In the last week Germany’s president Joachim Gauck has called on the country to take more responsibility in the international arena and told the Germans: “Our country is not an island.” Meanwhile, troops have handed over a key base in Afghanistan as the country withdraws from a conflict which has already claimed 54 German lives.

This week both Syria and Iran have also looked to Germany to help solve their disputes with the West. But is it time for Germany to step up on the global stage? At an event at the US Embassy in Berlin on Monday The Local asked US author and foreign policy expert Professor Walter Russell Mead for his view.

On the subject of Europe and the Eurozone, Professor Mead, who now lectures at Bard College in New York State, urged Germany to lead a Holy Roman Empire rather than a Prussian conquest. “Any discussion of Germany’s world role must begin with Europe,” he told reporters. “The battle over the Euro is a really fundamental one. It looks to me that everyone is at fault – German banks, German regulators, and German politicians."

He added the country’s politicians were “terrified of admitting” the precarious financial position of German banks which had lost billions in loans and investments to southern Europe. “Germany has been squeezing southern Europe not to punish vice but to protect vice,” he said. Meanwhile, he described the north-versus-south Europe debate as a struggle between “two sinners in a dispute about who is the saint.”

But will debt-ridden countries like Italy have to adopt German austerity for the Eurozone to survive. Professor Mead called for Germany to lead a Holy Roman Empire in Europe – a loose federation of states - instead of aggressively imposing austerity. “Europe is hard to lead. It is resistant to leadership,” he said. “It has so many different priorities."

"Are you going to have a King of Prussia or the Holy Roman Emperor? The Holy Roman Emperor is the more sustainable. It is the least work of the two”.

On the occasion of this year's national holiday, last week, German President Joachim Gauck claimed that more and more "voices" in Germany and abroad are demanding that his country should play "a stronger role in Europe and the world." Germany is "not an island" and should not "belittle" itself in the future, after all, it is the "fourth largest economic power in the world."

As his source of inspiration, he also named the Polish foreign minister, who had called for "German leadership" already in late 2011, and a prominent transatlantic publicist, who had recently called on Berlin to act "more resolutely" in the EU following the elections. Gauck's offensive had been carefully prepared in the foreign policy establishment. Whereas sectors of the elite in other EU countries condone German "leadership," large majorities of the populations in the southern EU countries are criticizing German predominance.

The intra-European power struggles are continuing. Already a few months ago, Luxemburg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker had warned that he can see similarities to the period leading up to World War I.

Since 2006, we had identified the period 2011-2013 as that during which the “Dollar Wall” on which the power of the United States sits would fall apart. Summer 2011, with the cut in the United States’ credit rating by S&P, marked an historic turning point and confirmed that the “impossible” was indeed in the process of coming true. Therefore today, it seems essential to provide our subscribers with a clear anticipatory vision of what awaits the “pillar” of the world before the crisis at the point when the crisis moved into “top gear” in summer 2011.

Thus, according to LEAP/E2020, the 2012 election year, which opens against the backdrop of economic and social depression, complete paralysis of the federal system, strong rejection of the traditional two-party system and a growing questioning of the relevance of the Constitution, inaugurates a crucial period in the history of the United States. Over the next four years, the country will be subjected to political, economic, financial and social upheaval such as it has not known since the end of the Civil War which, by an accident of history, started exactly 150 years ago in 1861.

During this period, the US will be simultaneously insolvent and ungovernable, turning that which was the “flagship” of the world in recent decades into a “drunken boat”.

But just to make sure Washington gets the message, the IMF’s top economist Olivier Blanchard, kicked off his press briefing on the World Economic Outlook with another alert. The topic’s likely to be the central focus this week as finance ministers and central bankers meet in the capital this week.

While the fund says a government shutdown is likely to have a limited impact on the US economy, but “failure to lift the debt ceiling, would, however, be a major event,” Mr Blanchard said. “A prolonged failure would lead to an extreme fiscal consolidation and almost surely derail the US recovery,” he said.

That would have immediate impacts, with major disruptions in financial markets, both in the US and abroad.

According to an op-ed in Forbes, that’s enough to sustain an Iraq-sized war for over twenty years. DHS has also acquired heavily armored tanks, which have been seen roaming the streets. Evidently somebody in government is expecting some serious civil unrest. The question is, why?

