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NEWNATIONS BULLETIN 3RD JANUARY 2011
How Stands The World in 2011?
The New Year meets old problems - will any of these be resolved any time soon?
The Iranian pursuit of nuclear power for weapons, for civil use, or both: It doesn’t go away but we are becoming just a little suspicious (and explain why) as to whether the US and the rest of us are being ‘wound-up’ by warlike Israeli interests, working with their arms suppliers in the ‘US military-industrial complex’- about which Eisenhower warned the world.
North Korea has the nuclear weapon and is therefore potentially more dangerous now. Although the threat is being managed, with Pyongyang one can never be sure that their decisions will be rational.
“The Promised Land”….is no longer Israel, but ‘the state’ of Palestine! It has been promised for so long. We do believe that with this administration, Washington really wants it to happen, but manifestly it doesn’t show signs of happening yet!
How long before another Financial meltdown? Governments talk about reform. Sarkozy is to try this through the presidency of G20; Individual legislators in several national parliaments make some effort, but nothing has happened yet that would prevent the financial world from another series of lunatic bets, based on arcane ‘instruments,’ putting bank depositors funds in the front line again, creaming the profits and fees, and “ I’ll be gone You’ll be gone” retiring to that sun- soaked islet in the Caribbean.
Two cheers for Iraq. They finally got themselves a government, but for how long? The deal that enabled this may force Obama’s hand, in having to pull out all US servicemen within this year, thus leaving the world’s second largest reserves of oil to the protection of a pro-Iranian government, with untried local troops.
Afghanistan: Declare Victory….and leave? Many governments are considering how they can pull out of Afghanistan and this is one of the options.
Our 59th consecutive monthly report on Pakistan tells it how it is there - not good!
Iran, China - and leaked cables: In an effort to deny the China gas and oil trade to Iran, Saudi Arabia offered to meet all China’s future needs - but got turned down!
Turkey and the European Union: we again take stock of their entry chances.
Central Asia’s Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan: We carry full reports on these two FSU states whose disaffected youth are crossing frontiers into Afghanistan to join the Taleban. We believe that Russian and Chinese fears of Islamic activists from Pakistan and Afghanistan moving north and east through the FSU, are well founded.
Turkmenistan’s gas pipeline project TAPI may actually be going to happen, after many on-off-on again years. It is audacious to be sure, crossing Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan to reach India, and no doubt continuing bribes will be factored in to the $7.6 billion budget to pay off the various tribesmen they will describe as ‘security,’ who otherwise might (as happened in Chechnya), riddle it to make any pipeline a ‘Kalashnikov collander’.
Russia is weathering the financial crisis better than many, as we report, but falls well short on anything that relates to the rule of law.
In this January 2011 issue we offer the latest updated reports on:
Afghanistan; Albania; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bosnia; Bulgaria; Croatia; India; Iran; Iraq; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Libya; North Korea; Pakistan; Philippines; Romania; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Serbia; Syria; Taiwan; Tajikistan; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; Uzbekistan.
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