Is there any concern that this is -- this defiant tone will complicate or pose an obstacle to the talks?

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

Blitzer all but confirmed that there has been no recovery in the housing market, noting that existing home sales, housing starts, and foreclosure activity all continued to pose an important obstacle to any broader recovery.

FORBES: Housing Recession Deepens As Case-Shiller Double-Dips

Even for a country like Brazil, agricultural trade barriers pose less of an obstacle to progress than barriers to trade in manufactured goods.

ECONOMIST: The Mexican marathon

This area is controversial because construction there would pose a major obstacle to a contiguous Palestinian state on the West Bank and divide such an entity from Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as their future capital.

BBC: Israeli settlement move risks diplomatic fallout