La rassegna di geopolitica di Radio Radicale
- Rassegna di geopolitica: lo status di Gerusalemme 6 August 2010
- Rassegna di Geopolitica: scontri a fuoco tra Israele e Libano 4 August 2010
- Rassegna di Geopolitica. La Birmania tra India e Cina 30 July 2010
- Rassegna di geopolitica. Tensioni tra Usa e Cina nel Pacifico 28 July 2010
- Rassegna di geopolitica: Le ambizioni nucleari dell'Arabia Saudita 22 July 2010
- Rassegna di geopolitica: le nuove prospettive della Cina 9 July 2010
- Rassegna di geopolitica - L'agricoltura globale 7 July 2010
- Rassegna di geopolitica: la politica Usa dello Spazio 2010 emanata da Barack Obama 1 July 2010
- Rassegna di geopolitica: per i Paesi Arabi il rischio di gravi crisi alimentari 9 June 2010
- Rassegna di geopolitica: le nuove Università in Asia 4 June 2010
L’ora di Cindia di Claudio Landi
- L'ora di Cindia 28 August 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 22 August 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 7 August 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 31 July 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 25 July 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 18 July 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 10 July 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 4 July 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 26 June 2010
- L'ora di Cindia 20 June 2010
Religione
The PLA at Home and Abroad: Assessing the Operational Capabilities of China’s Military – SSI
The chapters presented in this volume have demonstrated first, Chinese and PLA leaders have a strong sense of mission and concern for China’s security and well-being. Second, the PLA is committed to the transformation in military affairs with Chinese characteristics. Third, the PLA is eager to learn from the U.S. military to expand and improve… »
Why Palestinians Will Not Hold Elections, at Least for Now – CEIP
Only seven hours remained until the deadline to submit electoral lists to the Central Elections Commission on June 10 when the Palestinian Authority (PA) called off the local council elections scheduled to take place in July. The PA justified its abrupt decision by claiming that such elections could derail a possible reconciliation with the Islamic… »
U.S. Drone Activities in Pakistan – CFR
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often referred to as drones, have become increasingly important in U.S. efforts to strike militants in Pakistani regions bordering Afghanistan. In its first eighteen months, the Obama administration authorized more drone attacks in Pakistan than its predecessor did over two terms. Although targeting terror suspects with UAVs in official combat areas… »
Interactive Map: Leaders of Pakistan’s Militant Groups – Center for American Progress
Pakistan faces a formidable array of militant groups concentrated in the semi-governed Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, and Northwest Frontier Province, or NWFP, along the country’s Afghan border. This map, based on a survey of available, open-source reporting, displays major leaders of different militant groups and coalitions attacking into Afghanistan and… »
Turkey Steps Up Support for Strategic Azerbaijani Exclave of Nakhchivan – EurasiaNet
Longtime Azerbaijani ally Turkey appears to be taking on a larger role in supporting the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an Azerbaijani exclave sandwiched between Armenia and Iran. The first steps in this intensified cooperation are taking shape just months after plans for rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia went into cold storage. Turkey, which shares an 11-kilometer… »
Despite rift, Israel-Turkey contacts march on – Washington Post
Trade between Israel and Turkey surged in the first half of this year, Israel just lifted a warning on travel to Turkey and an Israeli volleyball team trained in the Turkish capital on Friday ahead of a regional tournament. Do these positive signals suggest the softening of a dispute that deepened after Israel’s deadly raid… »
Could Egypt and Sudan’s 55-year feud be over? – the Nation
Egypt and Sudan are weighing plans to create a co-operative economic zone in Egypt’s southern Halaib Triangle, an underdeveloped and impoverished region that both governments have quietly feuded over for years. The long-simmering dispute over the triangle, a 20,580-sq-km region wedged between Sudan and the Red Sea, came to the fore again on June… »
Hamas leader says group considering Gaza draft – Ap
The top security official in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Tuesday he is considering setting up a bigger military force, first with volunteers and eventually with conscripts as well. Such a step could further tighten Hamas’ control of Gaza and deepen the rift with the group’s Western-backed rivals in the West Bank. Hamas seized Gaza by force… »
Gaza is a prison camp, says David Cameron – Telegraph
David Cameron has described Gaza as a ”prison camp” and appealed to the Israeli Government to allow the free flow of humanitarian goods and people in and out of the Palestinian territory. Mr Cameron’s comments came during a visit to Turkey. Speaking in Ankara, the Prime Minister denounced the attack on the flotilla as… »
Why India needs Myanmar on its side – Rediff
Senior General Than Shwe, Myanmar’s head of State, is currently on his second visit to India in six years. He comes at a time the international community has initiated the first steps to gradually open up to Myanmar and elections are due in that country later this year. India’s relations with Myanmar, a devoutly Buddhist… »
The Seditious Ahmadinejad? – the Diplomat
Between 2005 and the presidential elections of 2009, this battle was fought mainly between ultra conservatives (who supported President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and reformists, ultra conservatives and moderate conservatives, and then again between ultra conservatives and reformists. Yet because the main issue revolves around the Supreme Leader himself, such debates have generally been held behind closed… »
Kabul War Diary – Wikileaks
WikiLeaks today released over 75,000 secret US military reports covering the war in Afghanistan.
