Detecting language using up to the first 30 seconds. Use `--language` to specify the language Detected language: English [00:00.000 --> 00:05.840] Earlier we spoke to Lambert Mende, Information Minister for the Democratic Republic of Congo. [00:05.840 --> 00:10.800] I asked him why he believes that it's opposition leader Etienne Chissikedi's supporters who are [00:10.800 --> 00:18.960] behind the attack. We know that these guys are organized in the gang in Paris. This is not the [00:18.960 --> 00:25.760] first aggression they are perpetrating there. They have already attacked the two officers of our [00:25.760 --> 00:34.080] police who were in Paris for treatment. They have attacked a lot of officials, ministers, [00:34.080 --> 00:41.440] and even musicians, artists going in Paris. They have attacked twice the embassy of Congo in Paris [00:41.440 --> 00:48.960] and sometimes they have been arrested and taken in in the office of the police for being identified [00:48.960 --> 00:57.280] and interrogated but immediately released. So this move for our partners in Paris should have been [00:57.280 --> 01:03.680] sounding as an encouragement for them, though we are not interested in landing in controversy [01:03.680 --> 01:10.000] with our friends in Paris. We hope that something can be done to stop this gang. [01:10.000 --> 01:17.520] They are well notified. Those are followers of Mr. Chissikedi in alliance with some people who [01:17.520 --> 01:23.920] were working with the late Mobutu like Mr Mende. We know them very well. Well we should just add [01:23.920 --> 01:28.320] there that there haven't been any arrests of opposition supporter Etienne Chissikedi's [01:28.320 --> 01:35.360] supporters in relation to that attack. In other news it's a happy birthday to the euro this Sunday [01:35.360 --> 01:41.200] as it celebrates 10 years since its creation but for some there's little to toast as Europe continues [01:41.200 --> 01:46.080] to try and fight the eurozone debt crisis and the rest of the world waits with bated breath [01:46.080 --> 01:55.280] to see how it'll impact on their economies. 2002 and enthusiasm over Europe's newly founded [01:55.280 --> 02:01.440] single currency was running high. Ten years later and the situation couldn't be more different. [02:02.160 --> 02:07.600] The debt crisis has rocked the continent leaving European leaders struggling to prevent the eurozone's [02:07.600 --> 02:14.640] fragmentation. Some have blamed the design flow in the euro's implementation. Obviously we only [02:14.640 --> 02:19.600] had the monetary side. We didn't have the budgetary or fiscal aspects and we didn't have the politics [02:19.600 --> 02:24.320] to go with it. People who put their money together should also put political decisions about that [02:24.320 --> 02:29.040] money together too. I think that's what's behind the thinking when people say the euro was half [02:29.040 --> 02:36.400] baked. Eurozone states have run up massive debts. It's meant to rise in euroscepticism [02:36.400 --> 02:42.240] and some believe the worst could still be yet to come. I don't think Europe has hit bottom yet [02:42.240 --> 02:51.600] because no bank has gone bankrupt and not even Greece has declared bankruptcy. However investors [02:51.600 --> 02:57.600] have found the political response to the debt crisis muddled at best. 16 summits in two years [02:57.600 --> 03:03.600] have done little to help. They said we agree where there was no agreement. They said there was a [03:03.600 --> 03:11.360] solution where there was none. Little by little they've lost credibility. If 2011's been a bad [03:11.360 --> 03:18.320] year for the euro, it seems 2012 may just decide if the single currency will survive or not. [03:18.320 --> 03:24.000] With yet another summit at the end of next month amid even more bankruptcy fears for Italy and Spain. [03:25.280 --> 03:30.880] Iran says it's test-fired a new medium-range missile on Sunday. It comes during the final [03:30.880 --> 03:37.120] part of a 10-day naval drill in the Gulf, close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil route. Tehran's [03:37.120 --> 03:41.920] threatened to close the passageway after the U.S. placed