Natural Resources

Battle to secure oil, rare minerals and the water – Libya’s Vast Borders Still a No-Man’s Land for Most:

May 21, 2013

Source: Think Africa Press On the outskirts of Ubari, a remote outpost in Libya’s southwest near the Algerian border, armed militia from the Tebu tribe speed across the desert in Toyota trucks towards the sprawling Sharara oil fields. They, along fighters from the town of Zintan further north, are spearheading efforts – under the auspices of [...]

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Expert: Withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan may become pretext for U.S. to establish bases in Caspian region

May 18, 2013

Source: Trends.AZ Withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan could become the pretext for the Americans to establish long-term bases in the Caspian region, Director General of the Caspian Cooperation Institute, Sergei Mikheev believes. “Per se, the withdrawal of troops could become the pretext for the Americans create long-term bases, and for consolidation in the region [...]

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After Fighting Over Mountains, India and China Lock Horns in the Indian Ocean

May 17, 2013

Editor’s Note: China and India strategic positioning in eastern Ladakh is over mineral resources. The next strategic battle for raw materials and hydrocarbons whether it be diplomacy or conflict will be West/ East Africa, Horn of Africa, Bay of Bengal, south china sea. The powers[Government-Corporations] at play who control the Indo-Pacific sea lines of communication and chokepoints through [...]

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Energy security, power and technology

May 14, 2013

Editor’s Note: Major U.S. military operations/actions to protect oil Source: Fuel Fix A team of journalism graduate students has published a detailed project on energy security, geopolitics and technology that debunks several national myths about oil. The team of nine graduate students at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism spent three months investigating “vulnerabilities in U.S. [...]

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Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline geopolitics driving Syria conflict

May 13, 2013

Source: Guardian [...] Yet the conflict is fast taking on international dimensions, with unconfirmed allegations that rebel forces might have used chemical weapons following hot on the heels of US-backed Israeli air strikes on Syrian military targets last weekend. But the US, Israel and other external powers are hardly honest brokers. Behind the facade of humanitarian concern, familiar interests are [...]

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China’s Strategic Energy Security Pivot : Myanmar Pipelines to Benefit China

May 12, 2013

Source: WSJ Two pipelines in the highlands of northeast Myanmar will soon begin pumping oil and gas into China, representing a major step in Beijing’s quest for energy security. At the end of a bumpy road here, a 45-minute ride from the nearest town, Cheng Chong Zhen, a 40-year-old Chinese electrician working for state-owned energy [...]

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The Iran route for India to access Central Asia, Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea mineral and energy resources

May 10, 2013

Editor’s Note: Or a strategic pivot against China-Pakistan ? Source: FC India has been looking for an access route to Afghanistan through Iran for long; more so after it began constructing the Delaram-Zeranj road in Afghanistan. Upgrading of the Chabahar port on Iran’s eastern-most point and building a road connection to Zahedan city and then [...]

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Total re-conquest of Mali:Western powers are circling their wagons

May 9, 2013

Source: AT Russia, China grapple with Mali’s future [...] Indeed, the western powers are circling their wagons. The Pentagon disclosed that its C-17 military aircraft have been transferring French troops and equipment and it is considering deploying aerial refueling tankers. The US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the US is providing intelligence. Italy is sending [...]

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UWSA rebels caught up in regional chess match for control of trade routes and resources in the Golden Triangle

May 2, 2013

Source: Irrawaddy China did not sell helicopter gunships to ethnic Wa paramilitaries in eastern Burma, Wa sources speaking to The Irrawaddy claimed this week. The alleged deal was reported by Jane’s Intelligence Review on Monday, citing Burmese government and Wa sources. But as the Burmese military steps up its offensive against ethnic rebels in Shan [...]

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US & France Intervene in Mali To Protect Land & Resource Grabs, Not Because of Al Qaeda

April 29, 2013

Source: Black Agenda Report US & France Intervene in Mali To Protect Land & Resource Grabs, Not Because of Al Qaeda The US has boots on the ground and manned & unmanned aircraft in the skies of Mali, to answer supposed threats to US national security poised by Al Qeda. If you believe that, you [...]

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Yemen – Saudi Arabia Oil conflict

April 24, 2013

Source: Yemen Post Egyptian newspaper, al-Masry al-Yom reported this week on what it is foreseeing will become Yemen – Saudi Arabia new Oil conflict. Until 2012, Yemeni officials’ rhetoric revolve around the accepted belief that the poorest country of the Arabian Peninsula was running out of oil and gas. It is important to note that [...]

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France extends its mission in Mali

April 23, 2013

Source: New Europe According to the Euronews, France’s parliament decided to extend its military mission in Mali. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that French operation in Mali had been a success. However, the Islamist rebels continue the attacks in the north of the country. On 6 April the French government announced its intention to keep 1,000 [...]

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Resource Wars: The Coming Global Explosion

April 22, 2013

Source: TomDispatch Brace yourself. You may not be able to tell yet, but according to global experts and the U.S. intelligence community, the earth is already shifting under you. Whether you know it or not, you’re on a new planet, a resource-shock world of a sort humanity has never before experienced. Two nightmare scenarios — [...]

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MALI: “WAR IS THE CONTINUATION OF POLICY BY OTHER MEANS”

April 20, 2013

Editor’s Note: The terrorism angle for military intervention into Mali is highly suspicious. The NATO military mission to destabilize Libya was a strategic catalyst for mass amounts of weapon caches to be smuggled/trafficked throughout North Africa to Syria. As I have stated before, the U.S. AFRICOM/NATO backed French military intervention into Mali/West Africa is to establish a containment defense policy. A strategic [...]