The Afghan War Diary an extraordinary secret compendium of over 91,000 reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010. The reports describe the majority of lethal military actions involving the United States military. They include the number of persons… »
L’Italia e gli Stati fragili in Africa: prospettive e linee d’azione – ISPI
(PDF) – La fragilità dello stato in Africa è sempre più ragione di preoccupazione e inquietudine
nell’ambito della politica internazionale: i fenomeni di instabilità locale, regionale e globale possono infatti prendere l’avvio da situazioni di fragilità, assumendo proporzioni incontrollabili anche al di là del singolo caso. Alcuni organismi internazionali hanno sviluppato una classificazione che permette
di verificare… »
Hizbullah Prevents Signing of Lebanon-France Security Agreement – MEMRI
On July 13, 2010, MPs from the Lebanese opposition (led by Hizbullah and comprising also Amal and Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement) prevented parliament from approving a France-Lebanon agreement for cooperation in the areas of internal, civil, and administrative security – even though the agreement had already been effectively approved by both the government and… »
After UN court ruling, fears of global separatism – Ap
Serbia and Kosovo are dispatching competing armies of lobbyists to governments that so far have wavered on recognizing the breakaway province. Serbia, which considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood and religion, fears Thursday’s ruling by the top U.N. court backing the legality of the 2008 declaration of independence could lead to a wave of… »
Communique of the International Conference on Afghanistan – MEMRI
On July 20, foreign ministers and diplomats from 70 countries and international organizations attended the International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul. The conference backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s peace initiative with the Taliban, noting that the peace move is aimed at those militants who are willing to renounce violence and respect the Afghan constitution. At… »
“I Saw It with My Own Eyes”. Abuses by Chinese Security Forces in Tibet, 2008-2010 – HRW
Eyewitness accounts confirm that Chinese security forces used disproportionate force and acted with deliberate brutality during and after unprecedented Tibetan protests beginning on March 10, 2008, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. Many violations continue today, including disappearances, wrongful convictions and imprisonment, persecution of families, and the targeting of Tibetans suspected of sympathizing… »
An End to Gaza’s (Literally) Underground Economy – the Atlantic
As Israeli consumer goods saturate Gaza’s markets, the tunnels have lost their clientele. Smugglers understand that their days are numbered, but there’s nothing to replace the jobs the industry provided – by Sarah A…. »
Petraeus’s Baby – the New York Review of Book
The surprising and speedy crash of General Stanley McCrystal has been seen in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the wider region as just one more sign of the mess that the US and its NATO allies face in what is looking increasingly like an unwinnable conflict – by Ahmed… »
Explosive Leaks Provide Image of War from Those Fighting It – Der Spiegel
In an unprecedented development, close to 92,000 classified documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan have been leaked. SPIEGEL, the New York Times and the Guardian have analyzed the raft of mostly classified documents. The war logs expose the true scale of the Western military deployment — and the problems beleaguering Germany’s Bundeswehr in the… »
Asia’s Response to Climate Change and Natural Disasters – CSIS
This new report examines the politics of climate change in Asia, the region’s response to natural disasters, and the implications for the future geometry of Asia’s institutions and U.S. policy in the region. The assessment looks broadly at two areas of nontraditional security cooperation in Asia: (1) climate change, including the domestic political factors in… »
Between Faith and Reason: UK Policy Towards the US and the EU – Chatham House
The UK’s relations with the US and the EU are often viewed as alternative paths to international influence, but Britain should adopt a reasoned, balanced approach to its foreign policy, moving beyond the established primacy of the ’special relationship’ to make the most of opportunities in Europe as well. Britain should rethink its traditional faith… »
The Arab-Israeli Military Balance in 2010 – CSIS
The Arab-Israeli military balance has steadily evolved in recent years to put more and more emphasis on irregular or asymmetric warfare, and the use of military force for political and ideological leverage – both inside the countries involved and in dealing with their neighbors. At the same time, the conventional arms race has continued to… »
Al-Shabaab’s Regionalization Strategy – ISN
It was the biggest militant attack in sub-Saharan Africa since the infamous 1998 al-Qaida bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. The two coordinated bombings in Uganda’s capital Kampala killed 74 people and wounded dozens of others watching the World Cup final on 11 July. For al-Shabaab it was a successful… »