sanctions on it because of its nuclear [03:41.920 --> 03:49.760] program. And Iran's currency, the real, slipped to a record low on Sunday, a day after the U.S. [03:49.760 --> 03:56.880] imposed extra sanctions targeting its central bank and financial sector. To Syria now an Arab [03:56.880 --> 04:02.240] League monitors appear to be in conflicts over whether it saw government snipers in Dera. In a [04:02.240 --> 04:06.960] video released by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one of the observers there said he'd [04:06.960 --> 04:12.560] seen them with his own eyes. And yet the head of the mission later said the remark was just hypothetical [04:12.560 --> 04:21.520] and that the observer didn't see anything. In this amateur footage, snipers appear to be in [04:21.520 --> 04:26.720] position to fire from a rooftop in the city of Dera. They're thought to be loyal to Syrian [04:26.720 --> 04:33.840] President Bashar al-Assad. Gunshots can be heard in the distance and close by. The footage cannot [04:33.840 --> 04:39.840] be verified but it purports to have been filmed on Saturday during a visit to the city by Arab League [04:39.840 --> 04:45.440] observers. In another amateur video, one of the observers claims to have seen snipers himself. [04:47.760 --> 04:53.840] From the Almeria side, snipers, we saw them with our own eyes. We call on the authorities to remove [04:53.840 --> 04:59.440] them immediately and we will contact the Arab League immediately. If they do not comply within [04:59.440 --> 05:07.520] 24 hours, there will be other procedures. But the head of the mission, Mustafa al-Dabi, told [05:07.520 --> 05:13.200] the BBC that the observer had pledged to take action if snipers were spotted, not that any [05:13.200 --> 05:19.600] snipers had been identified. The seeming contradiction reinforces fears of Syrian opposition figures [05:19.600 --> 05:25.120] about al-Dabi's suitability in leading a mission to investigate human rights abuses in Syria. [05:25.120 --> 05:30.880] He held security positions under Sudan's President Omar al-Vashir, who is wanted on international [05:30.880 --> 05:37.840] charges of committing genocide in Darfur. Protesters have criticized al-Dabi's response to the violence [05:37.840 --> 05:43.360] which has continued despite the observer's presence. This amateur footage appears to show [05:43.360 --> 05:49.520] security forces in homes, kicking an unarmed protester, then hitting him with the butt of a gun [05:49.520 --> 05:56.240] before rounding him up along with other young men. In Idlib, crowds gathered at a funeral. [05:56.240 --> 06:01.760] They chant their defiance of President Bashar al-Assad, saying they will bow only to God and [06:01.760 --> 06:08.080] that the president is the enemy of God. In two days time, Americans will start voting for who [06:08.080 --> 06:12.880] they want as their Republican or presidential candidate. The race kicks off in the midwestern [06:12.880 --> 06:20.560] state of Iowa, where frontrunner Mitt Romney is trying to woo voters with his plans on immigration. [06:20.560 --> 06:24.000] Immigration has become one of the main issues in the Iowa caucus. [06:24.560 --> 06:28.480] The state's Hispanic population has almost doubled over the last decade, [06:28.480 --> 06:33.920] making up five percent of its residents. A growth concentrated in some counties and towns [06:33.920 --> 06:39.280] where Mexicans and Central American immigrants work in meatpacking plants, factories and farms. [06:39.280 --> 06:44.080] If my country was in good shape, I wouldn't have come, but things are really tough there. [06:45.520 --> 06:50.000] But some people in this conservative state see the immigration surge as a threat [06:50.000 --> 06:55.520] at a time when jobs are scarce. The Tea Party movement opposed the Dream Act, [06:55.520 --> 06:59.200] which would allow children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents [06:59.200 --> 07:03.680] to earn citizenship by graduating from college or serving in the military. [07:03.680 --> 07:09.680] And then the people who are illegal can go back home. They can then they can decide if they want [07:09.680 --> 07:14.240] to come