MOSCOW. February 9. KAZINFORM. Russian analysts argue that Washington’s consistent efforts to redeploy its missile defense system closer to Russia’s borders may be an indication the U.S. administration seeks to revive the “Cold War” against Moscow and its allies.
Washington has recently moved its largest sea-based missile defense radar in the Pacific from Hawaii to the [...]

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Does it mean that the USA is getting ready for an armed conflict with Russia and China – two huge countries that have nuclear weapons at their disposal? Russian military specialists believe that Gates publicly declared the USA’s intention to stand in an opposition with Russia and China. “Robert Gates specified USA’s potential enemies. His [...]

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Moscow (CNSNews.com) - Russian officials and analysts reacted strongly to remarks by America’s top defense officials, who questioned Moscow’s predictability and linked Russia to North Korea and Iran.
The row comes at a time of continuing suspicions here about Washington’s plans to set up missile defense systems in Eastern Europe.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the [...]

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On February 11, the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran is expected to declare that it has made a grand advance in its nuclear program based on weeks of feverish work at its Natanz enrichment facility. The most appropriate Western response is to hang tough until Iran’s fundamental weaknesses become clearer to its leaders. [...]

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LONDON — Textbooks used in Iran’s schools are instilling students with hatred toward the West, especially the United States, and urging them to become “martyrs” in a global holy war against countries perceived to be enemies of Islam, a new study says.
An Iranian human rights activist, Ghazal Omid, praised the findings, saying they prove hard-liners [...]

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In a refreshing Muslim voice not often heard, FSM Contributing Editor M. Zuhdi Jasser challenges the stereotypical Muslim response to the fact that there are few Muslim soldiers in the U.S. military. Where are the moderate Muslim voices you ask? Read one right here.
A story out of Reuters this week, carried by the [...]

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CONCERNS are growing over a new bout of East-West confrontation after Russia unveiled a big increase in military spending.
Russia’s move follows the US decision to locate parts of its controversial missile defence system in eastern Europe.
Russia’s hawkish Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, revealed an ambitious plan for new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly a [...]

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Prime Minister says he won’t apologize for standing up for the rights of Canadians abroad, including Huseyin Celil.
HALIFAX — Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned China today not to threaten Canada on economic issues in the hope of getting his government to back off on human rights criticisms, including the case of Huseyin Celil.
Speaking with reporters [...]

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US Defense Minister Robert Gates called for increasing US army in order to be ready for a large-scale operation. North Korea, Iran, Russia and China are listed among potential enemies.
“We don’t know what’s going to develop in places like Russia and China, in North Korea, in Iran and elsewhere,” the Pentagon head said at US [...]

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Within the next 20 years Russia will require about 25mn labor migrants, otherwise, due to impetuous shortening of employable population, the country may face the prospect of economic stagnation and the pension system will be destroyed. This is the summary of the survey called Economical and political situation in Russia in January of 2006, conducted [...]

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LONDON: Anti-American feeling in Europe is playing into the hands of al-Qa’eda and unwittingly encouraging terrorism, Australia’s foreign minister said.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Alexander Downer urged European politicians to weigh up the consequences of their words before they “leap out there and attack America”.
Mr Downer gave warning that criticism of [...]

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MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) — The U.S. policy of preserving the world leadership is a real threat to Russia’s national security, the Russian military chief of staff, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky said on Friday.
Baluyevsky made the remarks at a meeting of the Academy of Military Sciences on national military policy.
The U.S. military leadership’s course [...]

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Until recently, Ethiopians arguably received more from the Judeo-Christian legacy than they gave. With the recent defeat by Ethiopian forces of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia, however, part of this debt has been repaid. Some of the defeated forces had links to al-Qaeda: indeed, the ICU was sheltering three al-Qaeda leaders (Fazul Abdullah [...]

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“As I’ve said in the past, it will be a bloody spring.”
With that sentence, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States, Said Jawad, acknowledged that the Afghan government believes the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies will launch a “new offensive” within the next two months.
“We do expect a Taliban offensive (in Afghanistan),” Jawad told [...]

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OAO Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural-gas producer, will become Russia’s largest coal miner once it completes a deal to pool assets with OAO Siberian Coal Energy Co., also known as SUEK.
The agreement, announced yesterday, makes Gazprom the main supplier of fuels to Russian power plants, as the gas monopoly diversifies into the oil, nuclear and [...]

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This week’s United States decision to create a new Pentagon command covering Africa, known as Africom, has a certain unlovely military logic. Like Roman emperors of old, Washington’s Caesars arbitrarily divide much of the world into Middle Eastern, European and Pacific domains. Now it is Africa’s turn.
Practical more than imperial considerations dictated the White House [...]

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China’s president, Hu Jintao, is currently touring Africa, seeking to secure dependable sources of natural resources, but also to promote China’s “peaceful rise.” Such tours are designed to give notice that China is emerging on the world stage, as well as to make it look respectable as a major world power. But China’s quest for [...]

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Today Israel’s leaders claim that Saudi Arabia is our new best friend. The
Wahhabis will protect us from Iran and its proxies they promise. It’s
difficult to see how this view jibes with reality.
Indeed today, in a manner eerily reminiscent of last spring, we are on the
precipice of a new war and our leaders stubbornly reject truth [...]

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The subject of an E.U. constitution will gradually regain a central place in E.U. politics after the 2005 setbacks. Between 2007 to 2009, European states will need to make a crucial decision on which form they want to give to the Union. The initiative, however, remains a top-down one and is unlikely to revive the [...]

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