Evolutionary Hot Spots: A World Tour

David and Jeff begin their world tour in North America, where they note that there hasn't been a war between Canada and the United States in a long time. Just try to imagine an army of Canadian mounties crossing the border, marching toward Washington D.C.—it has literally become unthinkable that these two countries would ever attack each other. They then turn their attention south to Mexico, which has been severely challenged by the drug wars that have resulted in over 34,000 deaths—more casualties than we've seen in the entire war in Afghanistan. Jeff and David look at why we seem less concerned about these horrifying statistics in Mexico than we are about Afghanistan. They then notice that Cuba and Venezuela are preparing for the passing of their charismatic and controversial leaders, and what that may mean for their future.

Jeff and David then cross the Atlantic Ocean to our friends in Europe, noting that, like North America, they are seeing a largely peaceful and cooperative phase of geo-political stability, after centuries of violent strife. They are moving beyond the terrible carnage of the 20th century, and are settling into the European Union.

Next stop on our tour is the Middle East—possibly the hottest of the hot spots. We take a quick look at what is emerging in Iraq, check in again on the tensions surrounding Iran, the prevailing mood in Israeli, and the elections in Egypt. Afghanistan is also in play as President Obama just announced our policy going forward towards a negotiated peace that will attempt to actually include the Taliban.

Finally, Jeff and David take a look at North Korea, the sole remaining poster child for totalitarian regimes with nuclear ambitions. With the assentation of a new young leader and their recent blustering about gaining long range missile capability, North Korea is on the watch list as China decides what it wants to do to protect its South Korean ally.