3 August 2013 — Strategic Culture Foundation
Snowden: Asylum Granted, Russia-US Ties to Go Through Rough Times
03.08.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
Whistle-blower Edward Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia… At present Snowden has been relocated to a «safe place»… Sometime before the asylum was granted, Russia’s President Putin had said Edward Snowden has been warned against taking any actions that would damage relations between Moscow and Washington. His pledge to keep away from damaging the United States is a condition for granting asylum and Mr. Snowden has accepted that… Somehow, the events make one more question come to mind. Once Snowden cannot do any damage to the Washington from now on, it’s hard to understand what the US politicians are so jittery about?..
Israel-Palestinian Talks: Washington Acts Like Matchmaker… Between Rapist and Victim
03.08.2013 | 00:00 | Finian CUNNINGHAM
After two days of intercourse in Washington between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, US Secretary of State John Kerry emerged like a benevolent matchmaker satisfied that his efforts at brokering a marriage of sorts had at last borne fruit… Every White House administration from President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s through to the present has stepped forward periodically to herald an imminent «just peace» between Palestinians and Israelis; and every time, cruelly, this promise comes to nothing. Well, actually, it does come to something: the territories and rights of the Palestinians are continually ravaged and diminished as the violations of the Israeli state inexorably expand…
The War on Corruption or the Building of a Pax Americana? (II)
02.08.2013 | 00:00 | Valentin KATASONOV
…The scandal surrounding the revelations of Edward Snowden have made the question of why American intelligence was so active in Europe, which is considered an ally of the United States, more pointed. Without claiming to have a full answer, one can still assert that it is, in addition to everything else, in order to detect violations of American laws which are extraterritorial in nature. Information on such violations is needed by the ruling elite of the U.S. in order to establish effective economic and political control over Europe and the world.
Hamas Goes Back to the Drawing Board
02.08.2013 | 00:00 | Melkulangara BHADRAKUMAR
…The Iranian regime keeps up with the practice begun by Imam Khomeini to observe the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as the International Quds Day. It is an occasion to express solidarity with the Palestinians. The influential political figure Alaeddin Broujerdi, chairman of Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, has been quoted as saying, «This year’s Quds Day has a special place due to the ongoing crisis in Muslim countries, especially Syria and Egypt, as well as the futile peace talks». The Hamas’ presence in Tehran on August 2 will provide a clue to assess the realignments following the coup in Egypt.
Obama’s «Asia Pivot»: The Himalayan Angle
01.08.2013 | 00:00 | Wayne MADSEN
The Obama administration’s «Asia Pivot» is playing out in earnest in joint U.S.-Indian-Israeli intelligence operations in the Himalayan region. The actions by the three cooperative nations’ intelligence agencies are aimed at limiting Chinese influence here. The strategy in the mountainous area of the Sino-Indian border complements other U.S. strategies now being played out in the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, the South China Sea, the South Pacific, and the Indian Ocean to box in China and prevent it from challenging America’s military presence in the Asia-Pacific region…
The «Snowden Effect» and the Problem of «Moles» in U.S. Intelligence
01.08.2013 | 00:00 | Nil NIKANDROV
The human rights orientation of Edward Snowden’s actions and his decisive break with the system of total surveillance which has become common practice in the United States are being taken very seriously by the American government. It is fairly obvious that other idealists in intelligence agencies could follow the example of the former CIA and NSA employee. Snowden’s action could start a chain reaction of disclosures which reveal serious violations of the fundamental provisions on rights and freedoms in the U.S. Constitution…
The Mouse Lies down with the Elephant
31.07.2013 | 09:51 | Rafe MAIR
The relationship between Canada and the United States is difficult enough for Canadians much less others to understand… The American nation came about by a sense of «manifest destiny» which meant, in their view, they had a right to all of North America save Mexico from whom they simply seized 1/3 of their country… To summarize the unsummarizable, a long, often stormy relationship which in latter days has seen Canada and the US much closer on trade matters while on international matters more and more marches to her own drummer…
The War on Corruption or the Building of a Pax Americana? (I)
31.07.2013 | 00:00 | Valentin KATASONOV
In the article «The Dollar Racket» I wrote about the passage of a large number of laws in the U.S. in recent years which are extraterritorial in nature. These laws provide for the punishment of individuals and legal entities for engaging in various illegal activities. Under these laws, not only U.S. residents could be subject to such penalties, but nonresidents – companies, banks, and foreign citizens – as well… Extraterritorial laws allow the United States to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and gradually bring them under its control. Such laws are also used to intimidate citizens, politicians, company executives and banks from other countries…
Kurdish Factor to Change Middle East Dynamics
30.07.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
Since it Failed in Syria, America Now Targets Hezbollah
30.07.2013 | 00:00 | Mahdi Darius NAZEMROAYA
Following Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria, the US government began targeting the Lebanese party with financial sanctions… In lockstep with Washington, the regimes of the Arab petro-sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates would start closing the businesses of Lebanese citizens, revoking their residencies, and then expelling them from their homes… On July 25, 2013 the European Union added the military wing of Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations… Hezbollah is undeniably being targeted by the US and its allies. Such targeting does not necessarily mean a third Israeli war against Lebanon. Stoking the fires of sectarianism in Lebanon with the intentions of starting a civil war could be the main and best Israeli-US option…
A New War within a War in Syria
29.07.2013 | 00:00 | Dmitry MININ
The West, perhaps without even trying, through its most recent arms shipments to the Syrian opposition, including those in which Saudi Arabia participated, has taken the civil war in Syria to a new level of conflict – a war of «all versus all»… The British publication The Independent poses the question of how it is possible in the conditions of civil war to supply arms to the «good guys» and not to the «bad guys». History teaches us that they can easily switch places, and that the latter may very well win…
The West as a Threat to Poland
29.07.2013 | 00:00 | Vladislav GULEVICH
The absence of a family policy and the lack of financial security for families with newborns are just the tip of the iceberg, they are symptoms of much deeper problems. Poles are going to have to review the entire system of relations between society and the state, which is a Herculean task. Poland, having taken Western liberal theories on the development of society for granted, has partially sacrificed the uniqueness of its own civilisation… Polish culture has therefore started to surrender its position under the onslaught of Western culture, by which is meant the supremacy of Anglo-Saxon cultural dogmas…
Kurds – Factor to Tilt Balance in Syrian Conflict
28.07.2013 | 00:00 | Dmitry MININ
There are important changes affecting the complex correlation of forces in the Syrian war. Kurds had been by and large on the fence till recently. Now they are joining the fray on the side of government forces… At present the Peshmerga units are concentrating efforts on capturing the town of Ya’arubiya at the Iraqi border. It opens the way to Mosul, the traditional trade route between Syria and Iraq… The Syria army is moving in the same direction at Tel Hamis supporting the Kurdish forces and clearing the Ya’arubiya area from militants…
SCO: Security Challenges Dominate Agenda
28.07.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
While the 2013 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Bishkek is getting closer, the Kyrgyz Republic, the host country, has launched a number of high-level meetings for preliminary consideration of the issues on the list, especially the ones related to security… The SCO has an important role to play here by gradually involving the war-torn country into the international cooperation process… The forthcoming summit in Bishkek in September 2013 will be an occurrence of great importance taking decisions of not only regional, but rather global dimension…
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