THE GOVERNMENTS ARE COLLAPSING
The Cities of the Plain
by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
During the second quarter of 2006, entire chunks of the world became, conspicuously, subjects of an accelerating and spreading pattern of collapse among leading and other governments. The most notable examples include the Blair government of the United Kingdom, the Chirac government of France, and the Bush-Cheney government in the United States. This global calamity is now spreading, most notably, throughout the rest of western and central Europe.

Trans-Atlantic Powers in Free-Fall
George W. Bush and Other 'Failed States'
by Jeffrey Steinberg
As Lyndon LaRouche, Vladimir Putin, and Hu Jintao are painfully aware, the world is witnessing a rapid, generalized disintegration of the governing institutions of most of the leading nations of the trans-Atlantic 'Western system.' Each failing state is going through its own unique process of selfdestruction, but the common factor is that all of the governments in free-fall are hysterically clinging to the same set of policy axioms that have already failed.

The Financial Bubbles Are About To Burst
by EIR Staff
In the midst of Weimar-style hyperinflation, which has taken precious and industrial metal prices to all-time highs, occasional short-term dips by profit-taking notwithstanding, the world's financial markets were suddenly hit with a wave of dramatic turbulence during the second week of May. Stock markets in both the industrialized nations and the emerging markets were hit with major sell-offs, at the same time that the prices of the major commodities began to jump around like a yoyo, and bond markets soared.

Blair Joins Bush: The Lamest of Ducks
by Dean Andromidas
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's regime is rushing down the same tube as that of President George W. Bush and his Vice President, Dick Cheney. Tony Blair's lame-duck status was confirmed by the City of London's own mouthpiece, the Economist, whose cover story May 11 was entitled: 'Axis of feeble: A world bestriding partnership is drawing to a close,'

France
Economic Crisis Causes Government Implosion
by Christine Bierre
While all attention in France is focussed on the 'Clearstream affair'—a French 'Watergate' in which Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and President Jacques Chirac are being accused of having used the fraudulent affair to smear Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and other political enemies—the reason for the collapse of the Fifth Republic is to be found where few are looking: in the economy.

Italy
Will Prodi Take 'Left' Road to Disaster?
by Claudio Celani
On May 17, the newly designated Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, swore in his Cabinet ministers and began procedures for a Parliamentary vote, which is scheduled to be over by May 22-23. A lengthy, but normal transition is thus completed. But the new government is born under the worst auspices, those of the infamous 'financial markets' and globalization sharks.

Germany Is No 'Island of Stability'
by Rainer Apel
Many among the German policymaking elites, watching the increasing chaos in France, Britain, and other European countries, have smugly concluded that this will benefit Germany as an 'island of stability.' Many would even go so far as to say, in the wake of Chancellor Angela Merkel's talks with President George W. Bush at the White House, that Germany's rating is much improved now in Washington, D.C., coming close to a 'special relationship.' But were Merkel a leader with real political-economic vision, she would not be tying Germany's boat to a sinking ship like the Bush-Cheney team.