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“Germany, it appears, is the most respected country in the world. According to the Nation Brands Index, Germany deposed the hitherto reigning champion [for five years], the Unites (sic) States” (Reuters, November 17, 2014). “People around the world now have more positive perceptions of Germany than of 49 other developed and developing countries, according to the annual NBI^SM study.

“North Korea threatened Thursday to bolster its war capability and conduct a fourth nuclear test to cope with what it calls U.S. hostility that led to the approval of a landmark U.N. resolution on its human rights violations… to refer the North’s rights situation to the International Criminal Court” which could lead to North Korea’s absolute leader Kim Jong Un being targeted as a criminal in the coming weeks (Reuters, November 20, 2014).

In a recent interview, the Soviet Union’s former premier Mikhail Gorbachev warned “The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that it has already begun” (Agence France-Presse, November 8, 2014). He cautioned, “Let us remember that there can be no security in Europe without German-Russian partnership” (ibid.).