09.03.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

Aurobinda MAHAPATRA (India)

Putin’s Visit to New Delhi: Harbinger of Hope in Bilateral Defence Relations

"In the past decade if something that affected negatively most of bilateral relations between India and Russia it was defence, the field in which both the countries had enjoyed most intense relationship. It is a truism that minus Soviet/Russian component India’s defence sector could have mostly rudimental or something different..."

08.03.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

M.K. BHADRAKUMAR (India)

Why AfPak diplomacy is on a roller coaster

"The London conference on Afghanistan on January 28 was a high watermark of the US’s AfPak diplomacy... The diplomacy leading to the Lancaster House conference unmistakably had a “Holbrookean” touch – to give credit to the US’s AfPak special representative Richard Holbrooke, who was excelling his own awesome performance at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, some fifteen years ago when he dismembered the former state of Yugoslavia canton by canton..."

08.03.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

Aurobinda MAHAPATRA (India)

Saudi Arabia as Interlocutor in South Asia?

"...The Indian Minister of State in External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor... said that Saudi Arabia can play the role of a ‘valuable interlocutor’ between India and Pakistan to ease tensions in bilateral relations... Most of the Indian political circles have expressed reservation at such an idea of South Asian amity at the behest of Saudi Arabia. Bhartiya Janata Party, the main opposition party in the Indian parliament called the statement ‘utterly irresponsible’. The Left parties also criticised the statement on the same ground...

07.03.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

Pyotr ISKENDEROV

Albanian Conquest of the EU

"Belgian Prime Minister Ives Leterme will pay a visit to the Balkans on March 8. He and Belgium Secretary of State for Immigration Melchior Wathelet will tour Kosovo and Macedonia, where discussions will revolve around the current massive inflow of Albanians to Belgium... The process has already echoed with the Belgian government's extreme concern and is even likely to affect the neighboring France..."

06.03.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

David KERANS (USA)

Inequality and Social Dysfunction: A Definitive Verdict?

"In the US and UK especially, elites have found many ways to exploit such dreams, to deregulate their economies, and to capture power beyond all comparison with their contribution to society. In these circumstances, progressive movements might appear doomed to bear a Sisyphean burden of struggling forevermore to muster political support for a seemingly endless series of causes, one case after another, one election after another, one jurisdiction after another..."

04.03.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

Nil NIKANDROV

Mexico Subdued by the Empire

"CIA and Pentagon analysts regard it as a potential scenario that the war will destabilize Mexico to the point of spilling over to the southern states of the US... Mexican commentator Pedro Echeverria (aporrea.org, February 26, 2010) says the US is bracing for a step-by-step establishment of police and military control over Mexico... Echeverria deems it possible that Mexico can come under full military occupation in case Washington concludes that a serious threat to the US national security is emanating from its territory..."

03.03.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

Roman TOMBERG

Collapse of the G-2 Myth, or Stalemate in China-US Relations (II)

"It is widely held that Dalai Lama's visit to the US reflects Washington's attempt to sow geopolitical discord in South Asia and to ignite tensions between the region's two heavyweights India and China. China plans to diversify the routes via which it imports oil and gas from the Persian Gulf and Africa. The construction of a 1,100 km oil and gas pipeline to link Burma and China's Yunnan province began in September, 2010..."

02.03.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

Roman TOMBERG

Collapse of the G-2 Myth, or Stalemate in China-US Relations (I)

"This winter has been a cold one for China-US relations. So many serious disagreements between the two countries have not surfaced simultaneously for decades: the US is exerting unprecedented pressure on China to revalue the Yuan, a cyber war erupted between Google and the Chinese administration, Washington intends to sell weapons worth $6.4 bn to Taiwan, China dumped US bonds worth $34.2 bn, both sides threaten to introduce punitive import tariffs, and US President B. Obama received 14-th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso in the White House..."

27.02.2010 :: Ukraine: Choosing a Way

Vladimir ALEKSEEV (Ukraine)

Stop ethnocide against Russians in Ukraine - time is running out!

"Since Ukraine had gained independence, there were approved some 80 bills restricting or even banning the use of the Russian language. And, actually, the total number of such kind of bills has long been brought to a few hundreds. The Russian language is banned in advertising, cinema, in preschool and higher education. This language has faded away in radio and TV broadcasting in the south and east of Ukraine... Ukraine's Culture Minister Vasily Vovkun openly described the Russian as 'dog's language'..."

27.02.2010 :: Eurasia

Nikolai DIMLEVICH

Caucasian Geopolitical Region: the Past, the Present, and the Future (II)

"A diverging ensemble of demographic processes is at full swing in South Russia. On the one hand, the de-Russification of the eastern part of the North Caucasus which began with the post-Soviet epoch is entering the terminal phase. On the other hand, the population on the planes of the Fore-Caucasus is growing ever more ethnically diverse as the Russian population is being replaced with that arriving from the mountainous areas of the Caucasus..."