Secret U.S. Overture to Iran in 1999 Broke Down Over Terrorism Allegations – the National Security Archive
A highly confidential U.S. overture to Iran in summer 1999 foundered because the intelligence community and FBI believed members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had a role in the infamous Khobar Towers bombing of June 1996, and because U.S. officials overestimated the Iranian president’s ability to manage the sensitive matter of U.S. relations within Iran’s… »
Former MI5 chief delivers damning verdict on Iraq invasion – Guardian
The former head of MI5 delivered a devastating critique of the invasion of Iraq today, saying it substantially increased the threat of terrorist attacks in Britain and was a significant factor behind the radicalisation of young Muslims in the UK. Invading Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein allowed al-Qaida to establish a foothold in Iraq which… »
Water Dispute Increases India-Pakistan Tension – the New York Times
Water has become a growing source of tension in many parts of the world between nations striving for growth. Several African countries are arguing over water rights to the Nile. Israel and Jordan have competing claims to the Jordan River. Across the Himalayas, China’s own dam projects have piqued India, a rival for regional, and… »
Report Exposes Irregularities of Obscure State Department-Funded Organization – Government Accountability Project
A report released by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), based on documents obtained through nearly three years’ of U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, exposes the highly irregular manner in which the Foundation for the Future (FFF) – an obscure project funded by the U.S. Department of State – was established and operated… »
Actions, Not Just Attitudes: A New Paradigm for U.S.-Arab Relations – The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The latest Pew poll on Middle Eastern political behavior illustrates the media’s post-9/11 tendency to report on America’s standing on the Arab street — without analyzing whether attitudes toward the U.S. have any significant effect on actual Arab behavior. To remedy this striking diagnostic gap, The Washington Institute presents a new study that utilizes hard… »
A Quiet Axis Forms Against Iran in the Middle East – Der Spiegel
Israel and the Arab states near the Persian Gulf recognize a common threat: the regime in Tehran. A regional diplomat has not even ruled out support by the Arab states for a military strike to end Iran’s nuclear… »
NASA’s Cloudy Future – the Atlantic
Obama’s FY2011 budget, while narrowly increasing NASA’s $18.7 billion outlay, proposes to redirect that money toward research and development and stronger support for commercial space flight, which would bring NASA’s illustrious 50-year history of manned missions to a close. This is economically and psychologically devastating to communities in Texas, Alabama, and Florida that depend on… »
Who’s who among armed groups in the DRC east – IRIN
Armed groups have caused severe suffering in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the years. Below are listed some that are active in the Kivu region. This information is gathered from various… »
Israel’s Jewish Divide – ISN
Often sidelined by the media’s focus on security issues, the culture war between secular and religious Jews and within the religious community itself continues to be a defining feature of modern Israeli society – by Dominic… »
China-India Relations: Regional Rivalry Takes the World Stage – China Security
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China. The pleasantries accompanying this event will strengthen the bilateral relationship, which has significantly improved in recent years amid growing levels of economic interaction, political cooperation on international issues (ranging from climate change to agricultural subsidies) and confidence-building initiatives, including… »
Internal Conflict in Lebanon Over Control of Oil and Gas Resources – MEMRI
The recent discovery of a large natural gas field off the Israeli coast, near Haifa, sparked an intense conflict in Lebanon between the camps of Prime Minster Sa’d Al-Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri – an ally of Hizbullah – over the control of Lebanon’s potential oil and natural gas resources, which could generate enormous… »
Odierno eyes UN forces for Iraq – Ap
The top American military commander in Iraq said that U.N. peacekeeping forces may need to replace departing U.S. troops in the nation’s oil-rich north if a simmering feud between Arabs and minority Kurds continues through 2011. A U.N. force might offer both the Iraqi leadership and President Barack Obama a politically palatable alternative to an… »
Al Qaeda branch inspired to launch English magazine – Toronto Star
Al Qaeda’s media-savvy branch in the Arabian Peninsula has announced this week in an online advertisement that they will publish the group’s first English magazine. Featuring guest writer Anwar al Awlaki — the American cleric blamed for inciting violence among Western Muslims youth, including members of the so-called Toronto 18 — the magazine Inspire is… »
