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Fears that the conflict in Syria might spill over and lead to a conflict with Iran pushed up oil prices. At the same time the new forecast by the International Energy Agency in early August 2012 showing a 20% decrease in demand growth in 2013, as a result of the economic slowdown in the U.S., Europe and China, acted to put a lid on oil price increases. Light sweet crude for September delivery was at $92.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on August 10, 2012, and Brent crude was at $112.95 a barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange.

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The loss of support of tribes in Anbar province, as Islamic State targets tribal leaders and officials who supported U.S. sponsored Awakening Councils during the presidency of George Bush. Many of the gains of that period are diminished with the lack of trust of Sunni tribal leaders in the Shiite led Iraqi government. For the tribes that are fighting Islamic State the Iraqi government is hesitant to provide support believing the arms will later be used against it. The U.S. government is also hesitant to increase its involvement. The Islamic state has alienated Sunni tribes supporting it because of its violent methods. These tribes support Islamic State because of a lack of alternatives and because of money paid to them by Islamic State.

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Misgivings among Egyptians not connected with the Muslim Brotherhood about the coup in Egypt. Tamer El-Ghobashy covers this part of Egyptian opinion which sees the best approach to poor performance by Morsi would be to vote him out of office or hold a referendum.

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Xi Jinping is said to have brought up the collapse of the Communist Party in Russia under Gorbachev in a closed door Dec. 2012 meeting of Communist Party officials in Guangdong province. A summary of comments obtained by the media shows Jinping bringing up the situation in Russia, where he said the "ideals and convictions wavered," the system suffered decay, the military and the party went in different directions, leading to collapse of the Communist party system. In Jinping's words it took only one word from Gorbachev for dissolution of the Communist Party, and nobody else came out with a different view. Jinping faces several challenges- tackling corruption in the party, making changes in the economy that move it in a different direction from the dominance of the state owned enterprises, improving the condition of people left out by the economic boom from unemployed students and migrant workers to people in rural areas.

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A look at the history of the founding of Pakistan and the 60 years since, looking all the way back to Muslim League's activities in the 1930's under Jinnah, and the failure of politicians and the military to help build Pakistan and improve the lives of its people. One by one the generals and the politicians, including Ms Bhutto and Sharif, have all failed and the dim prospects that it would be different this time with a new elected government.

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U.S. Secretary of State Tillerson calls Russia "incompetent" for letting Syria hold onto chemical weapons even after a deal to remove the weapons was made and implemented. Tillerson was also critical of Russian attempts to influence elections in France and Germany.

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Oil prices are up and staying there longer in December 2011. The 12 month rolling average for oil prices for Brent crude oil is at $109, compared to $106 a barrel in September 2008, according to consultants JBC Energy. The situation is worse for eurozone countries because of the declining value of the euro estimated at between $1.16-$1.30 in 2012 depending on how the eurozone crisis is handled. The 12 month rolling average was 70 euros when Brent crude prices were at their high in 2008, compared to 78 euros today. France and Italy are seeing their current account surplus disappear with reduced exports and higher import bill for oil.

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The uncertainty that hangs over Iraq after the American withdrawal. Religious reconciliation and sectarian reconciliation is fragile. There is a push for autonomy in the provinces. There is a fear of Iranian backed militias in some areas. A prominent Iraqi singer says "all of Iraq is sad."

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Protests in the Iraqi parliament by leaders of the secular Iraqiya party led by Allawi against the Shiite prime minister, Maliki, over arrests in December 2011.

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Prof. Leverett of Penn State University says the student protests at the time of the Shiite holy day day of Ashura, after the death of Grand Ayatollah Ali Montazeri, do not represent the majority. He says it is unikely that there will be much change in the Iranian government and President Obama should work with the existing Iranian government. He goes on to say that vastly larger number of Iranians went to the streets on December 30, in demonstrations organized to support the current Islamic Republic government, even saying that these demonstrations could have numbered nearly 1 million people. As the Iranian student protests have generated much media interest and were covered widely, this article presents an entirely different picture of the situation. The question remains to what extent does student protests reflect wider sentiment throughout the country, and if Leverett is right why did the party represented by Ahmadinejad need to win the presidential election by practices that were questioned by the opposition and others. Or is there an urban-rural divide in Iranian politics where most of the urban and literate classes have turned against the government and support student protest and seek change, whereas the rural areas support the current government. ...