When assessing China’s military potential, Western and Asian observers often tend either to view the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as an ominous storm cloud on the horizon or to casually dismiss it as a “paper tiger” faced with significant modernization and operational problems. On the one hand, there is no shortage of commentary reporting [...]

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At the same moment when even Arab states are trying to reassure Israel that Syria has no plans to attack, Damascus is taking delivery of advanced Russian SA-22 E anti-aircraft missiles and artillery. According to Arab press reports, this arms deal, which cost some $900 million, is being financed by Iran.
This news came on the [...]

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TEHRAN (Thomson Financial) - Iran’s sacked oil minister has issued a parting warning to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, predicting a looming ‘catastrophe’ in the Iranian energy sector because of high consumption, media reported Sunday.
‘If we do not find a solution to the energy problem in the next 15 years, the country will face a catastrophe,’ Kazem [...]

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We don’t know. Our human intelligence resources are so thin “we have no idea what’s happening inside the Kremlin,” says one retired senior intelligence officer. But what we do know for certain should be alarming enough to make us pay attention.
1. We know Russia is awash in gas and petrodollars.
2. We know that long-term, [...]

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August 19, 2007: The enthusiasm in China for building a larger navy is not aimed at the United States, but at the enormous, and growing, vulnerability of its maritime commerce. For example, over 80 percent of the oil China imports comes through the Straits of Malacca. This is the busiest waterway in the world (about [...]

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The war game practiced tight military cooperation between the Russian and Chinese armies – and not only in combating terror. Those sources pointed to four novel manifestations:
1. Chinese Air Force and special units will enter Russian territory for the first time and be activated in conjunction with Russian units from Chelyabinsk in the Russian Urals [...]

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Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has cemented his growing reputation as a belligerent leader whose preferred method of diplomacy is confrontation.
Last week, he ordered the resumption of regular flights across the globe of Russian military planes capable of dropping nuclear bombs.
As he made that announcement, President Putin watched a joint military exercise between Russian [...]

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China and Pakistan are discussing an agreement similar to the one India has reached with the United States on civilian nuclear cooperation to maintain the regional security balance, sources said on Sunday.
Though taken aback by the finalisation of the 123 Agreement, China still hopes that opposition within India will ultimately prevent it from being operationalised. [...]

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