What do the U.S., Argentina, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, and Ukraine have in common?

jim lobe writing in ips...

The basic democratic principle that "the will of the people should be the basis for the authority of government" is supported by overwhelming majorities throughout the world, according to a major new survey of more than 17,000 adults in 19 countries released here Monday.

Large majorities in most of those countries also believe that their own governments are not living up to that principle, according to the poll which was conducted and published by WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO).

Indeed, an average of 74 percent of respondents in the 19 countries, which represent 59 percent of the world's total population, believe that "the will of the people" should have more influence in how their country is concerned than it currently does.

And an average of 63 percent of respondents say their country is being run by a "few big interests looking out for themselves," rather than "for the benefit of all the people."

The belief that governments were being run by "a few big interests" was particularly pervasive in Ukraine (84 percent), Mexico (83 percent), the United States (80 percent), Nigeria and South Korea (78 percent), and Argentina (71 percent).

"The perception that governments are not responsive to the popular will appears to be contributing to the low levels of confidence in government found around the world," noted Steven Kull, who directs both the WPO and its parent organisation, the University of Maryland's Programme on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA).

"Most see their governments as primarily serving big interests rather than the people as a whole," he added.

[...]

Among all 19 countries, respondents in the U.S. thought their government took into account world public opinion the least.

it's been a long time since i've viewed my government as being responsive to its citizens but it's only been in the past decade or so that i've come to believe that my government doesn't give a tinker's damn about the rest of the world unless it's about what we can get out of them...

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Ballet Blue

With South Korea well on its way into a "morality" binge in the Arts, for example within Ballet, it seems to focus on the young, where creativity and sparks-of-genius kindle in so much tinder, and it seems the attempts are made the harshest upon the young, in attempts to extinguish that burning passion and desire for the delirium and intoxication of rapture itself.

Here is but a glimpse of the Ballet Blue, already on fire with passion and delight:

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Suspicious of establishing a long-term presence in the Middle East? Ya THINK...?

i've read enough of dan froomkin to know that he's not making the statement in the last paragraph of this snippet as a blinding glimpse of the obvious...

The White House, long irritated by the frequent use of Vietnam as a metaphor for Iraq, embraced its own analogy yesterday: South Korea.

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It's troubling because American troops have been in South Korea for more than 50 years -- while polls show the American public wants them out of Iraq within a year.

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And it's telling because it gives credence to persistent suspicions that establishing a long-term strategic presence in the Middle East was a primary motivation for this misbegotten war in the first place.

anybody with two brain cells to rub together could have figured out that we went in to iraq to stay, and every single thing that's happened since has borne out that conclusion... i am with atrios 110%, we are going to be in iraq forever, as long as this crowd and their republican and democratic enablers in congress continue to have their way...

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Ecuador and Venezuela want OUT but North Korea wants IN

once again, i gotta confess... my cynicism says that bringing north korea into The Club is precisely what the u.s. wants, despite its official utterances to the contrary...

South Korea has announced it will back North Korea's bid to join the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The Korea Times reported on a news briefing in Seoul, in which five lawmakers who had visited Pyongyang said North Korea is considering membership in the World Bank, based in Washington.

[...]

[T]he United States and other developed countries have had a reluctant attitude toward North Korea's entry into international organizations...

why would the u.s. forfeit the opportunity to grab north korea by its financial cojones and squeeze until it sings the star-spangled banner...? let's hope that buenos aires, caracas and quito don't fill in dear leader on THEIR experiences...

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