Is Sovereign Debt the New Sub prime?

That’s a question many on Wall Street are asking as 2009 comes to a close. Just as many sub prime borrowers were unable to make their credit payments in 2007 and 2008, investors now fear certain nations will be unable to pay their debts in the year ahead. Rising credit defaults and credit card delinquencies put many banks on the brink of economic failure in 2008, sending the global economy into a tailspin. But autonomous debt defaults are potentially even more catastrophic as they can lead to geopolitical instability, societal unrest and even war. And there will also be economic ramifications for investor’s worldwide, putting America’s weak improvement at great risk. To varying degrees, Greece, Spain, Ukraine, Austria, Latvia, Mexico are just a handful of the nations viewed at risk of defaulting. Meanwhile, Dubai only just avoided a similar fate thanks to a $10 billion saved from their oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi.
So, who else out there could rattle our continuously more consistent world?