Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — There are few greater oil powers than Iraq, and few more vulnerable entities than Iraq’s northern autonomous region of Kurdistan. So, how is it that Western energy majors are abandoning Iraq for Kurdistan? The answer lies in a key lesson of Arab Spring: Western companies, burned in Libya, would […]
Sol W. Sanders So now we know what President Obama’s trip to Israel was all about: There was more than a little puzzlement. He had waited through almost five years of his first administration to visit America’s only trusted ally in the Mideast. He had made a grand tour of the region early on, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Norman Bailey It has been said that history repeats itself, first as tragedy and then as farce. The interminable European economic/financial crisis neatly illustrates that saying. Mishandled from the beginning by a clueless set of politicians and bureaucrats, the most recent episode descends into a melancholy comedy of intentional and unintentional […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — “The rise of the South is unprecedented in its speed and scale…when dozens of countries and billions of people move up the development ladder as they are doing today, it has a direct impact on wealth creation and broader human progress,” cites the glowing introduction to the UN Development […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com The tenth anniversary this week of the opening salvos in the American “shock-and-awe” campaign against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq reminds us of the “axis-of-evil” speech delivered by George W. Bush in his state-of-the-union address on Jan. 20, 2002, a year after he was inaugurated. No one would dispute Bush’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Brian M Downing The ten years since the outset of the Second Gulf War have provided time to assess the geopolitical consequences it has brought, though a fuller judgment will come only after many more years. Putting aside the justifications and criticisms from the war period, we might look at how […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Brian M Downing The Syrian rebellion is bringing new security concerns to many countries, especially Israel. Under the Assads, Syria had been cowed by Israeli military superiority. Syria’s future, its intentions and capabilities, are in doubt. Israel cannot determine the outcome of events there – no state or group of states […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Alexander Maistrovoy Following the prayer in the Moscow Cathedral Mosque, during his visit in February 2010, Hamas leader Khaled Masha’al admitted that in the Council of Muftis of Russia it felt like home. While the statement probably pleased the Russian leaders, in reality these words should have alerted them. Whether it […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com The Iranian Navy’s flotilla will provide maritime protection to Iranian merchant ships in open seas in areas far away from Iranian coast, Iran’s Navy chief, Adm. Habibollah Sayyari announced on Feb. 25. The following day Sayyari said the 24th fleet, including a destroyer and the Khark helicopter […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com When Kim Jong-Un and the North Korean propaganda machine hint they’ve got startling new weapons for striking terror into Americans thousands of miles away, they may not be talking about just their long-range missiles. How about drones, possibly the most talked about new death-dealer in the inventory of […]