here legally, get in line and come through and do the hard things that it takes [07:14.240 --> 07:19.360] to become an American citizen. Frontrunner Mitt Romney said he would veto the Dream Act [07:19.360 --> 07:23.360] and take measures to stop new waves of illegal immigration at the border, [07:23.360 --> 07:31.040] a call echoed by his rivals. We will shut down and secure the border with Mexico. We will put the [07:31.040 --> 07:36.720] boots on the ground, the aviation assets in place. That border will be safe and it will be secure. [07:36.720 --> 07:41.680] In recent decades, the U.S. has experienced one of its largest waves of immigration [07:41.680 --> 07:46.080] with an estimated 11 million undocumented aliens living in the country. [07:47.760 --> 07:51.680] And a motorcyclist has died on the first day of the Dakar rally. [07:51.680 --> 07:55.760] Competitors from 50 countries around the world are taking part in the two-week, [07:55.760 --> 08:01.280] 9,000-kilometer race that will run through Argentina, Chile and Peru. But it's just been [08:01.280 --> 08:06.800] announced that Argentinian bike rider Jorge Martinez Boero has been killed. [08:06.800 --> 08:09.280] It was the first time he was taking part in the event. [08:09.280 --> 08:24.880] That's all we have time for. We're back in 20 minutes. [08:27.040 --> 08:33.280] Hello and welcome to a special New Year's edition of The World This Week. The World This Year, [08:33.280 --> 08:38.160] you might want to call it. I'm François Biguin. We're joined by a distinguished panel today. [08:38.160 --> 08:44.880] Christopher Dickey of Newsweek and the Daily Beast. Aude Baron, Editor-in-Chief of Le Plus [08:44.880 --> 08:49.360] Nouvelle Ops, which is again, which is a participative section on the internet of [08:49.360 --> 08:53.360] Le Nouvelle Observateur. So citizens and experts can write about the news. [08:53.360 --> 08:59.680] All right, one of the leading French news weekly magazines, Citizen Journalist website or? [08:59.680 --> 09:00.480] Yeah, it's a website. [09:00.480 --> 09:05.920] It's a website as well. And Patrick Smith of the Africa Report, published monthly. [09:05.920 --> 09:09.680] Yep, with a brand new edition in the shops telling you all you need to know about what's [09:09.680 --> 09:11.520] going to go on in 2012. [09:11.520 --> 09:14.960] And Stephen Ehrlinger, Paris Bureau Chief for the New York Times. [09:14.960 --> 09:16.560] There's an edition every day. [09:18.000 --> 09:19.360] Updated several times a day. [09:19.360 --> 09:20.720] Exactly, endlessly. [09:23.840 --> 09:30.320] Last week, we saw how the Arab Spring blossoms pretty much spontaneously. Now comes the hard [09:30.320 --> 09:37.440] part. Nations like Egypt and Tunisia find themselves having to pick leaders for leaderless [09:37.440 --> 09:43.680] revolutions. Now everywhere there's been elections. The big winners, Stephen Ehrlinger, have been? [09:45.360 --> 09:51.360] Well, the big winners have been the Islamists. And that's not a bad thing, frankly. But it's [09:51.360 --> 09:55.920] not necessarily a good thing because there are lots of different kinds of Islamists and they [09:55.920 --> 10:00.160] believe lots of different kinds of things. The Muslim Brotherhood, it seems to me, I mean, [10:00.160 --> 10:07.360] others may disagree, was the inevitable beneficiary because it was always seen as the opposition. [10:07.360 --> 10:12.640] It was repressed by these old regimes but it was very well organized. Had a lot of money, [10:12.640 --> 10:18.480] some of it from the outside. It did a lot of charity work. It was in the villages with the [10:18.480 --> 10:24.560] people. So they're recognizable. That would make sense. The big question for Egypt, for [10:24.560 --> 10:29.600] example, is what kind of deal has the army struck with the Muslim Brotherhood? Will the [10:29.600 --> 10:34.640] Muslim Brotherhood split, blah, blah, blah, blah? I mean, this will have to see. But by itself, [10:34.640 --> 10:41.360] you know, the general support for the Islamists makes perfect sense and should not be a great [10:41.360 --> 10:47.680] concern, I don't think. Patrick Smith? Well, it's certainly the case that the