1913 Intel1913 IntelMonitoring events in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and other countries hostile to America, Israel and the West. Find out how the world today mirrors the time before World War I. Articles
Europe is a geopolitical dwarf
2008-05-22 14:40:00 Yet, even though it has an economy comparable with America?s, it stands as a political dwarf in responding to the rapidly changing geopolitical environment. The combination of slavishly following the US lead (with the possible exception of the invasion of Iraq), its reluctance to contemplate badly needed strategic initiatives (as in the Middle East ) or ... More About: Europe , Economy , Paradox , Dwarf
India?s missile power lifts off
2008-05-22 14:37:00 The spread of long-range ballistic missiles took a step forward on May 7 with India ’s successful flight test of its Agni-III missile that can carry a nuclear warhead as far as Beijing. But the difference between this and other missile developments is that India’s missiles ? like those of the United States, Britain, France and Israel ... More About: Power , Missiles , New Delhi
Israel wants more pressure on Iran
2008-05-22 06:04:00 Israel wants to put more international pressure on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, suggesting an US-imposed naval blockade and tougher sanctions, local media reported on Wednesday. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert raised the idea of a naval blockade in talks with the Democratic speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, during her visit to ... More About: Israel
Japan to allow military use of space
2008-05-22 06:03:00 Japan’s estrangement from its postwar pacifism continued today with the enactment of a law ending its 40-year ban on the military use of space. The law signals Tokyo’s determination to expand its military capability amid concern over China ’s ballooning defence budget and North Korea’s development of ballistic and nuclear missiles. The move will be welcomed by the ... More About: Japan , Space , Military , Pacifism
Is an attack on Iran a big risk?
2008-05-22 06:00:00 In other words, you’re basically saying that things are not as they seem? That Iran is like a dog whose bark is worse than his bite? There’s something to that. My assessment is that contrary to the impression that has been formed, Iran’s options for responding are limited and weak. Read More… More About: Options , Risk , Contrary , Attack
Russian ABM Plans Part Two
2008-05-22 05:49:00 Russia’s A-135 Anti-Ballistic Missile system, capable of coping with intercontinental ballistic missiles equipped with multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicles, was developed and commissioned in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The system hinged on the Don-2N multi-role radar and a command computer inside a truncated tetrahedral pyramid. Silo-based missile interceptors were deploy … more More About: Russian , Missiles , Russia , Plans , Part
Malaria: Resisting arrest
2008-05-21 16:07:00 WILL the world lose another miracle cure? Fifty years ago chloroquine seemed to be an unbeatable malaria remedy. But as the popularity spread of this synthetic form of quinine (a tree extract), the biological backlash began in the form of drug resistance. Today it is not recommended even for use in Africa , which suffers most ... More About: Bush , China , Arrest , Deaths
Britain Gives Go-Ahead For Two ?Super Aircraft Carriers?