27.02.2010 :: Eurasia

Nikolai DIMLEVICH

Caucasian Geopolitical Region: the Past, the Present, and the Future (I)

"The analysis of the situation in the Caucasus and in Transcaucasia shows that the outlook for the geopolitical entirety is going to be shaped by the key Western countries' efforts aimed at debarring Russia from the Caspian oil and gas projects... The main threats to Russia's security are bred by the instability in Transcaucasia, Iraq, and, potentially, Iran..."

26.02.2010 :: Ukraine: Choosing a Way

Hannes HOFBAUER (Austria)

Ukraine: Post-orange challenges

"After ten months of tricky tactical games playing on electoral procedures and acknowledgements, the orange period of the post-communist Ukraine finally came to an end... After the acknowledgement of Yanukovych ‘s victory, Ukraine could come back to normality. The obstacle to a normal development is the bare and narrow manner of the outcome. The country – still – is divided... The biggest challenge of Yanukovych‘s presidency is the economic one. If he fails here, social and political unrest are likely to regain the situation..."

23.02.2010 :: Russia is concentrating

Anatoly ALIFEROV

The Iskander Missiles as the Guarantee of Normal Coexistence of Russia and Europe

Russia went public with the plan to deploy the Iskander missiles at its western frontier – in the Kaliningrad region or on the territories of neighboring countries, but the process of probing into Washington's reaction is clearly taking too long. In politics, failure to appreciate the importance of acting quickly invariably creates problems, the above situation being a vivid example. The Iskanders are a remarkably potent weapon but it appears that Moscow risks playing the card as a minor element in the diplomatic game..."

21.02.2010 :: Russia is concentrating

Aurobinda MAHAPATRA (India)

India-Pakistan Talks after 26/11

"On 25 February 2010 India and Pakistan are going to resume foreign secretary level of talks after almost a hiatus of more than one year... The last year meeting between Indian Prime Minister and Pakistan President at Yekaterinburg in Russia at the sidelines of the BRIC summit, and later the meeting between Indian and Pakistan Prime Ministers at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt virtually produced nothing in substance..."

19.02.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

M.K. BHADRAKUMAR (India)

America godfathers South Asian amity

"The resumption of India-Pakistan talks happens to be a US foreign policy enterprise... with solid American and NATO security guarantee gratuitously made available, Pakistan will have no further need for an “all-weather friendship” with China, which always stood in the way of a close US-Pakistan strategic partnership... Washington could also focus on the business that can be garnered in India’s 100-billion dollar market for weapons without Pakistan feeling apprehensive about the Indian arms build-up..."

18.02.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

Nil NIKANDROV

Pentagon Bracing for a Snap Offensive Against Venezuela

"...Obama's Administration needs to get rid of Chavez already in 2010... The corresponding plan is akin to those Germany had at the early phase of World War II – the US will rely on Venezuelan fifth column, Columbian ultra-right paramilitary groups, and its own special forces which are already launching raids in Venezuela's border regions..."

16.02.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

David KERANS (USA)

Is the US Perpetually Rudderless? An Enduring Gift of the Founding Fathers

"...Government in the US is condemned to rudderlessness. Bad regulations remain on the books; the public struggles to pin down which authorities are responsible for bad laws; political gridlock frustrates anyone trying to pursue reforms; serious discussion of how to deal with modernity is hamstrung; Congress dodges issues in favor of demagogy..."

15.02.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

Eugene IVANOV (USA)

Why there is no pro-Russian lobby in the United States, and does Russia need one?

"Of all countries that "matter" to the United States, Russia is perhaps the only one that doesn't systematically lobby its interests in Washington... in the absence of a pro-Russian lobby, no U.S. public figure ever paid a price for signing an arrogant anti-Russian letter or voting for a Russia-bashing resolution – or for simply making a gratuitous derogatory comment about Russia and its leadership..."

14.02.2010 :: Оrbis Terrarum

William BOWLES (United Kingdom)

Capitalism cut adrift (I)

"There has been much talk expended over the years on the degree to which the media—and hence culture—is central to maintaining the capitalist system. Leading the charge have been Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman, so much so that they now more resemble sainted objects than social/political analysts, but then this is nothing new for the left, who unfortunately for the most part are happy to let others do the thinking for them..."

14.02.2010 :: Eurasia

Aleksandr SHUSTOV

Central Asia: Growing Conflict Potential

"The contours of the same scheme and conflict mechanism are easily discerned in all the recent clashes involving Kurds in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan... The Xinjiang drama unfolded in the summer of 2009 under a similar scenario..."