U.S. Relations With Eastern Europe Are Strained

Although this may not be the most important issue in today's global news, it relates to today's class lecture.

Since the Cold War, eastern Europe and the U.S. have had good relations, but recent acts have upset countries such as Poland, and Czech Republic. One reason for the recent upset is that the Obama administration is rethinking a planned missile-defense program that would have placed interceptor missiles in eastern Europe to protect from Iranian missile attacks. Eastern Europe thinks that the sudden re-consideration of the plan is to satisfy Russia's agenda.

Also in this article is a bar graph showing that relations between the U.S. and western Europe, particularly Germany, are soaring.