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War in Mali: Geopolitics, France, China, Economic Conflicts,Terrorism, Energy Security, Elites and Sea Lines of Communication

April 16, 2013

Source: JTW The Republic of Mali witnessed a number of military and security developments, with the onset of 2013. French Army launched military operations into Northern Mali, where the fundamentalist groups took ground, so that it could render help to the African forces. In fact, social unrest in this region has historical roots in the demands [...]

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China cozies up to Iceland in race for Arctic resources

April 15, 2013

Source: CSM It is clear why Iceland is interested in China: the Arctic nation’s prime minister is currently inBeijing to sign a free trade agreement that will boost Icelandic fish exports more than somewhat. But why is China so interested in Iceland? Perhaps because the Arctic is shaping up to be one of the world’s future hotspots, as the [...]

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China’s new stealth wars

April 14, 2013

Source:Livemint In the way China made land grabs across the Himalayas in the 1950s by launching furtive encroachments, it is now waging separate stealth wars—without firing a single shot—to change the status quo in the South and East China Seas, on the line of control with India, and on international river flows. Although China has [...]

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The Great Game Over Burma

April 11, 2013

Source: irrawaddy The recent political opening in Burma surprised many neighboring countries, including China. The government’s reforms have no doubt received welcome applause, but for Burma’s traditional friends and foes, they have also created room for new competition in the country. The rules of the game have changed quickly in Burma, and the world is watching [...]

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Korea is the focus, but this crisis is all about disputed islands and the security of oil supplies

April 10, 2013

Source: Guardian The “crisis” on the 38th parallel has little to do with the two Koreas: it’s about oil and gas for China, the prelude to an energy grab that will safeguard the expansion of the Chinese economy for decades to come. Six months ago Taiwanese and Japanese coastguard cutters were drenching each other in spray from water cannon, [...]

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North Africa Instability Affects European Energy Security

April 9, 2013

Source: Worldpress The North African region has played a decisive role over the past few years in shaping global political agendas. It is the birthplace of the Arab Spring (Tunisia) and the region often most affected by Islamist terrorist groups in the wider MENA area. Terrorism impacts the energy security of the European Union, and [...]

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Russia’s Strategic Pivot to Asia Pacific

April 8, 2013

Source: SAAG Russia’s strategic pivot to the Asia Pacific indicated in his address at the APEC Meet in September 2012 at Vladivostok has all the ingredients of emerging as a strategic game-changer in the highly militarised region dominated by any number of conflictual flashpoints from North Korea down to the South China Sea disputes. Russia’s [...]

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France to keep 1,000 soldiers in Mali permanently

April 5, 2013

Source: Reuters UK France has proposed keeping a permanent force of 1,000 French troops in Mali to fight armed Islamist militants, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday. Fabius, on a visit to Bamako, said France was pushing ahead with plans to reduce its 4,000-strong military presence from the end of this month but planned to keep a [...]

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Asia’s scramble for resources

April 4, 2013

Source: KH Competition for strategic natural resources ― including water, mineral ores, and fossil fuels ― has always played a significant role in shaping the terms of the international economic and political order. But now that competition has intensified, as it encompasses virtually all of Asia, where growing populations and rapid economic development over the [...]

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Central Asia: between Russia and China

April 2, 2013

Source: TZ Central Asia is home to some 65 million people living in five countries: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Since they gained independence just over 20 years ago, the political landscape has remained depressing. The region has rampant corruption, ethnic tensions and conflict and border disputes. Human rights violations are widespread, while civil [...]

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Now a Chinese pivot to Russia

April 1, 2013

Source: India Today The new Chinese President Xi Jinping has wasted little time in conducting his own pivot – to Russia – in response to the much heralded American turn to Asia. Geopolitically, the new Chinese Russian entente harkens to the World Island of Sir Halford McKinder, which would dominate the world because of its [...]

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U.N. aims to approve Congo “search and destroy” brigades

March 28, 2013

Source: Reuters The U.N. Security Council aims to approve on Thursday the creation of a special force that would carry out “targeted offensive operations” to wipe out armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, council diplomats said. The 15-member Security Council was still negotiating on Wednesday a draft resolution to establish the so-called intervention [...]

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The dark side of energy resources

March 27, 2013

Source: SG “Of course it’s about oil; we can’t really deny that,” said Gen. John Abizaid, former head of US Central Command and Military Operations in Iraq, in 2007. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan too agreed, writing in his memoir, “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the [...]

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America’s AirSea Battle, Arctic Style

March 24, 2013

Source: Diplomat Call them American strategy’s Odd Couple. Working together, the U.S. Coast Guard and Air Force could be the best defenders of U.S. policy in the Arctic Ocean, a theater that will expand and contract each year and where threats will — cross your fingers — remain modest in scope. Light combat forces patrolling [...]

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Turkey takes a big leap forward over energy security

March 24, 2013

Source: National Last month I wrote how Turkey needed to rebuild constructive relations with its energy-rich neighbours. Two dramatic announcements later, and it seems to have done just that. But big obstacles still lie in the way of improving Turkish energy security: Baghdad, a Mediterranean island, and the Kremlin. On Thursday, Abdullah Öcalan, the leader [...]

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