Islamists have taken [10:47.680 --> 10:55.840] over the spirit of the revolution, which appeared to be a very secular and non-theocratic spirit when [10:55.840 --> 11:01.920] it started. I think it's going to be very, very difficult to predict how it's going to pan out. [11:01.920 --> 11:09.600] I think it will. The feeling that events in Egypt may parallel those in Turkey where you have this [11:09.600 --> 11:15.920] contest between the military and the Islamists and somehow they find there's an accommodation. [11:15.920 --> 11:20.640] I think that could be possible. I think what's particularly striking in Egypt, [11:20.640 --> 11:25.600] and certainly the first round that we've seen so far, is that the brothers who have been [11:26.160 --> 11:33.840] active in Egypt for 80 years, they got 35, 36 percent. And the Salafists, the extremely [11:33.840 --> 11:40.960] conservative Islamist group, got over 20 percent. Egypt's going to be the only country in which [11:40.960 --> 11:47.440] groups like the Salafists have a seat in parliament. They have opted for parliamentary politics. So [11:47.440 --> 11:53.200] it's an entirely new political tactic for them to compete for votes like that. [11:55.280 --> 12:02.560] In Egypt, we saw Salafists' posters where women were represented by flowers, [12:02.560 --> 12:07.680] or in at least one case, by the candidate's husband. How is this going to play out, [12:07.680 --> 12:13.200] though, in a nation that's used to 14 million Western tourists a year, Christopher? [12:13.200 --> 12:16.480] Well, it's not going to be good for tourism. I think we can say with some confidence tourism [12:16.480 --> 12:20.640] is going to suffer, is suffering, and is going to suffer in Egypt. But I think as we look forward, [12:21.520 --> 12:27.200] it's important to realize that we are at a whole new stage in Arab history because of the [12:27.200 --> 12:32.080] demographics of the Arab world, because of the connectivity of the Arab world now. I mean, [12:32.080 --> 12:36.800] when I first started going there 25 years ago, you could barely get a landline to make a telephone [12:36.800 --> 12:41.040] call. Now, everybody has cell phones. Everybody has satellite television. A lot of people are on [12:41.040 --> 12:48.640] the internet. And the majority of the population is under 25 years old. In Yemen, the majority is [12:48.640 --> 12:54.960] under 18. So this is a whole different dynamic going ahead. And I think the one thing that is [12:54.960 --> 13:01.920] predictable is that it's going to be completely unpredictable. I was in Tahrir Square in 2010. [13:01.920 --> 13:06.400] As Mubarak was coming down and having lived in Egypt for six years over the years, [13:06.400 --> 13:12.080] I was surprised three or four times a day something would happen that I simply could not have imagined [13:12.080 --> 13:17.920] happening before. And I think that's going to continue. The economy is also going to be a huge [13:17.920 --> 13:24.880] issue, which I think is going to be a moderating force on whichever coalition dominates Egyptian [13:24.880 --> 13:30.400] politics. They simply have to change the way business is done. And some of the prescriptions, [13:30.400 --> 13:36.560] particularly the Salafist prescriptions, just wouldn't make sense in a modern world. And I think [13:36.560 --> 13:42.960] that's where you're going to see a huge pressure for compromise on the brothers to make deals with [13:42.960 --> 13:47.920] perhaps some secularist forces or less religious forces simply to get the economy moving, because [13:47.920 --> 13:52.400] this is going to be the first time they're really going to be put to the test electorally. [13:52.400 --> 13:57.760] You might also see someone like Omar Moussa, who's basically a secularist becoming president [13:57.760 --> 14:01.920] of Egypt. Former head of the Arab League. Yeah. I mean, I'm not sure that's a good thing, [14:01.920 --> 14:07.600] particularly, but it again would be a moderating force, particularly for the outside world, [14:07.600 --> 14:13.360] to feel that there was somebody there that they had some idea who they were and what they thought. [14:14.560 --> 14:21.200] We're talking