The past four years of low interest rates, slow growth, and high unemployment have forced many companies to embark on their own internal improvement programs without external intervention by LBO sponsors.

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Russia and China both also likely fear the U.N. vote could set a precedent for U.N. and international intervention in their own internal disputes.

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Some say that Greece has become a protectorate of the EU. Certainly the intervention from outside in Greece's internal affairs is unprecedented.

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But unlike 1973, when General Pinochet staged his coup, neither the internal mood in Chile nor the international context is ripe for a military intervention in the country's politics.

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The intervention came just one day after Prime Minster Naoto Kan won an internal election for leadership of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.

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