Foreign News and Analysis Since April 2005 -- formerly China Confidential -- What's Really Happening in the WorldForeign Confidential ™
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
World Leaders Urge 'Fiscal Responsibility' as Europe Falls
Presidents and Prime Ministers Argue About Austerity Vs. Stimulus
Leaders of the UK, Germany, and South Korea are insisting on austerity, incredibly, with Europe on the brink of collapse and the United States stuck in a managed (for now) depression. Read more.
Seoul has nerve. If not for Washington, South Korea would long ago have been conquered by China-backed North Korea. A defense dependent that is reliant on the physical presence within its borders of some 30,000 U.S. troops really has no business lecturing its ally and other nations about anything.
Related: Greece Close to Coalition as Athenians Queue for Free Fruits and VegetablesTuesday, June 19, 2012
Junior Miners Play Major Role in West Africa Iron Ore Boom
But Giant Rio Tinto is Rumored to be Eying Entry into Sierra Leone by Backing Ex-Military Ruler and Opposition Party Presidential Candidate
The role of the juniors is especially important in Sierra Leone. Industry sources say Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest producer of iron, is eager to enter the country and, in this regard, is rumored to be backing the main opposition party's presidential candidate, Julius Maada Bio, against incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma in elections set for November. The multinational mining and metals behemoth was recently a sponsor of a prestigious conference in Montreal, Canada at which Bio spoke.
With the apparent exception of Rio Tinto, Koroma enjoys widespread support from the international community because of his reputation as a peaceful, pro-business leader--in sharp contrast with Bio, a controversial figure who served briefly as a military ruler during Sierra Leone's long civil war.
The Montreal conference website includes a biography of Bio that is noteworthy because the write-up transcends mere flattery to reveal an obvious political bias:Bio does have a credible prospect of becoming President of Sierra Leone, once again, against the milieu of discontent and hardship currently afflicting this poor West African nation.
Syria Splitting, Al Qaeda Gaining
US-Russia Rivalry, Intervention in Syria Creates Opportunity for Al Qaeda
How North Korea Could Conquer the South
Monday, June 18, 2012
Austerity Failing, Forcing World into Depression
Greek Neo-Nazis Exploiting Depression
Russia Preparing to Defend Naval Base in Syria
Confrontation With the West is Possible
Russia is preparing to defend its citizens in Syria and its naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus. Read more.
The Syrian situation is fraught with danger--another foreign policy disaster on the verge of becoming a catastrophe. The Obama administration should not have meddled in Syria--on the side of Islamists. Russian cooperation is key to containing or removing the Assad regime--and to containing or removing the Iranian regime. But the United States has acted as if the Cold War never ended. The bipartisan blunders are mind boggling.Germany on Greece Bank Bailout: There's Nothing to Negotiate Except Time-Frame of 'Structural Reforms' (Slashing Spending)
Sudan Students Demonstrate Against Austerity
Islamists Claim Win in Egypt Election; Army Takes Power
UPDATE: ARMY PROMISES TO HAND OVER POWER AT MONTH'S END
The situation in Egypt is a disaster on the verge of becoming a catastrophe. It is also a huge headache for the Obama administration, which undermined the Mubarak government and emboldened and encouraged the Islamists. Events in Egypt will expose the administration's policy of embracing rightwing political Islam in general while decimating Al Qaeda in particular. The administration's strategy has been to narrow the definition of the Islamist enemy to the organization that attacked the United States on 9/11. Practically all other Islamist groups--including the Taliban and Iran's monstrous mullahocracy--are presently or have in the recent past been regarded by the administration as fit to "engage."
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
A South Korean security expert outlines the worst-case scenario: North Korean guerrilla attacks against the South--which would plunge the country into chaos--followed by a full-scale invasion. The expert agrees with Foreign Confidential™ that the North intends to conquer the South. Read more.
Spending cuts in a recession … slashing social services … pauperizing the middle classes … crushing the working poor … austerity has failed, utterly. Read more.
What German austerity has wrought: an environment in which Hitler's admirers are thriving. Read more.
Students at Khartoum University defied the clerical fascist regime, which responded with classic police violence. Read more.
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