Russian President Vladimir Putin and his anointed successor, Dmitri Medvedev, were in Bulgaria on Jan. 17. The point of the trip was to put the crowning touch on a Russian effort to hook Europe into Moscow’s energy orbit. After a touch of bitter rhetoric about how Russia and Bulgaria were “doomed to be partners,” Putin [...]

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The world is on the verge of a water crisis. As the global economy and the world’s population continue to expand, we are becoming a much thirstier planet. It is important to realise just how much water we need to make the various aspects of our economy work.
Every litre of petrol requires up to 2.5litres [...]

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Uncertain central Asian gas supplies have emerged as the largest threat to an EU scheme to provide an alternative to Russian gas following a month-long stand-off between Turkmenistan and Iran, analysts say.
The Nabucco gas pipeline project is designed to diversify the European Union’s supplies but ironically places the bloc’s energy security in the hands of [...]

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Recently, three interconnected events have occurred. One is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reinstatement of the “cold war” against America while openly siding with Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In actuality this alliance has lasted for years with Putin only recently indicating dissatisfaction with America as the reason for the alliance.
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FP: We’ve gathered here today to discuss the Iran-Russia-China alignment. I think a good place to start is with Russia sending nuclear fuel to Iran. What do you make of this development?
Schippert: The 11-shipment Russian supply underway of 80 tons of enriched uranium nuclear fuel for the Russian-built 1,000 megawatt light water reactor is a [...]

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Russia has sent two long-range bombers to the Bay of Biscay, off the French and Spanish Atlantic coasts, to test-fire missiles in what Moscow billed as its biggest naval exercise in the area since the Soviet era.
Firing missiles off the coastline of two Nato members is the latest in a series of Kremlin moves flexing [...]

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China Reluctant to Support Sanctions Against Iran’s Nuclear Activities
Voice of America - 1 hour ago
China’s Foreign Ministry Tuesday sought the middle ground on the Iranian nuclear dispute, calling for more efforts from all sides to resolve the issue …
China expects Iran nuclear issue to be settled through diplomatic … Xinhua
China says Iran nuke issue [...]

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My colleague Andrew Cochran’s post on the threat (or not) to the Panama Canal seems to me to miss the larger picture of the threat from Latin America.
That threat is contained in the recent statements by Adm. James Stavridis, head of the U.S. Southern Command at a recent CSIS conference.
Stavridis warned that “the connectivity between [...]

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Stock markets in Asia continue to plummet on concerns about a US recession and a slowdown in China’s economic growth. By Bruce Einhorn more…

Markets Crash across Europe: Experts Warn of Stock Market Hysteria
Banking Crisis: WestLB Reports Billion Euro Loss as German Stocks Plunge

Flashing red - Why the markets tumbled
IT APPEARS to be an old-fashioned case [...]

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“[Bush] a Liar, Cheat, Murderer and… Expert in Barbaric State Terrorism”
The recent visit by U.S. President Bush to the Gulf evoked harsh reactions from Qatari columnists, who maligned Bush personally and castigated him over his policy. In their columns, they called Bush a “despised guest” and rejected his anti-Iran statements. They also stated that [...]

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