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...least Rasmussen knows politics. Nicknamed Prime Minister by schoolmates amused by his obsessive interest in the workings of government, Rasmussen went straight from university to parliament. He became known for a meticulous, almost robotic style. Danes didn't love him, but they respected that he got things done. As Prime Minister from 2001 until last April, Rasmussen pushed Denmark to the right by freezing tax increases and cutting immigration numbers, even as he safeguarded its liberal positions on issues like gay marriage and climate change. He oversaw the complex negotiations that led to the last big intake of new countries...
...small talk with Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The longtime Danish Prime Minister and new Secretary-General of NATO likes to get down to business quickly. Meetings have to achieve something tangible, notes a colleague. In private briefings before he took on his new job at the beginning of August, Rasmussen was "very focused," says Fabrice Pothier, director of the European office of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There's no bullshit. It's 'Give me some concrete, doable recommendations.'" Two days in, Rasmussen, who at 56 is just four years younger than the military alliance itself, headed to Afghanistan...
...Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), points for speed. Within hours of the DPJ's historic general-election victory on Aug. 30, Hatoyama was conferencing by phone with the leaders of South Korea and Australia, meeting with journalists and otherwise behaving as Japan's next Prime Minister - which he certainly will become in just a few weeks. "We have finally reached the starting line," Hatoyama told reporters on Aug. 31, leaving little doubt that he was eager to get on with governing. (Read "Japan's Election: Opposition Wins Historic Victory...
...Budget Under Control In mid-September, the DPJ will take over officially, with the Diet's election of Hatoyama as Prime Minister and the appointment of ministers. That leaves 100 days for the new administration to draft a budget for the next fiscal year that doesn't increase the national deficit - now at 180% of GDP, the highest ratio among developed countries - but still provides funds for costly election-year promises. The deadline is all the more pressing because Japan's still anemic economic recovery could falter without the steady infusion of government spending...
...budget formulation to foreign policy. The bureaucracy can be virtually impervious to change partly because its members are not accountable to elected officials - there's no personnel overhaul with a change in administration. The DPJ has vowed to implement some checks and balances by expanding the power of the Prime Minister's office and the Cabinet. But it's a delicate job that could easily go sour. (See pictures of Japan in 1989 and Japan...