about the youth here. And it seems, are they contradictory? On the one hand, [14:21.200 --> 14:27.520] conservative religious values. And on the other hand, this sort of generation Y ethos of going [14:27.520 --> 14:32.800] on social networking sites, even to find soulmates. Well, when you look on the social networks and on [14:32.800 --> 14:39.920] the internet, you mainly see the youth. So you only hear, well, you hear mainly the same voice [14:39.920 --> 14:44.640] and they want, you know, freedom and liberty, and they want the right for democracy. [14:44.640 --> 14:50.160] And one of the big stakes for next year is will the movement will continue on the internet, [14:50.160 --> 14:56.320] especially when you see a country like Syria, where the information is difficult to access. [14:56.320 --> 15:00.800] And some hackers, you know, really help the people to communicate and to communicate with [15:00.800 --> 15:05.680] each other and with the Western world. And we just have to hope that those hackers, well, first, [15:05.680 --> 15:09.920] they won't have any problem, you know, and then they will continue because they've been doing this [15:09.920 --> 15:14.720] for months and months. And maybe after a while they will get tired and they will stop. And I [15:14.720 --> 15:19.440] met one of them last week and he was saying that, you know, at the beginning there were a thousand [15:19.440 --> 15:25.680] because they were very excited. And now there are only a few dozens. And maybe after, you know, [15:25.680 --> 15:29.760] month after month, the movement will decline. Do you sense revolution fatigue? [15:31.280 --> 15:36.160] Yeah, outside in the outside world, yes. People are like, oh, no, not another story about Arab [15:36.160 --> 15:40.560] revolutions or when Syria ever going to end. Of course, people are very cynical and they get tired [15:40.560 --> 15:44.560] very fast. I don't think there's revolution fatigue in these countries. I think there's a [15:44.560 --> 15:49.360] lot of disappointment that things haven't been delivered more quickly, but I think that just [15:49.360 --> 15:53.600] reflecting on what Patrick said, we really are going to see some interesting things happen as [15:53.600 --> 15:58.800] the Islamists, for instance, are given the responsibility of governing. I don't think they [15:58.800 --> 16:03.280] can do it. I think we actually are going to see would be a good guess that we will see the [16:03.280 --> 16:07.920] beginning of the end of the Islamic trend over the next couple of years because they're not going to [16:07.920 --> 16:12.640] be able to deliver. And we're going to have this chaotic situation and the outside world will get [16:12.640 --> 16:18.160] tired of it. But I think the fact that people, especially young people, are living in a dynamic [16:18.160 --> 16:25.440] environment now where things can change is just amazing. I mean, for decades, for two, three [16:25.440 --> 16:31.520] generations in the Arab world, nothing really changed. I want to get back to one point that [16:31.520 --> 16:36.480] Patrick was mentioning earlier, which is Turkey. Now there's competing foreign influences tugging [16:36.480 --> 16:40.960] at one another in places like Egypt. There's the Gulf States, where there's lots of conservative [16:40.960 --> 16:45.280] Muslims from Egypt who've gone to find work. There's the U.S., which plows a lot of aid into [16:45.280 --> 16:51.520] the country, mostly military. And then there's the growing star, places like Turkey, whose prime [16:51.520 --> 16:57.840] minister got a rock star welcome when he visited Egypt a few months back. That's all the more [16:57.840 --> 17:02.480] remarkable, Patrick, that Turkey was once home to the old colonizers, the Ottoman Empire. [17:02.480 --> 17:09.920] Yeah, it's history repeating itself with a very different take. Erdogan's had a brilliant year, [17:09.920 --> 17:16.160] so has Qatar. I think those have been the internal beneficiaries of the Arab Spring, [17:16.160 --> 17:20.160] have clearly been the Islamists, and the external beneficiaries, if you like, have been Turkey and [17:20.160 --> 17:26.000] Qatar. They both moved very quickly to back the