Kadafi's Death: New Libya

I'll be honest in admitting that I don't know much about the conflict that happened/is happening in Libya, but in which direction do you think Libya's new government will go? From what I've read Libya wants their laws/constitution to be based off of Islamic law. Do you think that they'll succeed in doing so either with or without American intervention.

American has been known to stick its nose where it doesn't belong and I feel this might be another case in which that's exercised. Obama might invoke the Truman Doctrine to help set up a democracy in Libya. Especially with next year being an election year, Obama needs to be careful of what steps he takes so that not too many potential voters are offended.

One argument for not stepping in in Libya is the potential for more conflict. Obama is pulling troops out of Iraq, but does it help any to move them straight into Libya? Kadafi still has supporters in Libya, of course. So what would stop them from protesting America's aid to the framers of their constitution.

On the other hand, by creating an ally with Libya could be very instrumental in the acquisition of petroleum, which is abundant in Libya. It goes without saying that that would be a PR win for Obama.

I feel that America will have its hand in the formation of the Libya constitution in one way or another, but I also feel that that will lead to more tension in the middle east, as we are already seen as an enemy. Even though Libyan officials say that they want an Islamic government do you think that's actually how it'll turn out?

Israel uprooting Palestinean homes

http://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/israel-doubles-rate-of-palestinian-home-demolitions-and-plans-to-uproot-30000-bedouin-clinton-says-palestinians-need-to-be-more-flexible.html

With Palestine's pending statehood up and coming with the UN Israel is making their stance on Palestine more clear (as if it wasn't already). Israel is planning on demolishing 30,000 homes in the Negev desert, land which is very important to Palestinean Culture. SoS Clinton believes that the only way to stop this is for Palestine to keep an open mind and reopen negotiations with Israel.

Although I don't agree with Israel's actions, I applaud their timing, seeing that if Palestine gets statehood the UN will attempt to prevent these kinds of actions. So, until Palestine achieves statehood, it can be assumed that similar initiatives will be taken by Israel.

Throughout the years Israel has constantly been provoked by Palestine, to say the least. In fairness, Israel has struck back equally at the people they have displaced. This is one such example. One problem with the nation of Palestine is their inability to stay as a unit. Palestine is split into multiple factions and therefore cannot aggregate their seperate ideological views efficiently. This is also one factor that members of the UN will consider when voting on recognition of Palestine's statehood.

Even though interest aggregation isn't necessarily the most important to Palestine due to their lack of government, being a unified nation comes across as more "professional" as opposed to individual factions or cells, which have a very different connotation that Palestine would prefer not to have.

To reiterate, Israel is applying pressure on Palestine which is conveniently beginning before Palestine potentially gets their statehood. This forced SoS Clinton to state Palestine's need to try and find a happy medium with Israel. To swallow some of their pride and negotiate with Israel will realistically be the only option for Palestine because Israel will be given free reign to continue to push Palestine further and further out of the picture.