China’s submarine fleet projects Beijing’s power

Posted by Matt in September 26th, 2008 | no comment

Published in China, Military, Ballistic Missile Submarines, beijing, Boats, China, Cruise-Missiles, Intercontinental Missiles, Land Targets, Nuclear Warheads, radar, Soviet Union, Submarine Fleet, submarines

China’s submarine fleet is now one of the world’s largest with nearly 85 vessels. More than that, old and unreliable boats mostly acquired from the old Soviet Union are being rapidly replaced by modern submarines armed with highly sophisticated anti-ship missiles and radar-dodging cruise missiles able to attack land targets.
Beijing is even building at least [...]

Russia to build missile defence shield and renew nuclear deterrence

Posted by Matt in September 26th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Military, Russia, Air And Space, Armed Forces, Defences, Escalation, Hartford Courant, International Herald Tribune, Medvedev, Miamiherald, Military Actions, Military Chiefs, Military Readiness, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Missile Defence Shield, New York Times, Nuclear Deterrence, Nuclear Deterrent, Nuclear Overhaul, Nuclear War, Renovation, Reuters, Rhetoric, Russia, Russian Leaders, Russiatoday, Sharp, Spheres Of Influence, Star Tribune, Wholesale

In a sharp escalation of military rhetoric, Mr Medvedev ordered a wholesale renovation of Russia’s nuclear deterrence and told military chiefs to draw up plans to reorganise the armed forces by December.
He said that Russia must modernise its nuclear defences within eight years, including the creation of a “system of air and space defence”.
Read More…

Russia [...]

Russia may cut off oil flow to the West

Posted by Matt in September 26th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Europe, Oil, Russia, Agenda, Brussels, Business Source, Daily Telegraph, Friendship, Germany, kremlin, Level Business, Lukoil, moscow, Oil Flow, Pipeline, Poland, Russia, Russian Oil Companies, sanctions, summit

Reports have begun to circulate in Moscow that Russian oil companies are under orders from the Kremlin to prepare for a supply cut to Germany and Poland through the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline. It is believed that executives from lead-producer LUKoil have been put on weekend alert.
“They have been told to be ready to cut off [...]

The new Warsaw Pact

Posted by Matt in September 24th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Europe, Baltic States, New Warsaw Pact, Poland

Today a new kind of Warsaw Pact emerges, this time with a strong anti-Russian and pro-US profile. Poland and the three Baltic republics – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – harmonise their policy with regard to their status as super-ally to the US, their suspicion of Russia and their hidden frustration at “soft” European foreign policy.
Read [...]

Iran is sinking as groundwater resources disappear

Posted by Matt in September 24th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Iran, Water, Chunks, Compaction, Farmland, Groundwater, Groundwater Resources, Insatiable Demand, Iran, Soil, Study Estimates, Water Levels

Iran’s insatiable demand for water, which is being drawn out of aquifers far faster than it can be replenished, is causing large chunks of farmland to sink and buildings to crack, according to a new study.
Estimates suggest the water levels in Iranian aquifers have declined by an average of nearly 1.5 feet (half a [...]

German-US Tensions Grow Over Baltic Pipeline

Posted by Matt in September 22nd, 2008 | no comment

Published in Energy, Europe, Russia, Baltic, Baltic Pipeline, Berlin, Cordula, Diplomat, Fears, Feathers, Germany, Natural Gas Pipeline, Pipeline, Ralf, Russia, Stranglehold, Tensions

A US diplomat has denounced the controversial Baltic natural gas pipeline as “a special arrangement between Germany and Russia.” His remarks have ruffled feathers in Berlin and highlighted growing US-German tensions over relations with Russia. By Ralf Beste and Cordula Meyer more…

Fears over Stability of Georgian Pipeline: ‘Russia Should not Have a Stranglehold on Resources’

Erosion of American Nuclear Superiority

Posted by Matt in September 22nd, 2008 | no comment

Published in Military, U.S., Balance Of Power, Cast Away, Constraints, Credibility, Decades, Deterrents, Drift, Erosion, Fracture, Friends And Foes, Global Balance, global balance of power, Illusion Of Safety, Incentives, Nuclear Superiority, Ramifications, Relative Power, Russia, seoul, Tokyo, Twenty Years

OVER THE next ten to twenty years, the erosion of American nuclear superiority will have major ramifications for the global balance of power. It will place new constraints on our freedom of action and lead our friends and foes alike to doubt the credibility of all instruments of U.S. power. As a result, decades-old alliance [...]

Young and Arab in Land of Mosques and Bars

Posted by Matt in September 21st, 2008 | no comment

Published in Dubai, Middle East, Cairo, Choices, Drinks, Dubai, Egypt, Fate, Freedom, Galal, Girlfriend, Maintenance Man, Mosque, Mosques, Prostitute, Rami, Uae, United Arab Emirates, United Emirates

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — In his old life in Cairo, Rami Galal knew his place and his fate: to become a maintenance man in a hotel, just like his father. But here, in glittering, manic Dubai, he is confronting the unsettling freedom to make his own choices.
Here Mr. Galal, 24, drinks beer almost every [...]

Russian defense budget may rise 25 percent in 2009

Posted by Matt in September 19th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Military, Russia, Battlefield, Cold-War, Council On Foreign Relations, Defence Spending, Defense Budget, Defense Spending, European Union, Latin-America, Military Exercises, Navy, Posture, Profile, Russia, Russian Defense, Russian Lawmakers, Sharp, Telegraph, United States

Russian lawmakers gave preliminary approval Friday to a 25 percent hike in defense spending — a sharp increase for Russia’s military that comes only a month after it crushed Georgia on the battlefield.
The boost in defense spending for 2009 fits in with Russia’s recent defiant posture toward the West, a stance that has seen relations [...]

Iran is just a heartbeat away from the A-bomb

Posted by Matt in September 19th, 2008 | no comment

Published in Iran, Nuclear, Bomb, Capabilities, Daily Telegraph, Heartbeat, Iran, Isfahan, Islamic Republic, Last Friday, Nuclear Bombs, Nuclear Production, Report Indicates That, Simple Matter, Teheran, Uranium Enrichment

Last Friday the Daily Telegraph reported Teheran has surreptitiously removed a sufficient amount of uranium from its nuclear production facility in Isfahan to produce six nuclear bombs. Given Iran’s already acknowledged uranium enrichment capabilities, the Telegraph’s report indicates that the Islamic Republic is now in the late stages of assembling nuclear bombs.
It would be a [...]