winners. Turkey's case was really interesting [17:26.000 --> 17:31.520] because Erdogan had won the Mohamed Gaddafi Human Rights Prize a year ago, and then suddenly he [17:31.520 --> 17:36.800] discovered that Mohamed Gaddafi was a really bad guy, needed overthrowing. So what happens vis-a-vis [17:36.800 --> 17:42.960] his neighbor, Syria? He's going to be one of the decidues. There's no question about that. [17:43.600 --> 17:51.280] Turkey's influence in the region, I think, has been enhanced. It's very much in keeping with the move [17:51.920 --> 17:57.120] within the Arab League. I mean, for the first time in its history, the Arab League has sanctioned a [17:57.120 --> 18:04.400] member at that level, not only supported the bombing against Gaddafi initially, but then moved [18:04.400 --> 18:09.760] against Syria, which regards itself as a cornerstone of the Arab League. And Erdogan is right up with [18:09.760 --> 18:15.760] them. And I think it's really going to enhance Turkey's status as a model also, not just as a [18:15.760 --> 18:21.520] sort of political actor, but as a model we can have in Islamic State that produces economic growth. [18:21.520 --> 18:25.600] And I think that that's the real challenge to all the governments in the region. Is that going to [18:25.600 --> 18:29.840] be possible elsewhere? One final point on this before we move on. Stephen Erlinger, [18:29.840 --> 18:36.240] we'll talk about the West's waning influence in these places. We're seeing the final pullout of [18:36.240 --> 18:42.560] U.S. troops from Iraq. We're seeing further along the start of the drawdown in Afghanistan. [18:42.560 --> 18:46.080] Are we being too hard on the United States when they do that? After all, [18:46.080 --> 18:51.520] they're rolling with the punches, as it were. Well, yeah. And also, frankly, they have a lot [18:51.520 --> 18:58.160] of interest in the Pacific, which everyone forgets. And China is a big issue. And they need to [18:58.160 --> 19:05.120] look a little harder at what China's up to. And they have friends and allies. But I think the [19:05.120 --> 19:12.720] Americans aren't going to go away. Don't mistake it. I think what's fascinating, though, is you [19:12.720 --> 19:19.680] have different models in the Arab world that have died. One was Arab nationalism, Nasserism. Then [19:19.680 --> 19:25.920] you had this military model, which they tried to turn into a sort of dynasty. And now you're [19:25.920 --> 19:31.760] going to have some kind of vaguely Islamist model. I'm not sure that's going to work any better. [19:31.760 --> 19:37.120] There's a lot of chaos and confusion. The stakes are extremely high, not just for the United States, [19:37.120 --> 19:43.840] but for the King of Jordan, the King of Morocco, the Saudis. I mean, things are in play. And that [19:43.840 --> 19:49.440] means the United States is going to play a role. Turkey alone is not the answer. [19:50.480 --> 19:53.360] Well, it's amazing to watch the confusion of the United States, as a matter of fact, [19:53.360 --> 19:58.640] as it looks at this. I mean, we forget, as I pointed out in an essay that's in Issues to 2012, [19:59.680 --> 20:06.880] that dictators are very convenient. There was just one go-to guy in any country. Either he was [20:06.880 --> 20:11.840] royal or he was a general. You went to him, things got decided, they got done or they didn't get done, [20:11.840 --> 20:16.880] but you only had to talk to one guy. Who do you talk to now in Egypt? The Americans still act as [20:16.880 --> 20:22.080] if you can just talk to the military, but you can't. They literally do not know who to talk to. [20:22.080 --> 20:27.360] And that is a scary position if you are the Secretary of State or the President of the United [20:27.360 --> 20:30.640] States and you're looking at one of your most important allies in one of the most volatile [20:30.640 --> 20:35.440] regions in the world. But that's the way it is. It is what it is at this point. [20:35.440 --> 20:40.400] Who do you talk to in those countries? Who do you talk to back in the United States? An election [20:40.400 --> 20:47.360] year is beginning in a nation more than ever polarized between right