Some autocratic governments are challenging U.S. policies and silencing domestic dissent. But their increased spending raises the risk of inflation, which could erode popular support.
But some of the most obvious effects are in countries whose leaders are most hostile to the United States: Venezuela’s populist President Hugo Chavez, Iran’s stringent Islamic rulers and Russia’s growing [...]

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Obama’s feel-good approach puts nuclear deterrent at risk
More worrisome, Mr. Obama has called for de-alerting all of our 450 Minuteman III missiles - taking their warheads off and putting them in storage. This would effectively eliminate this critically important leg of our nuclear Triad. It would make it useless in a crisis, as it would [...]

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Growing competition for oil may escalate to something as hot and dangerous as nuclear proliferation
The geopolitical implications of this gathering crisis for world oil supply 2010-15 are immense. The risk of further military interventions and conflicts in the Middle East is clearly high. Total world oil reserves are estimated at 2.5-2.9 trillion barrels, of which [...]

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A former head of Mossad has warned that Israel has 12 months in which to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme or risk coming under nuclear attack itself. He also hinted that Israel might have to act sooner if Barack Obama wins the US presidential election.
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Iran ready to strike at Israel’s nuclear heart
Times Online, UK - [...]

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As drylands get drier and violence grows, new crises resembling Darfur will arise.
The world will experience a growing risk of conflicts over food, energy and water in coming years. The population rises each year by about 80 million people, with most of the increase in impoverished regions already facing environmental stress. Climate change, water scarcity [...]

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Infectious diseases are emerging as a major threat in China’s quake zone, with injured and traumatised victims most at risk, the health minister was quoted as saying Wednesday.
As summer approaches, the warmer weather creates optimal conditions for epidemics, with survivors of the massive May 12 quake particularly vulnerable to disease, the China Daily reported, citing [...]

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In other words, you’re basically saying that things are not as they seem? That Iran is like a dog whose bark is worse than his bite?
There’s something to that. My assessment is that contrary to the impression that has been formed, Iran’s options for responding are limited and weak.
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On Israel’s 60th birthday, the Jewish state may be readying for its biggest fight yet. What that could mean for the next American president.
Arguably, it is at even greater risk now than it was then. Very soon now Israel could be engaged in the biggest battle for existence it has ever faced in its not-so-short-any-longer [...]

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WHEN Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, was asked to ponder the future of the world before an audience of powerful businessmen and politicians, at a meeting in Switzerland earlier this year, he could have chosen any topic he liked. What he focused on was both a hoary old favourite, and a newly popular preoccupation, of [...]

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The United States Air Force had considered a plan to drop nuclear bombs on China during a confrontation over Taiwan in 1958 but it was overruled, declassified documents showed Wednesday.
When he learned about it, President Dwight Eisenhower instead required the Air Force to initially use conventional bombs against Chinese forces if the crisis escalated, according [...]

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CIA chief Michael Hayden charged Wednesday that China was beefing up its military with “remarkable speed and scope,” calling the buildup “troubling.”
The Chinese, he said, had fully absorbed the lessons of both Gulf wars, developing and integrating advanced weaponry into a modern military force.
Hayden said while Beijing’s new capabilities could pose a risk to US [...]

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Now it seems that the immediate impact of a space war, at least on the US military, would be limited. “We have built up such high redundancy to space assets that we’re almost invulnerable,” says Geoff Forden of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who assessed the risk posed by China to the US. He found [...]

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Arab and Israeli rivals are preparing for the possibility of an imminent major war while simultaneously trying to talk down the rising tensions.
Israeli officials on Thursday attempted to ease the speculation of a new military confrontation prompted by reports of military preparations, deployments and drills, with assurances that Israel has no plans to attack Syria.
“Israel [...]

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AT AGE 42, Niall Ferguson has become one of the world’s most famous and provocative historians, with high-profile posts ranging from Harvard to Oxford to Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Born in Scotland and educated at Oxford, he is not only a prolific author of books, including Colossus (2004), an examination of American empire, and The [...]

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