8 September 2012 — Strategic Culture Foundation
Prospects Dim for Turkish-Israeli Relations
08.09.2012 | 00:00 | Igor IGNATCHENKO
If, as Washington might be planning, the Syrian regime collapses before the November presidential elections in the US, one of the consequences will be that the already strained relations between Turkey and Israel would sink to an even lower point. To grasp the connection, consider Leviathan, a constellation of hydrocarbon deposits in East Mediterranean discovered in late 2010 by America’s Noble Energy…
Hillary Clinton’s Plan for PATO to replace NATO
07.09.2012 | 10:42 | Wayne MADSEN
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first-ever attendance by a Secretary of State at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in the Cook Islands capital of Avarua on Rarotonga has international observers wondering about the Obama administration’s plans to extend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) deep into the Pacific Ocean, as well as into South East Asia… Clinton was accompanied by some 60 other lower-ranking U.S. diplomatic, military, and intelligence officials in Rarotonga. After the Cook Islands stop, the delegation’s itinerary included Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia and China before a final stop to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vladivostok…
Trial over Human Organs Business in Kosovo
07.09.2012 | 00:00 | Pyotr ISKENDEROV
Dick Marty who, as the PACE special rapporteur, submitted in late 2010 the explosive report on the grisly crimes committed by Kosovo separatists, spoke for the fist time in Pristina at the trial unfolding over illicit human organs business in the province… Evidence in the case being absolutely convincing, chances are still slim that the trial held in Pristina and supervised by the EU would help Serbia or the Kosovo Serbs some day see justice prevail… The individuals actually implicated in the framework generated by Marty’s report continue to be at the top of the political hierarchy…
Obama’s 0.03 percent priority for India
06.09.2012 | 08:39 | Melkulangara BHADRAKUMAR
The 2012 Democratic Platform, the 40-page document released on Monday, can be regarded as United States President Barack Obama’s election manifesto in the November election… Of course, nothing binds Obama to this document and politicians invariably put on different apparel once they reach corridors of power and come under the compulsions of statecraft. Moreover, no American president can be really a foreign-policy candidate insofar as to quote the prominent Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, the «parameters that shape [US’] strategy – the set of allies, enemies, problems and tools – don’t vary much from administration to administration. And neither does policy»…
Non-Aligned Movement Re-Energized
06.09.2012 | 00:00 | Dmitriy SEDOV
It was a given from the outset that the conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which convened late August in Tehran would grab the headlines internationally. In an epoch that never sank into oblivion, the organization founded as an alliance of 120 countries by the charismatic trio of Josip Broz Tito, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961 emerged as an influential force capable of maintaining autonomy from both NATO and the Eastern Bloc…
US — North Korea: Going Unconventional
05.09.2012 | 00:24 | Alexander VORONTSOV
Last July, I visited the US on an academic tour and, as a part of my stay, participated in a Tucson, Arizona, conference of the type that would not fit with the expectations of a professional Korea analyst. The conventional vision common to the majority of Korea watchers is that the relations between Washington and Pyongyang are chronically strained and that calls for tighter sanctions on North Korea are integral to the US foreign policy, reflecting the pursuit of eventual regime change in the country… Against the grim background, the Tucson conference was a showcase for an unconventional even alternative approach to the lingering US – North Korea dispute…
Turkey Headed for Trouble
04.09.2012 | 00:00 | Dmitriy SEDOV
Recent developments in the Middle East had a considerable impact on the standing of Turkey, a country deeply involved in the unfolding Syrian tragedy. It currently appears that Turkey‘s neighbors – Iran and Iraq – are growing allergic to the attempts made by Ankara to establish itself as the dominant power in the region largely at the expense of the stability of the existing regional configuration…
India and APEC: Center of Mutual Gravitation
03.09.2012 | 00:00 | Andrei VOLODIN
The 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) annual summit is to take place on September 2-8 in Vladivostok. Today APEC is the largest economic forum for 21 Asia-Pacific nations accounting for 57% of world GNP and 48% of world trade. As is known India has requested membership in the organization. Russia strongly supports the urge of the «world’s largest Democracy» to accede. Moscow rightly believes that adding the dynamic economy of the Elephant to the Dragon (China), an active APEC participant, will open new opportunities for all those who have joined the forum…
Snipers, Blasts, and Disinformation Campaigns in Venezuela as Elections Draw Closer
02.09.2012 | 00:00 | Nil NIKANDROV
One gets an impression that as of late occasionally lethal incidents – a blast and a fire at an arsenal in the Aragua state, several mutinies staged by convicts in jails, a series of helicopter crashes, catastrophes involving aircrafts owned by the Conviasa and Aéropostal companies, and power supply breakdowns in major cities – recurred with unusual frequency in Venezuela… The likelihood of new troubles spilling in Venezuela in the run-up to the October 7 poll appears to be abnormally high. The list of potential targets comprises railroad stations, power plants, the Caracas subway, the water supply system, and key bridges…
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The New Dark Age 