Word: opinion
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...under growing pressure from Washington and other contributors to the Afghanistan mission to boost the German presence as part of Barack Obama's surge strategy. As a genuine Atlanticist, she will not want to snub the U.S. call for help. But as an arch-pragmatist, she knows that public opinion in Germany will not blithely countenance a significant increase. She refuses to comment on her plans until she attends an international conference on Afghanistan in London on Jan. 28. Many German political analysts think she may compromise by keeping the number of troops steady but pledging a bigger role...
Nothing unites Arab public opinion as much as hostility toward Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. The corollary is that there is no greater betrayal, in the minds of the Arab public, than taking Israel's side against the Palestinians - and on that count, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak finds himself on tricky ground...
...Iceland may cave in to the international pressure. The latest opinion polls suggest a softening of hostility toward the repayment scheme, with 53% of Icelanders against it, down from about 70% last month. This could reflect recent appeals by Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, who is at loggerheads with the President and says the deal is essential for Iceland's recovery. But if Icelanders fall back on the Viking tradition of bold defiance and vote against the plan, this could be one long saga indeed...
...pressure to make peace with the Palestinians. On the contrary, Israeli society is comfortable with the status quo and skeptical of offering the Palestinians new concessions, much less of risking the civil strife that would be spurred by any attempt to remove settlers from the West Bank. Israeli public opinion prevented Netanyahu from accepting the settlement-freeze demand, and the primary factor that brings him to the negotiating table may simply be the need to stay on side with Washington. (See 25 people who mattered...
...that no legislative success - or dashing good looks - could match. A poll taken last week by the Milan daily Corriere della Sera shows Berlusconi's favorable ratings had swelled to 56% from 49% in November, with some 17% of the center-left electorate now saying they have a positive opinion of the center-right prime minister. The same survey, however, showed a disturbingly high - more than 20% - number of respondents approving of Tartaglia's attack. (Read "The Berlusconi Attack: Will Italy's Leader Gain Sympathy...