Prisoners of the Caucasus – Foreign Affairs
The Russian government seems to have few creative ideas about how to deal with the turmoil in the region, which has become the epicenter of routine political violence in the country. It has tried to will the conflict into a sort of resolution, with little result. In April 2009, the Kremlin announced the end of… »
Saudi Press: Iran’s Diplomacy Has Failed – MEMRI
Saudi Arabia greeted the U.N. Security Council’s most recent round of sanctions against Tehran with a certain degree of satisfaction. Saudi analysts opined that the sanctions were a sign of the failure of Iranian diplomacy; some went so far as to suggest that the sanctions marked the beginning of the end of the current regime…. »
The Failed States Index 2010 – Fp/Found for Peace
This year’s index draws on 90,000 publicly available sources to analyze 177 countries and rate them on 12 metrics of state decay — from refugee flows to economic implosion, human rights violations to security threats. Taken together, a country’s performance on this battery of indicators tells us how stable — or unstable — it is…. »
Fears over Lebanon confrontations – Al Jazeera
A spate of clashes between the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon and local residents has sparked fears that Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia political party, is unhappy with military exercises being carried out in the area.
The past two weeks have seen a series of confrontations between villagers and Unifil peacekeepers in the south of… »
Israel’s Foes Embrace New Resistance Tactics – Wall Street Journal
Hamas and Hezbollah, groups that have long battled Israel with violent tactics, have begun to embrace civil disobedience, protest marches, lawsuits and boycotts—tactics they once dismissed. For decades, Palestinian statehood aspirations seemed to lurch between negotiations and armed resistance against Israel. But a small cadre of Palestinian activists has long argued that nonviolence, in the… »
Move Assad – the New Republic
The Obama administration has signaled in word and deed that a policy change is in the offing, a change that would accommodate the Syrian regime and normalize relations with it. The notion of autocracy as a guarantor of stability is back in vogue after the Bush years, and so the policy is being bolstered by… »
US to cut $4bn in Afghan aid over corruption fears – Bbc
US lawmakers have voted to cut almost $4bn in aid to the government of Afghanistan, after allegations of corruption. It comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that huge sums of cash had allegedly been flown out of Kabul international airport in recent… »
India’s Border Management: Select Documents – IDSA
India shares its borders with all its South Asian neighbours as well with China. Since the borders is man-made and do not follow any natural barrier, they traverse diverse socio-cultural milieus and cut across ethnic, social and economic communities. These characteristics of the borders pose various challenges towards their proper management. Similarly, the vast Indian… »
‘The Sun in the Sky: the relationship between Pakistan’s ISI and Afghan insurgents’ – LSE
(PDF) – Many accounts of the Afghan conflict misapprehend the nature of the relationship between
Pakistan’s security services and the insurgency. The relationship, in fact, goes far beyond contact and coexistence, with some assistance provided by elements within, or linked to, Pakistan’s Intelligence service (ISI) or military. Although the Taliban has a strong endogenous impetus, according… »
Is India Scared of China? – Indian Defence Review
First, given the importance of China in India’s foreign policy, Indian policy makers, foreign policy analysts and think tanks must understand Beijing well. This is particularly so when India does not have China-experts worth the name. And the best way to improve this state of affairs is to interact with the Taiwanese scholars who are… »
The silent expulsion – Haaretz
Citizens of Israel can leave the country for any length of time, and their citizenship and all their rights are theirs in perpetuity. But when it comes to Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, Israel applies draconian regulations whose covert intent is to bring about the expulsion of as many Palestinians as possible from their home… »
Adding the Union to Russian-European Relations – CEIP
Russia’s leadership has formulated a new goal for its foreign policy: to support the country’s technological modernization and the development of an innovative economy. The European Union, in turn, has proposed to Russia a “Partnership for Modernization”. On May 31 and June 1, the twenty-fifth EU–Russia summit was held in Rostov-on-Don. On the surface, it… »
Israel Defense Minister, Criticizes Jerusalem Plan To Demolish Palestine Homes – Huffington Post
Israel’s defense minister on Tuesday criticized the approval by a Jerusalem planning body for a plan to raze 22 Palestinian homes in the disputed eastern part of the city to make room for an Israeli tourist center, saying it lacked “common sense” and “a sense of timing.” Ehud Barak is in the United States for… »