Russia and the West are losing each other yet again. The magnetic attraction and repulsion between the two has been going on for centuries. Indeed, historians have counted as many as 25 of these cycles since the reign of Tsar Ivan III.
In the past, however, the Kremlin’s sharp anti-Western turns were reversed — usually out [...]

read more....

China and Saudi Arabia have signed a declaration to strengthen strategic cooperation during a visit to Saudi Arabia by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and likely successor to President Hu Jintao.
Read More…

Chinese dragon in Mideast politics
Washington Times, DC - 4 hours ago
The relationship between China and Saudi Arabia, as well as with other Gulf countries, are based [...]

read more....

In a myriad of foreign policy speeches, both Dmitry Medvedev and Sergei Lavrov have recently broached sizeable ideas on the transformation of the trans-Atlantic space, claiming that as the European civilization’s dominance in the world weakens, time has come to re-think the relationship between Russia, Europe, and the United States, and a new international architecture [...]

read more....

Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Friday the long journey to better ties with Taiwan was off to a good start, after the rivals signed historic agreements to set up direct flights and boost tourism.
Seeking to put aside decades of hostility that made the China-Taiwan relationship one of the world’s most dangerous potential military [...]

read more....

President Sarkozy seeks a rapprochement with NATO while strengthening the European Union’s defense dimension. France’s allies, including the United States and Germany, have welcomed this. But Sarkozy faces strong domestic resistance to changing France’s relationship to NATO. By Leo Michel more…

The Third World War: Why NATO Troops Can’t Deliver Peace in Afghanistan
Trans-Atlantic Identity Crisis: NATO [...]

read more....

They called him “Angel.” He was the highest-ranking outside contact for the Colombian guerilla organization FARC. More and more details are now emerging that demonstrate the close relationship between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the jungle terrorists. By Jens Glüsing more…

The FARC Computer: German Left Wing May Have Ties to Colombian Extremists
No Ideology, Just Money [...]

read more....

Since the late 1990s, there has been a flood of research on natural resources and civil war. This article reviews 14 recent cross-national econometric studies, and many qualitative studies, that cast light on the relationship between natural resources and civil war. It suggests that collectively they imply four underlying regularities: first, oil increases the likelihood [...]

read more....