In “What Causes War?” Greg Cashman provides a new synthesis of a rapidly expanding field. His analysis of international conflict starts at the level of individual psychology and proceeds through levels of rational decision making to large-scale theories of international systems. Cashman covers topics such as human aggression and psychological explanations for war; governmental decision [...]

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This course focuses on strategic and political implications of ongoing trends in global energy markets, particularly markets for crude oil and natural gas. The course examines the world’s major oil and natural gas producing regions: the Middle East, the Caspian Region, Russia, Venezuela, and the North Sea. Producer-consumer relationships are considered for China, India, Japan, [...]

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The military’s reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq, The Associated Press has learned.
And new Defense Department figures obtained by The AP show that the Air Force more than doubled its monthly use of drones between January [...]

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The definitive history of the role of oil in modern warfare has not been written, but a lot can be learned from Robert Zubrin’s new book, “Energy Victory.”
“For nearly a century,” Zubrin writes, “control of oil has been the decisive factor determining victory or defeat in the struggle for world dominance.” That was true in [...]

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Venezuela’s decision to assume majority control of its lucrative oil and gas industry dominated headlines in Latin American energy news in 2007, with leftist President Hugo Chavez taking a hard-line stance against companies unwilling to agree to new terms.
The highly coveted Orinoco oil field — Venezuela’s most bountiful — was at the center of much [...]

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The Israel Defense Forces method of fighting during the Second Lebanon war “played into Hezbollah’s hands,” according to a report on the war written by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
The report blasted the decision to launch a major ground operation only at the tail end of the war, and that the tactics used [...]

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A Russian-Indian joint venture bought a manufacturing facility in India so it can double production of its supersonic cruise missiles, the company said.
BrahMos bought the plant from state-run Kerala Hightech Industries, allowing BrahMos to increase its annual missile production to 50, RIA-Novosti reported Monday.
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NKorea vows strong military, economy in 2008, no mention of …
AFP - 16 hours ago
The United States, Japan and South Korea — members of the negotiations along with Russia, China and the North itself — expressed disappointment at the …
N Korea silent on nuclear disarmament The Age
NK Greets New Year With No Explanations About [...]

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Changes in the international balance of power have taken place faster than some American “futurists” had expected. Who would have ever imagined that China and India could develop at such surprising speed? Who would have thought that China’s (official) foreign exchange reserve could jump to be the world’s No. 1? Who would have thought that [...]

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If the deadlock in the UN Security Council over the final status of Kosovo signals any future trends, it is that Russia has finally dispensed with any lingering beliefs that it should work with the United States to set the global agenda.
One of the legacies that Vladimir Putin bequeaths to his successor is Russia’s changed [...]

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Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said on Tuesday China now had 1,328 ballistic missiles aimed at the self-ruled island, up by more than a third from a previous estimate, further threatening stability in the Taiwan Strait.
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It is an interesting perspective, that of America needing ‘defending’, but it is one that John Bolton holds to thoroughly in “Surrender is Not an Option.” Surrounded by terrorists, ‘Islamofascists’, the old guard complacency of the “EUroids”, a resurgent Russian Empire, a belligerent if not hostile China, and almost above all else the two largest [...]

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