2008-05-21 16:05:00 Britain has given a green light for the construction of two new “super-aircraft carriers” for the country’s Royal Navy, the defence ministry said Tuesday. The carriers, to be named Her Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will be the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed in Britain, the Ministry ... More About: Military , Britain , Aircraft , Super
Israel: Russia may be selling Syria arms
2008-05-21 16:00:00 According to the reports, the talks will focus on arms sales - including submarines, anti-aircraft missiles, the latest model MiG fighter jets and advanced surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. Israel is particularly concerned with a Syria n request for long-range S-300 surface-to-air missiles that could threaten IAF jets flying on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. The S-300 is ... More About: Selling , Iran , Russia
Lebanon Braces for Failure of Talks
2008-05-21 05:41:00 Unfortunately for the Lebanese, their leaders are almost certainly coming back soon, and probably without a workable agreement. That’s because 18 months into the stalemate between the U.S. and Saudi-backed government on the one hand and the Syrian- and Iranian-supported opposition on the other, the differences between the two camps appear to be irreconcilable for ... More About: Middle East , Lebanon , Failure , Stalemate , Teheran
U.S. cites growing China space and cyber threat
2008-05-21 05:39:00 The U.S. military painted China on Tuesday as posing a growing threat to the United States and others in space and cyberspace. China is “aggressively” honing its ability to shoot down satellites along with other space and counter-space capabilities, said Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Horne of the U.S. Strategic Command. Read More… More About: Space , Satellites , Cyber
Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria: Hopes Meet Reality
2008-05-21 05:34:00 By George Friedman In geopolitics, we are frequently confronted with what appears to be a great deal of movement. Sometimes it is the current geopolitical reality breaking apart and a new one emerging. Sometimes it is simply meaningless motion in a fixed geopolitical reality ? nothing more than the illusion of movement generated for political reasons ... More About: Hopes , Reality , Israel , Lebanon , Syria
Russia Near Bottom of Peace Index
2008-05-21 05:30:00 Russia is one of the least peaceful places in the world, according to a new study, which ranks it among countries mired in drug trafficking, guerilla wars and political instability. Russia took 131st place out of 140 countries on the Global Peace Index , just below Colombia and above Lebanon , says the study, released late Monday. Iceland ... More About: Russia
Israel rethinks, will test Phalanx anti-rocket system
2008-05-21 05:06:00 The Phalanx, which is currently in service on Israel i ships and was originally developed as a shipborne system, includes anywhere from one to four 20mm guns capable of firing an astonishing 6,000 rounds per minute. When coupled with a specially built radar system, it creates a steel curtain of bullets flying at a speed of ... More About: Military , System , Guns , Rocket
Nuclear Epidemic
2008-05-21 04:55:00 WMD: The Mideast has long been “explosive,” but more than a dozen countries there have now been emboldened to go nuclear. Further delays in stopping Iran ’s nuke program could turn it into an atomic Wild West. … So the belief that there will indeed be a nuclear-armed Iran in the not-so-distant future is setting its neighbors on ... More About: Middle East , Reuters , Nuclear , Possession
The Future of Oil Prices is a Geometric Explosion: $200, $400, $800 ?
2008-05-20 18:26:00 Why are we going to experience a geometric explosion (price doubling and redoubling) in oil prices? 1. Peak oil and declining production around the world. Plus you need to factor in oil producing countries’ local consumption. Rising local consumption in oil producing countries means they will stop exporting oil long before they run out. a. You see ... More About: South Africa , Future , Oil , Goldman Sachs , The Future
A Chinese Reporter?s Anger
2008-05-20 15:10:00 There is a reason why it took almost three days to agree to accept foreign aid from Japan and why the Chinese authorities accepted Korea and Russia’s aid, but not high-tech aid from the United States and other Western nations. Reporter s have learned that within the Chinese leadership, a group of senior officials supporting ... More About: Anger
The List: The Worst Places to Be a Terrorist
2008-05-20 15:00:00 Fighting transnational terrorism often involves making unsavory choices between protecting civil rights and providing security. The following regimes have opted for the latter and are definitely not the kind of places you want to get caught if you?re plotting some terrorist mayhem. France Key tactics: Though many Americans view them as softies when it comes to the ... More About: War On Terror , Places , List , Terrorist , Law Enforcement
My own anti-Americanism
2008-05-20 14:50:00 Look at how our friends the British view Americans. From the article: Ugh ? just had the worst experience on the tube ? some dumb liberal heard me speaking with a friend and deliberately started talking in a loud voice about the American Gov?t staging 9/11. I asked her to take her offensive views out of my ... More About: Britain , Anti , Anti-Americanism , Americanism
