A WSJ op-ed on the US' Taiwan policy.

Chinese StraitsThe last thing the world needs at this roiling moment in history is for a crisis to erupt across the Strait of Taiwan. Events in Iraq, Iran and North Korea are keeping America busy enough, thank you ( Read more... )

Surprising no one has mentioned it so far... the British are threatening to back out, there is still a huge democratic deficit and the EU has practically no political legitimacy to most of its citizens, and with an upcoming expansion of 10 former communist countries... well, things aren't looking so good ( Read more... )

19 November 2003

by Dr. George Friedman
The Unnoticed Alignment: Iran and the United States in Iraq

SummaryIranian President Mohammad Khatami has quietly announced his ( Read more... )

Citigroup unit closes out all dollar positionsUntil recently, Citibank had been one of the biggest dollar bulls in the forex market. No longer. Citigroup has closed out its entire dollar position. In a note to clients, Citibank cited three specific reasons: the U.S. decision to impose temporary quotas on textile imports from China, the dollar's ( Read more... )

No big surprises here."Russian forces are so poorly equipped they could not launch an offensive war, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying Tuesday ( Read more... )

I read the last post and replyed and hoolifan suggested I post a new post, rather than reply. I felt that the shift of troops from South Korea to Iraq was relevant to the "turning point in Iraq" because we only have limited number of troops unless we start the draft again and that's a whole 'nother topic by itself. It made it seem like we're going to beef ( Read more... )

Bush vs. the WTO. Who will back down?

"Sources" say it will be Bush.Whatever your opinion on free trade, don't you think there are valid reasons for protecting domestic production of essential materials, like, say, steel? (Perhaps a bad example because it doesn't seem to be scarce.) If you are reliant on imports for certain goods, doesn't it ( Read more... )

Question: Has anyone else heard about the so-called Geneva Understandings being promoted by former Shin-Bet czar Ami Ayalon and Palestinian professor Sari Nussibeh? And if you have, do we think that it has a probability of success? There has been mention that the plan is part of the discussion occuring between Ariel Sharon and Vladimir Putin in ( Read more... )

Brief piece on the Iran agreement from the WSJ Editorial Page (may require registration or subscription - not sure ( Read more... )

THE STRATFOR WEEKLY
16 October 2003
by Dr. George Friedman

The Next Phase of the War

SummaryWashington is reformulating its war plans in Iraq -- something ( Read more... )