and left and where we've [20:47.360 --> 20:54.160] seen suspicions of those in the high halls of power take on new forms. If the start of the year [20:54.160 --> 21:00.960] began with everybody here in France trying to understand what the Tea Party is, now comes [21:00.960 --> 21:06.720] Occupy Wall Street and its affiliated franchises in several cities. Christopher Dickey, for our [21:06.720 --> 21:10.240] viewers who are not in the United States, is this just college kids? What's going on? [21:10.240 --> 21:16.160] No, no. It's a much bigger cross-section of the population. It is in its way Occupy Wall Street [21:16.160 --> 21:21.440] is the left-wing equivalent of the Tea Party on the right. It's an expression of fear and anger [21:21.440 --> 21:27.040] and a desire to see something change, although in both cases it isn't really clear what people [21:27.040 --> 21:33.120] want to change. What's clear is they know what they don't want. They know what they don't like [21:33.120 --> 21:37.120] and don't want, absolutely. So that's first a good point. And what's very interesting about this [21:37.120 --> 21:41.680] movement is how it's spread all around the world because you had on the one side the indignates [21:41.680 --> 21:46.960] in Spain and on the other side you had Occupy Wall Street. And all the movements, you know, [21:46.960 --> 21:50.560] they just merged together and you had all those demonstrations all around the world. [21:50.560 --> 21:57.360] And after, you need, when a movement has success or not, and when you observe in the U.S., [21:57.360 --> 22:03.360] Occupy Wall Street is still very active, whereas when you look at in Europe, you know, the movement, [22:03.360 --> 22:07.760] well, there are some movements, there are a few demonstrations, but they don't have the media [22:07.760 --> 22:14.880] behind them. And that's one of their weakness. And in the U.S., the media came because of the [22:14.880 --> 22:19.200] movement to express the reason of the movement. And then they came back because you had some movie [22:19.200 --> 22:25.040] stars, some actors, some singers who came. So the media came for the people aspect of the movement [22:25.040 --> 22:28.640] where in Europe the stars don't want to be involved. [22:28.640 --> 22:33.840] Patrick Smith, I've heard it said that in the case in the U.K. with the Occupy St. Paul's, [22:33.840 --> 22:38.640] I believe it was, people became quickly disenchanted when they started to organize [22:38.640 --> 22:40.640] stuff a little too much. [22:40.640 --> 22:46.880] I think one of the points is, as everyone says, we know what we don't want. That's the sort of [22:46.880 --> 22:52.640] clarion call. But they also set up a tent with a library in it. And a friend of mine said any [22:52.640 --> 22:57.280] movement that sets up a tent with a library in it to find out what we do want, you know, he's [22:57.280 --> 23:02.960] going to get his backing. I can see the point. I think it's more diffused than the other movements [23:02.960 --> 23:08.080] it's more diffused now. And they had this confrontation with the religious authorities in [23:08.080 --> 23:16.160] London. And in fact, you know, one of the clerics had to resign as a result of this. So I think [23:16.160 --> 23:21.280] popular support is still quite high because it does ring all the right bells. They can [23:21.280 --> 23:27.360] skepticism about politicians, their hypocrisy, their corruption, skepticism about the bankers [23:27.360 --> 23:33.120] who have caused this crisis. We've talked about youth unemployment. It's all put in a bag. The [23:33.120 --> 23:39.520] problem is it's all too simplistic. And there isn't now a counter movement to say what we do [23:39.520 --> 23:46.160] want. But it's just the mantra is change. And that worked pretty well for Obama, I think, in 2008. [23:46.160 --> 23:51.520] Right. So there's this diffuse anger. Does it help or hurts Barack Obama as he bids for re-election? [23:51.520 --> 23:57.920] I don't think it actually hurts him terribly. I'm not sure how much it helps him. I mean, I think [23:58.560 --> 24:05.440] what you have is a generalized response to fear, to economic fear. I mean, fear