For some, he said, that means blocking access at what some people fear will be a prime time for internet hacking.

BBC: Y2K risk closes US military websites

Neither had been favored by the revolutionaries responsible for toppling Mubarak -- and some fear a win for former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik will mean the ousted strongman's regime lives on in a different guise.

CNN: For Mubarak, once Egypt's strongman, a long fall from grace

This brings us to the US. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's greatest fear is that President Barack Obama will fail to veto a Security Council resolution recommending General Assembly approval of Palestinian membership in the UN.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Richard Goldstone and Palestinian statehood

Now he has the ear of prime ministers and presidents, who understand and perhaps fear the power of the social network where more than 600 million share their lives.

BBC: Facebook founder: 'The man from the future'

The sub-prime mortgage crisis led to a global credit crisis, and fear (as measured by the VIX) spiked to record-high levels as the stock market collapsed.

FORBES: Gold Bound For New Highs

This week the Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen warned against proposals that bypass the EU. He and other smaller nations fear an EU that is increasingly a Franco-German union with France in a supportive role.

BBC: Resentment towards Germany

Bear Stearns had been helped in March for fear of chaos in derivatives markets, in which it was a leading player as a prime broker.

ECONOMIST: American finance