WASHINGTON, March 5 — The Bush administration has decided to reach out more often and more intensively to Russia at a time when the leadership in Moscow is harshly criticizing American policy and some scholars say the United States has not sufficiently tended to an important relationship.
Plans by the United States to base elements of [...]

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Hu Jintao, president of China, has just completed an eight-nation tour of Africa–a visit that comes on the heels of a meeting in Beijing attended by some 40 African heads of state. Both the recent visit and the Beijing summit on China-Africa cooperation in November reflect China’s determination to establish itself as the benevolent, non-Western [...]

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Recent statements by Russian officials have taken an ominous tone. In one speech, President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of trying to impose its will on the world, while other leaders warn that American plans to install missile defenses in Europe will force Russia to target the host countries in the event of war. [...]

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently called for the creation of a “multipolar” world in order to limit America’s ability to act unilaterally without consulting others, especially him. Putin has encouraged others, including the European Union and China, to join him in opposing American hegemony. Indeed, China and several EU governments, most notably France, have [...]

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Authors who are critical of Russia’s current political structure often write that the Kremlin has no proper foreign policy, or rather that its policy is so vague, anonymous, and insufficiently centralized that it can only be described as PR actions. That view is shared by people across the ideological spectrum. A few words about ideology. [...]

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Pakistan’s remote Federally Administered Tribal Areas (the tribal lands) have been a training ground for insurgents and a focal point for terrorism fears, particularly since the 9/11 attacks. President Pervez Musharraf finds himself squeezed between U.S. demands to control militants in the tribal lands and opposition from his own army against fighting the region’s predominant [...]

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Barring any surprises, Osama bin Laden will mark his fiftieth birthday on March 10. Five years ago, it seemed unlikely that the man would survive to celebrate the occasion, at least not outside U.S. custody. Not only does al-Qaeda’s leader remain at large, but he is rallying the troops. Recent reports suggest bin Laden and [...]

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China’s prime minister promised yesterday to curb the lavish lifestyles of Communist Party leaders and bring an end to the land grabs by local officials that have sparked a wave of popular unrest.
In an unusually populist move, Wen Jiabao also promised massive spending increases on health and education.
The Chinese National People’s Congress, Wen Jiabao promises [...]

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Is regional giant Brazil about to move a little closer to Washington and a little farther away from Venezuela’s narcissist-Leninist leader Hugo Chavez ?
U.S. and Brazilian officials say the two leaders will discuss cooperation in producing ethanol, which would allow Brazil to export its ethanol-producing technology, and help the United States reduce its dependence on [...]

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(IsraelNN.com) Syrian terrorists said they tossed mines across the Syrian border into Israel. Israeli officials claimed the attackers were shepherds. The provocative tactics copy those used by Hizbullah ahead of last year’s war in Lebanon.
In a statement to WorldNetDaily, the new Syrian terrorist group said that it was responsible for planting six mines across the [...]

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MOSCOW, March 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will commission two modernized Tu-160 bombers in 2007, the Strategic Air Force commander said Monday.
Russia is currently carrying out an ambitious program to upgrade and modernize its strategic Air Force assets. The upgraded fleet will include both new and modernized Tu-160 Blackjack, Tu-22 Blinder and Tu-95 Bear [...]

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SOVIET spies mapped out key targets in Sunderland as part of plans for worldwide military action.
Highly detailed spy maps of the city were produced by the KGB to guide Russian paratroopers and tank commanders around Wearside in the event of a Cold war invasion.
And they reveal features not present on Ordnance Survey maps due to [...]

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As 2007 marks “the Year of China” in Russia, which features fruitful exchanges and cooperation between the two countries’ armed forces, Liang voiced his hope that the two sides will enhance coordination and work closely to ensure the smooth going of SCO military exchanges, and further deepen the China-Russia strategic partnership.
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The Bush administration for the first time says it has intelligence proving detailed and ongoing collaboration between Iran and North Korea in the development of new ballistic missiles.
The Pentagon has also just released previously secret intelligence data on new Iranian and North Korean ballistic missiles under development.
North Korean and Chinese missiles already threaten the Middle [...]

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MOSCOW: Russia’s air force would be capable of easily knocking out missile defense sites the United States wants to place in Europe, news agencies quoted a top general as saying Monday in the latest bellicose remarks in response to the U.S. plans.
Lt. Gen. Igor Khvorov, who is in charge of Russia’s strategic bomber force, said [...]

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Pre-emptive military strikes on Iran could accelerate rather than hinder Tehran’s production of atomic weapons, a report by a British global security think-tank said Monday. Backed by the former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq, Hans Blix, the Oxford Research Group said Iran could respond to an attack by launching a “crash programme” and build [...]

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Including Ukraine and the Caucasus nations into a U.S. air-defense system could cause another internal political crisis in these countries, a senior Russian MP said Friday. A senior Pentagon official said Thursday that the United States “would like to place a radar base in the Caucasus” amid earlier reports of plans to deploy elements of [...]

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BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - China slammed Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian’s intensified talk of independence on Monday, saying anyone who sought a split from China would be a “criminal in history”.
Chen said on Sunday the self-ruled island should pursue independence and change its official title, the “Republic of China” — moves that are also certain to [...]

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China is conducting sea trials of the first of five new nuclear-powered submarines armed with longer-range ballistic missiles, according to a US naval intelligence report made public Friday.
The sea trials are part of a broader push by China to check US naval power in the western Pacific with a more modern fleet of nuclear-powered ballistic [...]

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