But the question behind the immediate crisis posed by Greek and Spanish debt is how to bring about more Europe.
Of course we have first to address the immediate threat posed by Usama bin Laden and his Al Qa'ida organisation.
He said the challenge was to ensure that innocent people were not swept up, but without forgetting the immediate danger posed by terrorists.
For overseas airlines that depend on United Airlines for access to American routes and customers, the most immediate problem posed by today's bankruptcy filing is semantic.
South Africa's state security minister, David Mahlobo, said in a statement: "We remain a strong and stable democratic country and there is no immediate danger posed by the alert".
"The United States has not persuaded other countries that there is an immediate threat posed by Iraq," declared a diplomat involved in the Security Council debate.
He pointed to the "serious and immediate challenge" posed by North Korea, which has pulled out of the nonproliferation treaty, and to the uncertainties about nuclear programs in Iran and Iraq.
Mr. Dijsselbloem said in a statement that the takeover "was made necessary by the extreme situation" of the bank and the "serious and immediate threat posed by that situation to the stability of the financial system".
The more immediate question posed by President Obama's appearance on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" on Wednesday is whether a political satirist loses credibility when hobnobbing with a sitting president.
President Obama has now outlined details of his strategy that calls for increased US military effort to knock down the immediate threat posed by Isis and extremism, along with a renewed international approach.
