Remote, forbidding, and volatile, the Caspian Sea long tantalized the world with its vast oil reserves. But outsiders, blocked by the closed Soviet system, couldn’t get to it. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and a wholesale rush into the region erupted. Along with oilmen, representatives of the world’s leading nations flocked to the Caspian for [...]

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November/December 2007

Presidents for Life

September/October 2007

The World’s Worst Forest Fires
The World’s Worst Airports
The World’s Healthiest Countries
Sputnik Plus 50
Five Population Trends to Watch
Europe’s Most Inflated Real Estate Markets
Wanted, Dead or Alive
The World’s Largest Hedge Funds

July/August 2007

The Iraq Turning Points That Weren’t
King for a Day or Two
The World’s Most [...]

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Serious challenges are posed by the current chaos in Pakistan. Could they spill over into Afghanistan? What about Pakistan’s nuclear program? FSM Contributing Editor Douglas Farah looks into the possibilities, and is not encouraged by what he sees.
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The inner cabinet met Wed. Nov. 7, to discuss the shortened timeline estimate for Iran to attain a nuclear weapons capacity, based on new intelligence information. IDF intelligence chief Brig. Yossi Baidatz told the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee Tuesday that Iran would have this capacity by late 2009, whereas the previous estimate was [...]

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ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.
Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.
By The Timesonline
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Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency over the weekend, precipitating a wave of arrests, the suspension of certain media operations and the intermittent disruption of communications in and out of Pakistan. As expected, protests erupted throughout Pakistan by Nov. 5, with clashes between protesting lawyers and police reported in Lahore, [...]

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The Sunlight Foundation released a map of where nearly 1,500 2008 House defense earmarks are going. The map uses Google Earth to pinpoint each earmark’s destination and includes data on its recipient and dollar value. All told, 2008 defense earmarks (money lawmakers direct to individual projects) total over $5.1 billion with the largest [...]

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Venezuela and Brazil are not competing in a regional arms race, despite suspicions voiced in Brasilia, an influential Venezuelan general said in an interview published Monday. Although both countries have announced billion-dollar increases in military spending recently, in Venezuela the reason has more to do with US sanctions than any hostility to neighboring countries, [...]

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Hizbullah exercise sends ‘message’ to Jewish state
Daily Star – Lebanon, Lebanon - 17 hours ago
He said that since the summer 2006 war with Israel, the Jewish state would have gained much tactical intelligence on Hizbullah’s structure and capabilities, …
Hizbullah turns up the heat on Beirut Jerusalem Post
Hezbollah Reports Largest-Ever Military Exercise theTrumpet.com
IAF drops flares over Lebanon after [...]

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According to the main guidelines of the long term strategy outlined by Lula, the Brazilian defense industry must again take the lead in the export of missiles, aircrafts and several different kinds of equipment. “We must convince ourselves that we can become a world power this century,” pointed out Lula.
Although no details were given about [...]

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