Iran?s nuclear program feeding proliferation
2008-05-20 14:34:00 Iran’s disputed nuclear program has sent a wave of interest in atomic energy across the Middle East, a think tank said Tuesday, warning that it risked setting the scene for a regional nuclear arms race. At least 13 Middle Eastern countries either announced new plans to explore atomic energy or revived pre-existing nuclear programs between February ... More About: Iran , Nuclear , Program , Proliferation , Feeding
Putin?s Puppet Press
2008-05-20 14:27:00 But in today’s Russia , journalists don’t press top officials. In fact, apart from the interviews with Gevorkyan and Kolesnikov, Putin , as president, never publicly faced a single unfriendly question from a Russian reporter. During Putin’s tenure, television broadcasting was honed to perfection — as a tool to shape public opinion. Coverage of political and public affairs ... More About: Press , Aides , Public Opinion
No Easy Answers in Lebanon
2008-05-20 14:24:00 Whether Lebanon veered close to “civil war” this month?a question broached by many newspapers?seems purely academic at this point, and perhaps irrelevant. Beirut settled into a tenuous calm after Lebanon’s cabinet conceded (CNN) the immediate demands of Hezbollah, but the upheaval resolved none of the many issues destabilizing the country. Lebanon’s paralyzed government, Beirut’s inability ... More About: Middle East , Newspapers , War
Past Problems Threaten Future Russian-Indian Arms Deals
2008-05-20 06:28:00 The latest figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show a precipitous decline in the volume of Russian weapons sales to the Chinese military. Although Beijing remains the single largest recipient of Russian arms, the figures show a 63 percent decrease in the value of major Russian weapons deliveries to China, which is ... More About: Indian , Future , Problems , Past
Israel: Self-Made Nakba
2008-05-19 20:43:00 By Barry Rubin It’s become fashionable to match celebration of Israel ’s founding (though part of the media can’t even admit Israelis are celebrating) with Palestinian marking of their 1948 “nakba” catastrophe. Yet whose fault is it that they didn’t use those six decades constructively? And who killed the independent Palestinian state alongside Israel that was part of ... More About: Made , Arab League
The New Cold War With Iran
2008-05-19 15:05:00 The next American president will inherit many foreign policy challenges, but surely one of the biggest will be the cold war. Yes, the next president is going to be a cold-war president ? but this cold war is with Iran . That is the real umbrella story in the Middle East today ? the struggle for influence ... More About: Israel , Cold War , Editorial
Should a Saudi School Lease Be Put on Hold?
2008-05-19 14:52:00 The American Textbook Council recently published a review on how many text books in public schools give a light touch to Middle Eastern history, Islam and Jihad . (FSM published it; you can find all five parts here.) If public school texts are alarming, what should we think about texts being provided by the Saudi government ... More About: School , Curriculum
Putin?s Gulag Stability
2008-05-19 14:46:00 Vladimir Putin hails stability among his greatest achievements as president of Russia . But stability in Russia exists in appearance only, supported by enormous oil revenue and massive propaganda from the government-controlled mass media. Behind the facade lies an unprecedented increase in corruption, a population largely mired in poverty, and a bureaucracy and domestic intelligence apparatus ... More About: Poverty , Corruption , Vladimir Putin
Healthy Old Europe
2008-05-19 14:44:00 The population of western Europe is aging steadily, and the region’s birthrate is well below the replacement level, but Europe’s elderly are exceptionally healthy. That means they could be more productive for longer than their predecessors were. If western European governments learn to tap this potential, healthy aging could become the region’s next great economic ... More About: Immigration , Healthy , Demographics , Western Europe
Disappearing Act
2008-05-19 06:14:00 by Barry Rubin Exaggerations of Israel ’s demise are greatly exaggerated, to paraphrase Mark Twain . The question is: why is this suddenly happening now and–even more important–what is the impact of this fad going to be? The answer to the second question is very surprising so keep reading. The suddenness of this trend is illustrated by a telling anecdote. ... More About: New York Times , Gaza Strip , Fatah
Zimbabwe regime ?has received weapons shipment from China?
More articles from this author:2008-05-19 05:17:00 Fear are growing that Robert Mugabe ’s regime had been strengthened ahead of a presidential election with the secret delivery of a shipment of arms from China . Reports said the weapons, including three million bullets, mortar bombs and rocket-propelled grenades, had been off-loaded from the Chinese vessel, the An Yue Jiang, at the Angolan port of Lobito ... More About: Africa , Zimbabwe , Fear 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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