It is hardly a coincidence, he suggests, that ancient Athens found itself doing battle with the Persian tyranny of Xerxes, while the modern Western world faces a stand-off with the mullahs’ Iran. In his view of history, these are simply related chapters in a single narrative: the contest between liberal and enlightened societies whose locus [...]

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Russia’s strong show of support for China suggests that the two states might intervene in the event that anti-government protests broke out in one of the SCO member states in Central Asia. The possibility of such unrest in the region is not so far-fetched. The state of Uzbekistan’s economy has some observers believing that Tashkent [...]

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Thousands of soldiers were seen in Lhasa on Thursday amid reports of a huge military build-up as China admitted for the first time it had shot Tibetan protesters.
State-controlled Xinhua news agency reported four people were shot and wounded last weekend by police in a Tibetan area of southwestern China, as the Dalai Lama expressed [...]

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The sensational arrest of Russian businessman and international arms dealer Viktor Bout may trigger one of the most outrageous spying and political scandals of the recent decade.
The man is accused of supplying arms to terrorist organizations and making arms deliveries to countries under U.N. embargoes. Some even claim Bout acted with the approval, and under [...]

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China has purchased advanced anti-ship cruise missiles from Russia, posing a major threat to U.S. aircraft carriers and other warships, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said last week.
“It is of concern to us in the Pacific Command, principally because of People’s Liberation Army, navy and air force developments,” said Adm. Tim Keating, [...]

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Just days before Taiwan’s presidential vote, a top Chinese military officer said Beijing’s concern over the island’s independence movement is spurring China’s military buildup.
In an interview with Germany’s Spiegel Online, naval officer Chen Zhou said: “We will defend our sovereignty with all means. If, in fact, we are forced to stop a secession attempt (in [...]

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It is the kind of stunt that has many fearing the worst: Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders plans to release a film about Islam. Politicians worldwide are already trying to stop the project, before a single scene has been shown. Critics fear the film could lead to bloodshed in many countries. By Henryk M. Broder [...]

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