Recently revealed statements by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the height of the banking crisis in October 2008 could give some insights into that question. An article on BBC News on September 21, 2013, drew from an explosive autobiography called Power Trip by Brown’s spin doctor Damian McBride, who said the prime minister was worried that law and order could collapse during the financial crisis.

Fear of this threat was echoed in September 2008 by US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who reportedly warned that the US government might have to resort to martial law if Wall Street were not bailed out from the credit collapse.

In both countries, martial law was avoided when their legislatures succumbed to pressure and bailed out the banks. But many pundits are saying that another collapse is imminent; and this time, governments may not be so willing to step up to the plate.

But don’t just take my word for it. These are the things that top financial experts all over the planet are saying will happen if there is an extended US debt default.

#1 Gerald Epstein, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst: “If the US does default, that will make the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy look like a cakewalk.”

#2 Tim Bitsberger, a former Treasury official under President George W Bush: “If we miss an interest payment, that would blow Lehman out of the water.”

#3 Peter Tchir, founder of New York-based TF Market Advisors: “Once the system starts to break down related to settlement and payments, then liquidity disappears, as we saw after Lehman.”

#4 Bill Isaac, chairman of Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp: “We can’t even imagine all the things that might happen, just like Henry Paulson couldn’t imagine all the bad things that might happen if he let Lehman go down.”

#5 Jim Grant, founder of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer: “Financial markets are all confidence-based. If that confidence is shaken, you have disaster.”

#6 Richard Bove, VP of research at Rafferty Capital Markets: “If they seriously default on the debt, what we’re really talking about is a depression.”

#7 Chinese vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao: “The US is clearly aware of China’s concerns about the financial stalemate [in Washington] and China’s request for the US to ensure the safety of Chinese investments.”

#8 The US Treasury Department: “A default would be unprecedented and has the potential to be catastrophic: credit markets could freeze, the value of the dollar could plummet, US interest rates could skyrocket, the negative spillovers could reverberate around the world, and there might be a financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse.”

#9 Goldman Sachs: “We estimate that the fiscal pull-back would amount to 9 percent of GDP. If this were allowed to occur, it could lead to a rapid downturn in economic activity if not reversed quickly.”

#10 Simon Johnson, former chief economist for the IMF: “It would be insane to default, but it’s no longer a zero-percent probability.”

#11 Warren Buffett about the potential of a debt default: “It should be like nuclear bombs, basically too horrible to use.”

#12 Bloomberg: “Anyone who remembers the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc little more than five years ago knows what a global financial disaster is. A US government default, just weeks away if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling as it now threatens to do, will be an economic calamity like none the world has ever seen.”

Recipients since 1998 include the traitor George Blake, extremist cleric Abu Qatada and the IRA killer dubbed Mrs Doubtfire. The House of Commons figures fuelled fresh demands for Britain to pull out of the convention on which the European Court of Human Rights bases its rulings.

Because they are political appointees many of the court’s judges are not even legal experts.

Gibraltar has called on the United States to use its diplomatic heft to help end a bitter dispute over its sovereignty, accusing Spain of "bullying" the tiny British territory amid a flare-up of tensions. "The United States must stand for the right of people to determine their own future," Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar's head of government, said.

"I don't think there's anything in the American psyche that says that individuals like me and the Falkland islanders and the Gibraltarians should be told under whose sovereignty they will come."

Picardo is on a charm offensive – his fourth trip to the United States this year – in a bid to win international backing for Gibraltar and Britain in a festering diplomatic row with Spain.

The territory of 30,000 people perched on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula bordering Spain this year marks the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Utrecht which ceded its control to Britain.

Just how much is that worth? Almost $93 billion each year, according to a first-of-its-kind study for Texas conducted by Texas A&M Forest Service.

The five core ecosystem services and their annual, statewide values are listed below.

• Climate Regulation, $4.2 billion/year

Affect forests have on regional and local climates by absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas.

• Watershed Regulation, $13.2 billion/year

Ability of the forests to provide a continuous, stable supply of clean drinking water through various hydrological processes (aquifer recharge, purification, flood and storm protection, etc).

• Biodiversity Services, $14.8 billion/year

Capacity forests have to promote essential biological diversity and provide sustainable habitats for plants and animals.

• Cultural Services, $60.4 billion/year

Non-material benefits (spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection and aesthetic experience) obtained from forest ecosystems.

• Air Quality Services, $190.3 million/year

Ability of forests to remove particulates and other pollutants from the air.

The online version of the study — found at TexasForestInfo.com — allows residents to see the ecosystem values for their specific location.

