Word: blocs
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Advani's political rhetoric might be suspect, but his calculation to stand by Judeo is probably sound. Keeping Judeo means preserving his sizable caste-determined Chhattisgarh voter bloc. Besides, observers say voters simply don't care about another ministerial scandal when they already view all politicians as thieves. Citizens' daily routines involve such a catalog of bribes that official corruption has ceased to be controversial. "Corruption is part and parcel of Indian politics and Indian life," says V.B. Singh, an analyst for the New Delhi-based Center for Study of Developing Societies. "People expect politicians to steal. They...
...Little known outside Japan, the New Komeito is an offshoot of the country's largest lay Buddhist organization, Soka Gakkai. In the elections, the New Komeito was the only party other than the DPJ to pick up more seats, increasing its bloc from 31 to 34. But the New Komeito's influence radiates far wider than those numbers indicate. As most smaller parties drift into irrelevance or disband completely, the New Komeito, as a member of the LDP's ruling coalition, is cementing its role as kingmaker...
Delegates from governments and businesses across the Western Hemisphere are meeting in Miami in an effort to launch the world’s largest free trade bloc, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Such efforts have been dogged in recent years by dissenting voices both inside and outside the meetings...
...blink and is "definitely prepared to walk away" from an ftaa, says Michael Connolly, an international-trade expert at the University of Miami. Brazil's $500 billion economy is South America's largest and among the world's top 15. It has always cared more about its own trading bloc, Mercosur - a $620 billion customs union that includes Argentina - than about an ftaa. So what seems to matter most to Lula is the chance to thwart U.S. hegemony. "The U.S. thinks first and foremost about the U.S., so now it's up to the Brazilians to think more about ourselves...
...hopes of starting talks on E.U. entry in 2005. Flawed Result GEORGIA Thousands of protesters gathered in the capital, Tbilisi, in support of opposition groups claiming that parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic were rigged by President Eduard Shevardnadze's government. Interim results had a pro-Shevardnadze bloc vying for the lead with a regional grouping allied to the government, despite exit polls that showed popular support for the radical opposition. International observers claimed the election was marred by serious irregularities. A Credible Threat SAUDI ARABIA Just a day after the U.S. closed its diplomatic missions citing credible evidence...