'Syrian WMD Must be Destroyed'
An analyst whose IDF service included preparing for a chemical weapons attack makes a powerful, convincing case for destroying Syria's stockpiles of chemical warheads and ballistic missiles. Click here to read the essay.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sierra Leone on Track to be World's Fastest Growing Economy
Iron Ore Boom Fuels Growth,
Rebuilding West African Rail
Stunning 2012 Forecast by IMF
Bloomberg reports: "Iron ore exports from African Minerals’ Tonkolili and London Mining Plc (LOND)’s Marampa mines are set to boost Sierra Leone’s economy by 51 percent this year, the fastest projected pace of any nation in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund."
Related: Gas Pay Discovered Off Sierra Leone
Bailout Saves EU, Dooms Greece
Draconian budget cuts will condemn Greece to permanent recession, pauperizing an entire population. Click here for the analysis.
IAEA: No Progress in Iran Inspections
Regarding Russia's View of 'the East'
Given the dangers that the United States faces in Iran and Syria, and the rapidly deteriorating U.S. relationship with Russia with respect to these and other issues, one does not have to agree entirely with Andrew Wilson to appreciate his timely and insightful essay.He writes:
Till recently, the West (and, for historical reasons, particularly Britain) prided itself on having a unique insight into the thinking and politics of the Arab world. Something that involved a sympathetic, and even romantic, attitude towards Islam, evidenced by the exploits of Lawrence of Arabia and others.The British and Americans never paused to consider the rival claim of Russia to an equal, or even superior expertise in the same region, sustained by a wide-ranging foreign intelligence service, the professional input of a far-seeing academic community, and intercourse with Arab élites trained in Soviet universities;Today the West subscribes to the ultimately liberating consequences of the Arab spring. But Russia obviously has a much more skeptical attitude; and the West might do well to heed it.What give Russia its title to an independent view is its proximity to the arena in which things are happening. The wind of militant Islam is already blowing not only on the heterogeneous ex-Soviet republics which offer a frail barrier to events in Iran an Afghanistan but also on its own territory in the North Caucasus.
Click here to continue reading Wilson's article.
And click here to read about Russian Turkestan, or Russian Central Asia; here, to read about the Basmachi Revolt of 1916-1931, which is virtually unknown in the West; and here, to watch a classic, Soviet-era, Russian Eastern about the uprising. Considered Russia's most popular movie, White Sun of the Desert illuminates Wilson's point about Russia's proximity to and long history of involvement in "the East."
Monday, February 20, 2012
'Strictly Confidential' Report: Austerity Measures Imposed on Greece Could Condemn Country to Permanent Poverty Status
(Financial Times) -- A "strictly confidential" report on Greece's debt projections prepared for eurozone finance ministers reveals Athens' rescue programme is way off track and suggests the Greek government may need another bail-out once a second rescue -- set to be agreed on Monday night -- runs out.The 10-page debt sustainability analysis, distributed to eurozone officials last week but obtained by the Financial Times on Monday night, found that even under the most optimistic scenario, the austerity measures being imposed on Athens risk a recession so deep that Greece will not be able to climb out of the debt hole over the course of a new three-year, €170bn bail-out.It warned that two of the new bail-out's main principles might be self-defeating. Forcing austerity on Greece could cause debt levels to rise by severely weakening the economy while its €200bn debt restructuring could prevent Greece from ever returning to the financial markets by scaring off future private investors.
Social upheaval in Greece is imminent.
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