It comes seven years after the introduction of same-sex civil unions in 2005 and six years after the number of couples forming them peaked. Figures from the Office for National Statistics also showed that lesbian couples are markedly more likely to dissolve civil partnerships than gay men.

Family lawyers said that the patterns mirrored those for heterosexual couples in which marriages which break down typically do so between four and eight years in, with women more likely to file for divorce than men.

According to the ONS there were 7,037 new civil partnerships formed in the UK last year, a 3.6 per cent rise on the previous year. The rise came at a time when the debate about legalising same-sex marriage was at its height.

China, the United States' largest creditor, is "naturally concerned about developments in the US fiscal cliff," vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao told the BBC. "The executive branch of the US government has to take decisive and credible steps to avoid a default on its Treasury bonds," he said, referring to President Obama. "It is important for the US economy as well as the global economy."

"We hope the United States fully understands the lessons of history," Mr Zhu said, referring to a similar deadlock in 2011 that led to a downgrade of the US "AAA" credit rating. A deadlocked US Congress, meanwhile, confronted an October 17 deadline to increase the nation's borrowing power or risk default.

But House Speaker John Boehner vowed not to raise the US debt ceiling without a "serious conversation" about what is driving the debt, while Democrats said it was irresponsible and reckless to raise the possibility of a US default. The last big confrontation over the debt ceiling, in August 2011, ended with an eleventh-hour agreement under pressure from shaken markets and warnings of an economic catastrophe if there was a default.

An initial test vote on the proposal, described by the aide on condition of anonymity, could occur as soon as October 11, just six days before federal borrowing authority is set to expire. Democrats have been pressing for a one-year increase in the nation’s $16.7 trillion debt ceiling without any of the spending cuts of policy changes Republicans are demanding.

The method of giving Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling barring a congressional disapproval was first proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, in 2011 and became part of the Budget Control Act passed in August of that year.

Economists say a default could trigger a financial crisis and recession that would echo 2008 — or worse. The 2008 financial crisis plunged the country into the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930's.

"We are wide open to receive the most advanced knowledge from overseas to contain the problem," said Mr Abe, during a speech made in English at a science forum in Kyoto. "My country needs your knowledge and expertise." His comments were made against a backdrop of on-going technical issues, with operators confirming that the latest mishap was an accidental power cut stopping pumps used to inject water to cool damaged reactors.

The incident occurred when a worker carrying out system inspections accidentally pushed a button which switched off power to some of the systems within the four reactor buildings. Although a backup system was implemented immediately, the accident is the latest in a spate of high-profile problems at the plant, which is currently in the sensitive early stages of a decades-long decommissioning process.

Many investors had predicted that the game of brinkmanship between the White House and the Republicans would be resolved over the weekend, but instead the stalemate became more deeply entrenched as they issued the first categorical warnings that they are prepared to play the same game of chicken over negotiations regarding America’s borrowing limit.

The US has until around October 17 to agree a deal to raise its self-imposed $16.7 trillion debt ceiling, or default on its payments and throw the global economy into financial turmoil. Both sides issued categorical warnings on Sunday that the United States would default debt unless the other capitulated, raising expectations that the negotiations will go all the way to the wire, or even beyond it.

The Republicans say they will not agree a stop-gap budget to keep the government running, or raise the borrowing limit, unless the White House makes certain policy changes, including delaying President Obama’s flagship healthcare programme by a year.

That once-great news organisation seemed determined to turn every bulletin into a seminar on the life and opinions of Ralph Miliband [Marxist father of the leader of the Opposition in Parliament]. As Lefties would say, there was a sub-text here. The BBC went well beyond objectivity. It was using the Miliband affair to attack its enemies. In so doing, it was also exposing its own cast of mind.

When John Birt became director-general of the BBC, he realised that there was a problem with many of his journalists. In recent years, there had been an infestation of soggy Leftism (my paraphrase, not his words). These characters often lived in an intellectual bubble, socialising solely with their colleagues and with others who held the same opinions. They never met anyone who argued that there might be a case for the death penalty, or that Maggie was not a monster any more than Reagan was a slow-witted war-mongering cowboy.

As they all held the same views, they also persuaded themselves that theirs were the only permissible ones and that anyone who disagreed was morally inferior. Some Marxists used to talk approvingly of “fused groups”: cells of like-minded comrades who would reinforce each others’ revolutionary rigour. The BBC was in danger of becoming a fused group.