Thinktank reports on messy ‘nonpolar’ world and urges new psychological warfare
The United States is still powerful enough to shape an agenda for international activity but too weak to implement it globally as it faces uncertain prospects in Iraq, an escalating confrontation over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and a robust challenge to its military hegemony from an [...]

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Moscow (CNSNews.com) - Iran is urging Russia to launch a gas exporting grouping similar to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but Moscow has yet to throw its support behind the controversial idea.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced that Iran was prepared to cooperate with Russia to create a gas cartel.
“Iran and [...]

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MOSCOW, January 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russia’s Defense Ministry will spend over 860 billion rubles ($32.42 billion) of federal budget funds in 2007, 23% more than in 2006, a ministry official said Wednesday.
Military spending will account for 16% of overall federal budget expenditure. Under this year’s budget, signed into law by the president at [...]

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Russia feels bullied over legitimate business with Iran
BERLIN: The United States is urging its allies to go beyond UN sanctions against Iran over its atomic programme and choke off foreign investment but is meeting strong Russian and European resistance, Western diplomats said.
“A number of countries, especially Russia, feel the United States is bullying them to [...]

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From the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to terrorism, from human rights to democratization, the Islamic Republic of Iran cuts across a wide range of American concerns. The American leaders routinely characterize Iran’s meddling in Iraqand its nuclear ambitions as a grave threat, while often musing about the eventual necessity of using military force [...]

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Iran’s civil society is experiencing major breakdowns, the country’s reformist press and Web loggers are reporting. Signs of growing economic instability include high inflation, rising prices, food shortages, and long lines at gas stations.
In the first week of January, 150 deputies at the Majlis, Iran’s Parliament, openly criticized President Ahmadinejad’s handling of such issues. The [...]

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BAGHDAD, Iraq Jan 31, 2007 (AP)— Citing Iranian involvement with Iraqi militias and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, the Bush administration has shifted to offense in its confrontation with Iran building up the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf and promising more aggressive moves against Iranian operatives in Iraq and Lebanon.
The behind-the-scenes struggle between the two nations [...]

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We asked ourselves, “Why would China be revealing these apparently new, and to some frightening, capabilities at this time?”
We discovered a mixture of reasons after questioning several current and former officials of the State and Defense Departments in the US along with former National Security Council staff members and some well known “China watchers”. We [...]

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Hugo Chavez came one step closer to becoming a full-fledged dictator on January 17. As the Associated Press reported, “Venezuelan lawmakers gave their initial approval to a bill granting President Hugo Chavez the power to rule by decree for 18 months so that he can impose sweeping economic, social and political change.” The vote in [...]

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Iran could be only two or three years away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon, the head of a leading international security think tank in London said.
John Chipman, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said Iran had stockpiled 250 tonnes of uranium hexafluoride (UF6), which, when enriched, would be enough for [...]

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Yesterday Chinese leader Hu Jintao set off on an epic tour of Africa, during which he will visit eight African countries in twelve days. It is expected that, in addition to signing trade agreements, Mr. Hu will lobby for the deployment of Chinese peacekeepers on the continent, particularly in war-torn Darfur, where Chinese state-owned oil [...]

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