A European Military

Well, not exactly. But it's close. It seems that Britain and France will be sharing aircraft carriers if all goes according to a plan currently being drafted by Cameron and Sarkozy. The details must be fascinating as I'm not entirely sure how such a plan would work out. I think that it must presume peace for the foreseeable future and that the only reason either power even needs carriers is for peacetime power projection and to not look like a couple of dunces next to the other world powers. It's a gamble and I'mnot entirely certain how it's going to work out.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3118476/UK-and-France-tobr-share-aircraft-carriers.html

Lessons from China's economic ascendecy

I thought this article really summed up the important facts regarding China's overtaking of Japan as the world's number 2 economy. A number of lessons are going to be learned from China's rise, and even more mis-lessons are going to be taken from it as well. The most important mis-lesson is: Authoritarianism works.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/29/AR2010082902898.html

More on Venezuela

Iconic Photos has the banned image of Venezuela's Morgue. Read and see it here.

Venezuela more deadly than Iraq or Mexico

Well, according to this article it is. The interesting difference between the two are that in Iraq and Mexico, the murder rates are accompanied by political instability whereas in Venezuela, the government has a much tighter control over its opposition.

Read about it here.

The Taiwan-China issue

Is the Taiwan-China dispute heating up? Recent releases from the US military have stated a growing concern for China's military endeavors and concerns over the sovereignty of Taiwan is growing. This short article on what the USA needs to do if it is to avoid conflict with China over Taiwan and I whole-hearted agree. The primary problem is American ambiguity over the status of Taiwan and by not committing to its sovereignty the USA is inviting China to take a chance to regain its lost province.

5 barriers to a Russian-Western partnership

I thought this was an interesting read coming out of the Moscow Times. Essentially it works though the main barriers between Russian and western cooperation, highlighting a number of items which this blog has covered. Such as, the NATO expansion in eastern Europe and attempts by the USA to dominate the former states of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan or Georgia for example.

Read the article here.

Arms Sales and Peace in the Middle East

This article caught my attention over at RealClearWorld.com.

To sum it up, it details the pending sale of arms to Saudi Arabia as part of a new US policy to build up regional alliances to counter an Iranian threat. It also makes mention of the initial Israeli hostility to such a sale, fearing that the US weapons could be used against Israel, rather than Iran. However, Israel has backed down its opposition in the face of a new Iranian threat, which it apparently deems far greater.

So it has occurred to me that the latest US solution to the middle eastern problem is to create a common enemy and a sort of little entente in the middle east to counter what it regards as a threat to its interests abroad.

However things aren't so pleasant in the middle east for such a 'little entente' to work out so smoothly. Recently, US-Turkish relations are souring over issues like the recent flotilla incident and the recurring Armenian Genocide bill. And in Iraq, the situation is threatening to prevent US withdrawal, after all, does the United States truly want a weak neighbor on the border with Iran? In order to prevent the problem which plagued the original Little Entente, the USA is going to need to have strong nations to work with towards a common goal, as seen with the recent strengthening of Saudi Arabia. But pulling out of Iraq too early could prove fatal and provoke conflict between the two nations which have a past. It is certainly a juggling act the USA has taken on, but whether or not it will pay off remains to be seen.