16 March 2013 — Strategic Culture Foundation
The Return of Empires (VI)
16.03.2013 | 00:00 | Dmitry MININ
The rebirth of the imperial spirit in the West is moving along two sometimes converging, but in recent times increasingly diverging, lines. Looking at Europe’s relations with its neighbours, one can see that the European Union initially pursued an imperial policy with regard to countries in Central and Eastern Europe that had joined the EU, but then began to extend the same policy to other countries. The line, however, is looking increasingly faded: many EU countries have no enthusiasm regarding its further expansion and, what is more, there is a growing feeling that this federative quasi-empire will soon collapse…more
Farewell to Hugo Chavez
15.03.2013 | 09:45 | Nil NIKANDROV
…Before leaving Moscow Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote in a condolence book as he visited the Venezuelan embassy to pay his tribute to the late Hugo Chavez. He expressed heartfelt condolences on the part of the Russian federation’s leadership and President Vladimir Putin personally. He wrote that Hugo Chavez was a great son of his people and the whole Latin America, an outstanding leader of our times and a great friend of Russia. He also expressed confidence that the people of Venezuela would stand up and defend the conquests of the revolution against all the odds. He added Russia was by their side…
Norwegian Gas and Russian Gas Exports to Europe
15.03.2013 | 00:00 | Natalia MEDEN
At the end of February this year, Norway’s Energy Ministry published information on hydrocarbon reserves in light of geological survey data obtained in an area which came under Norwegian jurisdiction under an agreement with Russia in 2010. The information confirmed speculation by experts regarding the presence of high-grade deposits: Norwegians estimate that the volume of their new resources is 31 percent higher than previously calculated, 85 percent of which is natural gas and the rest – oil. What are the implications of this for Russian gas exports to Europe, including to Germany?..
Brussels Indulges in Trans-Caspian Pipe Dream Again
14.03.2013 | 00:00 | Igor ALEXEEV
After the European Commission has finally realized that major investors (RWE) and transit countries (Hungary) are leaving Nabucco, bureaucrats in Brussels are now trying to revitalize a distressed project – the so-called Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. Their goal is obvious – to find the lacking resources for a shorter version of Nabucco (the so-called Nabucco-West) and prevent its complete failure. Even in Europe many specialists in energy policy understand that without the gas of five Caspian littoral states including Iran, Nabucco will be a mere show of empty pipeline…
Looking for Way Out of Syrian Crisis
14.03.2013 | 00:00 | Boris DOLGOV
There are a few terror radical Islamist groups in Syria supported from outside: Al Qaeda, Fatah al-Islam (Conquest of Islam), Junud al-Islam (Soldiers of Islam), Firaq Allah (Brigades of Allah), A Talia al-Mukatila (Fighting Vanguard), the military wing of Muslim brothers, Al-Nusra Front (The Support Front for the People of Syria), gangs of criminals… In 2012-2013 these groups conducted terrorist activities in Homs, Idlib, Aleppo, Damascus, the death toll was hundreds of civilians…
Beyond Obamacare: the Next US Health Care Monstrosity Takes Shape
13.03.2013 | 14:45 | David KERANS
In broad terms, the spectacular diseconomies and immoralities of health-care in the US have long been known to observers the world over. Being in thrall to the monied interests that fund their election campaigns, including health insurance companies, US political elites have steadfastly resisted establishing government-delivered health insurance for many decades…
The Return of Empires (V)
13.03.2013 | 00:00 | Dmitry MININ
…In American strategic thinking, China in the 21st century is increasingly becoming for America what the Soviet Union was in the 20th century, which is to say its main rival in the field of world politics. German experts believe that the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the relative restraint of the United States in Libya and now in Syria, as well as the withdrawal of American military brigades from Germany is all associated with a strategy which supposes an almost complete switch of Washington’s attention to China…
Scientific Assassinations Are Part of the CIA’s Record
12.03.2013 | 00:00 | Wayne MADSEN
…The CIA pioneered in the use of cancer-causing agents that could infect their victims through injection; inhalation; skin contact through contaminated clothing, especially underwear – Chavez’s formation of aggressive in his pelvic region is germane in this respect; and contact with the digestive system through the use of contaminated food, drink, and even toothpaste. There is such a wealth of documentation on the CIA’s use of cancer weapons against its enemies that the existence of such weapons is not the issue. The only issues are for Venezuela and other victimized countries to determine how the cancer-causing agents were delivered and the identities of the assassins and would-be assassins…
Battle for Temelin
12.03.2013 | 00:00 | Vadim VIKHROV
One by one the events unfold while the battle for Temelin is waged. The Czech government took a decision to build the third and the fourth power generating units of the nuclear energy plant in the vicinity of Temelin (24 km from Czech Budejovice). The reactors are Soviet VVER-1000 type, the price is $15 million. The decision sparked the emotions becoming kind of a political scandal. The MIR.1200 Consortium is an alliance of Czech Skoda JS and Russian Gidropress and Atomstroyexport, the subsidiaries of Russian firm Rosatom. Another bidder in the tender beside the Czech-Russian consortium is the US-Japanese company Westinghouse…
«US Gold Reserve Audit» Show
11.03.2013 | 00:00 | Valentin KATASONOV
Everyone is talking about the audit of USA’s gold reserves. The presence or possible absence of the yellow metal in the vaults and basements of the American repository is a definite source of anxiety in the United States and beyond. For example, the American congressman Ron Paul is claiming for many years a full audit of the US official gold reserves, which are on the balance sheet of the Department of Finance (Treasury) since 1934, but the issue is extremely intricate…
Falklands – Flashpoint in South Atlantic
10.03.2013 | 11:30 | Andrei AKULOV
On March 10 and 11 roughly 2,500 Falklanders go to vote on whether or not they wish to remain under British rule. It is expected there will be a 100 per cent ‘yes’ vote. The referendum occurs at a time when the relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina have reached a low-point. After the war they improved during the late 1990s to abruptly deteriorate during the last couple of years… Argentina argues that the referendum is invalid as the islanders are colonizers and are not an indigenous population of the islands. On January 3 Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner sent an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron once again calling on the UK to hand back the Falkland Islands. She accused the UK of colonialism…
US: psychotic superpower on a hair-trigger
10.03.2013 | 00:00 | Finian CUNNINGHAM
This week sees an ominous move towards the psychotic superpower being placed on a hair-trigger. According to the US-based Foreign Policy publication, the Pentagon is being advised by its own deluded people – the Defense Science Board – to create a doomsday retaliation force in the event of a «catastrophic cyber-attack». The retaliation force is to be maintained as a separate entity from the conventional military structure. It would include B52 bombers with nuclear weapons that are ordered to strike on foreign enemies if the US government should «experience» a fatal cyber threat. Note the subjectivity here…
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The New Dark Age 