Danger

We have been reminded today that the world remains a dangerous place. It seems that the Irish bailout is not going as planned, that the EU's comments about the dangers of an early Irish general election will be ignored and that the EU will have to negotiate with a new Government which might take a different line to the current one. If this happens will the new government reject the straight jacket of euro membership and set itself free? What a turn up for the books that would be! We were also reminded today why we need our military. North Korea for whatever crazy reason (and it is easy to suggest that it is part of the leadership handover process from father to son but who knows) has launched an unprovoked attack on South Korea. How does the rest of the world deal with a mad dog like North Korea? If it were a dog it would quietly be put out of its misery but it will be fascinating to see how the only world power will deal with the threat. Bummer Obama's initial 'outrage' response has not been 'helpful' and demonstrated his lack of credibility where foreign affairs are concerned. As the world power mantle slips from America's shoulders everyone will be looking to China to whip the North Koreans into line. But how will China carry out that task and will we ever know when it has done so? Do not bank on it.  What a complicated world we live in! Crises though bring opportunities and if our politicians are clever they will use the euro and North Korean crises to boost our influence in the world, shake off the dead hand of the EU and rejuvenate our economy.