick, particularly over the issue of who will be his first vice president. He chose someone the Ayatollah didn't like. I'm not sure why Mahmoud would want to anger the people that saved his hide in the recent election. He already alienated those who want reform. Why alienate those fellow believers in the Islamic Revolution? Unless he thinks that public opinion of the Ayatollah has been diminished because of his post-election actions, and that this is Mahmoud's chance to claim more power.
  • Moldova: They had their redo election, and the non-Communist parties won a combined 50.7% of the vote. This is good news, but it may be very difficult for these four parties to form and sustain a governing coalition. Ukrainian reformers have had trouble with that since the Orange Revolution, and Georgia is also struggling. A divided coalition with a bare majority faces a lot of difficulties in getting things done. Hopefully, with assistance from Europe, this coalition can persevere.

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