Category Archive: Geostrategy
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Climate Change: Get Ready to Adapt!
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim’s recent Washington Post op-ed “Make Climate Change a Priority” warned that “global warming imperils all of the development gains we have made”. Jim Kim drew on a recent World Bank report that points to the possibility for global temperatures to rise by 4 degrees Celsius or more by the [...]
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Energy Demands on Russia Have Global Consequences
Russian oil producer Rosneft said it was considering sending more oil to the energy-hungry Chinese economy. The world’s No. 2 oil exporter, after Saudi Arabia, already sends about 300,000 barrels of crude oil by pipeline to China. Taking on more crude oil would mean Asian economies would be demanding about 20 percent of Russia’s total [...]
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Israeli Elections and Foreign Investors
While recent elections in Israel have led to Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection, there are many uncertainties around the profile of his new coalition and its impact on foreign and economic policies. A lot has been said about Israel’s vote to reenergize the peace process with the Palestinians and the need to adopt social and economic policies [...]
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Iran Is Winning The ‘Long War’
Iran and the P5+1—the Permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany—meet in Kazakhstan on February 26 for further talks over Iran’s nuclear program. Don’t expect any progress. Iran’s next presidential election is in June and the powers that be will give no credit to outgoing President Ahmadinejad. But there is a more fundamental reason [...]
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Political and Cost Implications of an American Army With Women as Combat Soldiers
Summary: Martin van Creveld discusses a timely topic: “To Wreck a Military“, Small Wars Journal, 28 January 2013. He describes the likely results of employing women as soldiers, no matter how politically and ideologically necessary. Here we examine his claims, however impolitic. His record of successful forecasts is unmatched in length and breadth by any [...]
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Betting on Mediterranean Shale: 3 Plays, 1 Winner
The Mediterranean has joined the shale game, but as most of Europe’s Mediterranean countries drag their feet, all eyes are on Israel, Turkey, and Algeria. For Israel, it will be a slow road without the majors. For Algeria, it’s full speed ahead, in theory—but the foreign interest is just dabbling for now due to a [...]
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The Coming Oil War … Against al-Qaeda
A consortium minding security issues for journalists working in hostile territory warned that credible reports revealed a threat to oil installations in Libya. Islamists based in Libya were said to have played a role in deadly January attacks on the In Amenas natural gas facility in eastern Algeria. Those attacks were said to be in [...]
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The New Israeli Government and The Second-Term U.S. President
Except for the votes of some soldiers and prisoners, the Israeli election results are in – a resounding rebuke for Prime Minister Netanyahu and a boost for the Center-Left of the political spectrum. Netanyahu is likely to remain as prime minister with a center leaning coalition rather than his recent right leaning government. But his [...]
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Are We a Nation of Sheep?
It’s time to appoint an independent special prosecutor to investigate the Department of Justice (DoJ) and U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz about the death of Aaron Swartz. To the best of my recollection, I’ve never met Ortiz or Swartz. I write not from any personal connection to this case, but as a deeply concerned American. If we [...]
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Canada Considering Nuclear Reactors in Alberta Tar Sands Fields
Like them or hate them, Alberta, Canada’s tar sands deposits of bitumen or extremely heavy crude oil, are the world’s largest. The province’s resources include the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake deposits in the McMurray Formation, which consist of a mixture of crude bitumen, a semi-solid form of crude oil, admixed with silica sand, [...]
