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Uprising’s guest expert Rahul Mahajan, sociologist and news analyst and author of Full Spectrum Dominance: US Power in Iraq and Beyond, analyzes today’s news headlines:

A Congressional Budget committee has arrived at a deal to fund the government that could stave off a shut down for another two years. While President Barack Obama called the deal “a good first step,” it appears to fulfill primarily Republican desires to avoid any tax increases, stave off cuts to the military, and end unemployment benefits for 1.3 million Americans looking for work. But the budget deal is being touted as a victory by both sides in large part because it avoids another embarrassing public stalemate. Click here for a Guardian article about the story.

Uruguay government’s has just passed a bill legalizing and regulating marijuana. The law is being characterized as “The world’s most far-reaching cannabis law,” which will go into effect next year and would involve the government setting the price of marijuana and licensing sellers. Uruguayan lawmakers see it as an alternative to the failed “war on drugs.” Click here for a Guardian article about the story.

The Ukrainian government ordered a crackdown last night on a 2 week long gathering of demonstrators in Kiev’s Independence Square. While police did not resort to the violent tactics seen earlier, a portion of the square was cleared in what commentators see as a direct defiance of the West. The on-going protests in Kiev seem to have turned into a referendum on whether the Ukraine should align itself with the EU or remain with its former Soviet benefactor, Russia. Click here for a New York Times article about the story.