27 July 2013 — Strategic Culture Foundation
The Time for a Serious Discussion on the Future of Global Cyberspace Has Come
27.07.2013 | 00:00 | Boris KAZANTSEV
The Snowden affair, as expected, is snowballing, gathering more and more new details and revelations. This has already led to several international scandals (including the egregious example of what happened with Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane) and most likely will lead to more… For several years (and actually, for several decades) there has been a standoff in this area between several key international actors over what can with certainty be called the «new information order»… Despite the extreme difficulty of such effective international control, it is simply essential to make efforts in that direction. The world needs a serious international discussion on the issue of cybersecurity, and the initiatives of Russia and China could truly become a good foundation for it.
Russia Reaffirms Recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
27.07.2013 | 00:00 | Andrey ARESHEV
…Some reinvigoration of Russia-Georgia economic contacts and links between non-government organizations does not mean Russia is intent to deviate from its fundamental policy decision to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia… The issue of guaranteeing the security of South Ossetia will be gaining significance for Russia with the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi drawing closer… The military modernization is implemented under the close scrutiny of the USA and NATO. The specific feature of the process is getting close with the military of neighboring Turkey and Azerbaijan…
Washington Stubbornly Tightropes its Way into Another Conflict
26.07.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
Ahmadinejad: Is All Quiet in Baghdad?
26.07.2013 | 00:00 | Javad KANI
The strategic partnership which arose between Baghdad and Tehran in 2008 was Ahmadinejad’s accomplishment… By this summer a situation had formed where the interests of the anti-Syrian and anti-Iranian coalitions… Neither the removal of the current government nor the division of Iraq could please Tehran; either of these cases would be a strategic defeat, and the outcome of the Syrian conflict would once again be hanging by a thread… Ahmadinejad’s visit to Baghdad two weeks before the end of his presidential term is a sign of the Iranian leadership’s serious concern about the situation which has arisen literally over the past few months.
American Liberty in Need of Renovation
25.07.2013 | 00:00 | Alexander LEVCHENKO
On U.S. Independence Day on July 4 the symbol of American democracy, the Statue of Liberty, was reopened to visitors… A holiday is always nice. But recently in America the word «liberty» has more and more often been linked with problems. Last year, as if to foretell a political storm, the «world-enlightening» statue took a beating from Hurricane Sandy. And this year the image of American democracy has taken a beating from Edward Snowden, a former employee of the National Security Agency. The young man decided to show those «who yearn to breathe free» just what «the most wonderful country in the world» really is. Snowden can hardly be called a pioneer in this area…
Detroit Bankruptcy – American Dream to American Nightmare Shows Redundancy of Capitalism
25.07.2013 | 00:00 | Finian CUNNINGHAM
The recently declared bankruptcy of Detroit City could serve as an epitome of the rise and fall of not just American capitalism, but the capitalist system generally as an historical mode of production. It is a mode of production that is no longer viable as a way of efficiently organizing and sustaining society in the 21st Century. In fact, the system has become the nemesis of American and other societies across the world… Detroit workers and other citizens are fighting back with lawsuits, strikes and civic disobedience. They say that the city should simply repudiate the debts to Wall Streets and let the already bloated banks take the financial hit. The priority must then be on public investment to regenerate decent jobs, housing, education, healthcare and communities…
The Kurdish Spring in Turkey’s backyard (II)
24.07.2013 | 00:00 | Melkulangara BHADRAKUMAR
The Kurdish surge comes at a time when Turkey’s ties with Europe and the United States are under strain. Indeed, Turkish commentators speculate that there could even be a congruence of interests between the western powers and the Syrian Kurds over the latter’s military potential to counter and weaken the extremist Al-Nusra Front affiliated to the al-Qaeda. Historically, the Kurds have acted as pawns in the US’ regional policies… Washington’s support has been extremely vital for Ankara to cope with the Kurdish problem…
Japan: Mr. Abe Wins Real Big In Upper House Election, What Next?
24.07.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has won a majority in the upper house to give him control of both houses of parliament for the first time in six years. He came to power last December promising to get the country out of 20 years of economic recession – stagnation period… Shinzo Abe traveled to Moscow April 29 for a state visit, the first such visit by a Japanese head of state in a decade. In many ways, the recent summit can be seen as not just an important meeting but even as a landmark event in the history of Russo-Japanese relations…
The Dollar Racket
23.07.2013 | 00:00 | Valentin KATASONOV
Some experts believe that the enormous fines some non-US (primarily European) banks are being forced to pay in penalties today is part of America’s financial restructuring campaign announced by the US President. Others believe that the fines are a new competitive weapon being used by American banks against European ones. Still others believe that the new mechanism of levying fines is the new global initiative of America’s ruling elite to strengthen the country’s geopolitical superiority over the Old World and the world as a whole. There are also other theories behind what today is becoming known as the dollar «racket»…
How the EU and NATO Complement One Another
23.07.2013 | 00:00 | Anna FILIMONOVA
…At the same time as the conclusion of negotiations between Belgrade and Priština, as a result of which the institutions and state property of the Republic of Serbia on the territory of Kosovo are being transferred to the regime of Hashim Thaçi, not long ago the new U.S. embassy complex (which cost 140 million dollars to build) was opened in the most prestigious area of Belgrade, Dedinje. Behind the unusual facade of the new 14,000 sq. m. complex lies one of the largest citadels of American intelligence in the Balkans…
The Kurdish Spring in Turkey’s backyard (I)
22.07.2013 | 00:00 | Melkulangara BHADRAKUMAR
The blowback of Turkey’s covert operations aimed at destabilizing the Syrian regime has begun surging. The spectre of an independent Kurdish entity on its Syrian border has come to haunt Turkey. The challenge posed by the «Kurdish Spring» in northern Syria is of an existential character, but, ironically, the powers from far and near who encouraged Turkey to destabilize Syria are nowhere to be seen – incapable or unwilling to get involved in what could turn out to be a regional maelstrom… Kurds’ longstanding search for national identity will have taken a big step forward and Turkey would come under pressure to match the appreciable level of autonomy for Kurds that exists in Iraq and Syria…
The EU in Kosovo: Leaving in order to stay
22.07.2013 | 00:00 | Pyotr ISKENDEROV
The conclusion of the Brussels agreements between Belgrade and Pristina and their subsequent ratification by the parliaments of both sides involved in the negotiations has given the European Union a convenient excuse to absolve itself of all formal responsibility for what is happening in Kosovo… Much more important is the trend itself of phasing out the international peacekeeping presence in Kosovo, which has clearly been gathering momentum in recent years…
Transnistria: Accidental Sparks May Flare Smouldering Conflicts
21.07.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
On July 17 Romanian President Traian Basescu paid an official visit to Chisinau to discuss Moldova’s EU integration and stronger bilateral cooperation… Indeed, just before the Romanian President’s visit a group of Moldavian MPs made known they planned to appeal to the national Constitutional Court the treaty on defense cooperation between Moldova and Romania… The military treaty between Romania and Moldova has a serious provocative element. In 2008 the Georgian aggression against Russian peacekeeping contingent in South Ossetia did not bring up the possibility of involving NATO. Now with Romanian troops in the area an incident may become a spark to start a fire, a casus belli nobody wants…
Human Rights and State Rights
21.07.2013 | 00:00 | Alexander MEZYAEV
In recent years more and more new complaints from «individual citizens» aimed at undermining the public safety of these states have begun to be filed with the European Court of Human Rights… What they did not succeed in doing now with Italy they might soon try to do with another participant state of the Convention on Human Rights…
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The New Dark Age 