The bottom line is that corporations are finding it much more difficult and costly to make a buck in China. Others may follow Google’s lead and leave the country entirely. Or, they may complain to their governments to apply diplomatic pressure. The end result could be an ugly trade war, which would hurt all parties [...]

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The worst-case scenario, for both the government and business, would be an economic crash that reduced the rate of annual GDP growth to below 5%. This could lead to a rise in political instability (and possibly even regime change), as the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party rests on its ability to deliver rapid economic [...]

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Israel is always on high alert when it comes to the potential for war with its neighbors, particularly the two groups viewed as proxies of Iran and Syria: Hamas and Hezbollah. Though neither seems particularly eager for a full-blown conflict with Israel at present, defense analysts see a number of developments that could lead to [...]

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There’s a new ice age between Beijing and Washington, between the two centers that many already see welded together as Chimerica, a new “G-2″ global power. What has got into China?
For a start, the Chinese government is brimming with a self-confidence bordering on arrogance. The Chinese see themselves as the winners of the global economic [...]

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Over the last 30 years, the US financial system has grown to proportions threatening the global economic order. This column suggests a ‘doomsday cycle’ has infiltrated the economic system and could lead to disaster after the next financial crisis. It says the best route to creating a safer system is to have very large and [...]

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A sharp slowdown in China is one of the biggest threats to future prosperity, the World Economic Forum said in its latest assessment of the risks that mankind faces.
A slowdown could lead to serious unemployment and social unrest in China and badly hit the country’s trading partners, as well as global commodity and capital markets,…
Chinese [...]

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Nevertheless, if people who borrowed money could not pay it back, China might need to scramble to raise cash to keep its banks above water. In that case, it might sell a chunk of its $2.2 trillion in U.S. debt — which would likely drive up interest rates in the U.S.
How so? Such selling [...]

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If Israel and Hizbullah ever go to battle again, it may lead to a full-out war between the Jewish State and Lebanon. According to the Washington Post, Hizbullah’s rearmament deep in northern Lebanon would force Israel to fight the terrorist army far past the border.
Israel’s Next Hizbullah War May Escalate Into Fight With Lebanon [...]

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Lind offers specific estimates of what it would take to seize North Korea’s nuclear facilities and disarm the entire North Korean defense establishment as if the collapse of the North Korean regime were almost certain and the U.S. had to lead the charge to fill the vacuum. The study offers a raft of figures on [...]

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The governments decades old diplomatic campaign against Taiwan, whose independence is protected by American armed forces, has escalated into dangerous territory.
… If the U.S. continues refusing (usually) to be intimidated [stop selling arms to Taiwan] , this escalation of threats could lead to war.
China: The Rise Of The Admirals

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