that, [24:06.320 --> 24:13.280] you know, the credit crisis is going to get worse. We see it. Unemployment is getting worse. [24:13.280 --> 24:20.080] It's beginning to pick up a bit in the United States, unlike in Europe. American stimulus [24:20.080 --> 24:25.360] is finally kicking in. I mean, American presidents try to time these things properly. [24:26.000 --> 24:31.520] We'll see if Obama times it right. But the economy will define whether he's re-elected [24:31.520 --> 24:36.560] as much as the Republican candidate will. I mean, it now looks on the Republican side that you're [24:36.560 --> 24:43.760] not going to get a Tea Party candidate. You'll probably get Romney or get Gingrich. I think [24:43.760 --> 24:50.560] probably at this point Romney is more of a danger to Obama than Gingrich, but it's early. It's hard [24:50.560 --> 24:58.000] to know. But I think Obama is very vulnerable because the magic is gone. People are upset. [24:58.560 --> 25:02.800] They think he's smart, but they don't think he's been very effective. [25:04.000 --> 25:09.360] Christopher Dickey, is there the fear that people won't turn out to vote for Barack Obama? [25:09.360 --> 25:12.960] I'm sure that they're not going to turn out the way they did last time around. I mean, [25:12.960 --> 25:18.400] he, when Steve says the magic is gone, he puts his finger exactly on the problem that Obama has, [25:18.400 --> 25:23.440] not just that the economy is difficult, but he was able to mobilize people who normally don't [25:23.440 --> 25:28.960] go out and vote. And they would get on Facebook. They would use all the social media. And what's [25:28.960 --> 25:36.400] really interesting is that his campaign was designed so that you would get on these social [25:36.400 --> 25:41.680] media and then you would be directed to take concrete actions. These are the addresses of [25:41.680 --> 25:46.160] doors you should knock on in your neighborhood. This is the amount of money you should raise. [25:46.160 --> 25:51.040] It was an incredible machine getting him elected. I don't think it's going to work nearly as well. [25:52.000 --> 25:55.040] How he reinvents a huge amount of money, don't forget. [25:55.040 --> 25:59.200] And how he reinvents himself and what his opponent does. We'll pick up on that point [25:59.200 --> 26:12.480] when we return for this New Year's edition of The World This Week. [28:29.360 --> 28:34.720] The start of 2012 in style from London to New York to right here in Paris. [28:34.720 --> 28:36.480] We've got all the party pictures for you. [28:39.520 --> 28:45.040] It's a happy 10th birthday to the euro, but with the debt crisis rocking the euro zone to its core, [28:45.040 --> 28:48.480] plus the threat of recession, many say there's little to celebrate [28:51.280 --> 28:56.800] and the head of the Senate in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been attacked here in Paris. [28:56.800 --> 28:59.840] He's been hospitalized after being set upon at a train station. [29:03.120 --> 29:06.800] So those are the latest headlines. Welcome to France Van Cats. I'm Louise Hanna. [29:07.520 --> 29:11.600] Millions of people around the world have been welcoming in the new year with fireworks, [29:11.600 --> 29:18.400] parties and even a few celebrities. In New York, pop diva Lady Gaga and Mayor Michael Bloomberg [29:18.400 --> 29:23.200] hit the switch, sending the city's famous crystal ball on its countdown drop. [29:23.200 --> 29:28.480] London paid homage to the 2012 Olympics that it will host, kicking off its fireworks display [29:28.480 --> 29:33.440] with a recording of the moment it learned it would host the games. While here in Paris, [29:33.440 --> 29:37.920] revelers popped champagne corks at midnight along the famed Champs-Elysees, [29:37.920 --> 29:43.440] all got themselves to a rooftop where they could see the Eiffel Tower shimmer in pink and golden whites. [29:47.120 --> 29:51.360] In other world news, the government of Democratic Republic of Congo has accused opposition [29:51.360 --> 29:55.920] supporters of attacking the president of the Senate in Paris on Saturday night. [29:55.920 --> 30:23.920] Leon Congo-Wadondo was set upon at the time.