With Super Tuesday just around the corner, the author addresses the heated battle for the Democratic presidential primaries and the appropriateness of Bill Clinton’s role in advocating for his wife’s candidacy. The Bill and Hillary tag team, now popularly referred to as Billary, has been blatantly divisive, created unprecedented tensions within the party, and may potentially rally Republicans to a November victory. These aforementioned factors along with Obama’s positive message of change and hope have earned Obama the endorsement of Edward Kennedy and other senior Democrats.

The primary elections have managed to put the fire back into political debate in the United States, in the presence of the still uncertain presidential result. The most complex issue remains unresolved: for the world’s superpower to confront the difficult global strategic situation, which is full of uncertainties. Will Hillary Clinton be the one in charge of leading this global change?

One of the quandaries facing terrorism analysts today: the jihadist’s dilemma of whether to promote collective or individual action among potential adherents. Although this may appear to be an obscure issue, so specific as to interest only counterterrorism analysts, it is actually a widely applicable and underappreciated topic that could directly impact the type of terrorism Europe may face in the future. As such, it is a concern for all.

Brazil, just like other emerging countries, is experiencing an shortage of infrastructure, which is hindering its economic growth. For this reason, President Lula’s government launched the Growth Acceleration Plan (PAC in its Portuguese initials) exactly one year ago: a four year, 190 billion euro investment plan that hopes to achieve the goal of a GDP economic growth rate of 5 percent between 2007 and 2010.

The electoral battle between president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (PSOE) and opposition leader Mariano Rajoy (Partido Popular) is intensifying. The foreseeable economic slowdown in 2008, the rise in prices, the growth of the foreign deficit, and the slump in the real-estate sector signal the end of a cycle and show competitiveness problems. The second big topic is the antiterrorist fight: despite not going through a good period (thanks to political and judicial action), it would not be unlikely for ETA to carry out terrorist acts before the elections.

There are two unresolved matters in the Spanish democracy outside of the current situation that no government has managed to resolve since the Transition: the political aspirations of certain autonomous regions and the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Spanish State. The first challenge is Spain’s territorial configuration, which continues to be questioned by a minority of the population that is by no means insignificant, capable of influencing, by means of its political representation (PNV and CiU), the Government; the second, the need to proclaim constitutional laicism in order to avoid religious interference in governmental affairs.

Hugo Chávez needs the FARC for his carom shot on the great Bolivarian homeland table, which includes Colombian territory. Álvaro Uribe has reasons to confront Chávez and to line up behind him the national unit of Colombians that are being held in check and offended from both the inside and the outside. Washington backs Uribe, its main ally in South America, but it is in need of a Chávez that will guarantee that, at the end of the day, Venezuelan oil finds its way to the American gas pumps and tanks.

• The international mediation in Colombia, is it defusing the conflict?
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According to the author, recovering Argentina has been doing better and better ever since its economy became a mostly cash/equity game (while having very little consumer credit and very little foreign, national, corporate and mortgage debt), and the United States is bound to discover that its cure for anemic economic growth (credit) just might turn out to be toxic in the long run.

• The Globalization of Brazil
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• The Challenges of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in Foreign Policy
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Al Qaeda wants to take control of a country and Pakistan presents some ideal conditions: as neighbors it has Iran, Afghanistan and India; it has a conflict (Cachemir) that is considered universal by the Muslims, and, above all, it has an exit to the Arabian Sea which would close the oil traffic of the Golf monarchies, who are considered by Al Qaeda to be the principal source of corruption. Besides, it has nuclear missiles (Ghauri). Benazir Bhutto represented the only democratic option opposing Pervez Musharraf and the Islamist radicals.