Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Saturday 25 August 2012

Eurasia Review: News & Analysis

Link to Eurasia Review


Posted: 24 Aug 2012 11:06 PM PDT
By Anders Åslund Articles on a possible breakup of Eurozone either see it as a mere devaluation (Lachman 2010, Roubini 2011) or reckon that its collapse would amount to a major economic disaster (Buiter 2011, Cliffe et al. 2010, Normand and Sandilya 2011). It seems the latter is more likely. Large imbalances have accumulated between [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 11:01 PM PDT
By Adrien Frossard As Europe remains bogged down in the ongoing economic crisis, it is very likely that the European countries’ armed forces will be affected by this problem. The defence budget is one of the main components of the state budget, which is why governments will certainly be tempted to use defence as an [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:54 PM PDT
By Bhavna Singh In its Annual International Religious Freedom Report released on 30 July 2012, the US held the Chinese government responsible for the wave of self-immolations amongst Tibetans over the recent years (45 deaths so far). It identified that ‘there was marked deterioration’ in the government’s approach in handling religious issues during 2011 and [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:51 PM PDT
By Smruti S. Pattanaik As the date of withdrawal of foreign combat troops from Afghanistan draws nearer, New Delhi is determined to play a larger role in the conflict-prone country, in spite of reports of expanding Taliban influence. While some analysts are emphasising the threat of Taliban and cautioning India to lessen its engagement in [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:48 PM PDT
By Dr Kumar David The Lankan government suddenly and unnecessarily dissolved three provincial councils two months ago. The rumour was that it was testing the waters for early parliamentary elections in 2013 as a precursor to presidential elections before the cut-off date of January 2016. It is beneficial to have a pliant parliament in situ [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:46 PM PDT
By D Suba Chandran The attack on a Pakistan airbase on 15 August 2012 was a grim reminder of an earlier attack on PNS Mehran in May 2011. While a section would consider this to be a tipping point, a cursory look at the reactions to such attacks in the past would indicate that they [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:43 PM PDT
By Rajeev Sharma On March 27, President Asif Ali Zardari set a new world record for Pakistan. As he flew into London from Dushanbe, he became the first elected head of state to have spent maximum time overseas since taking up the reins of office in September 2008. And his critics expected the nation of [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:40 PM PDT
By R. Upadhyay Various historical developments since the annexation of Assam by the British in 1826 suggests that the protracted demographic invasion from erstwhile eastern Bengal to Assam has been one of the major sources of ethnic bitterness and tension in the region. The ongoing Bodo-Muslim clash is an offshoot of this bitterness. Unfortunately, even [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:36 PM PDT
By Zak Rose The recent oil transit deal between Sudan and South Sudan, which is expected to come into effect by the end of this month, does not symbolize a fundamental change in each country’s attitude towards the other, nor will it herald a new era of closer cooperation. While the deal itself will likely [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:34 PM PDT
China’s rapid integration into what is still a Western-dominated international system has challenged official narratives about nations and states. One result of this challenge, argues Christian Wirth, is that historical education and the maps you create and use have become integral to ‘higher-level’ identity-politics. By Christian Wirth From ‘East vs. West’ to ‘China and the [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:30 PM PDT
By Ernest Corea UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s decision to attend the sixteenth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM16) in Tehran from August 26 to 31follows the precedent set by his predecessors and reaffirms the interlinked relationship between the UN and NAM. NAM has been described as the largest politically-oriented body in the world, second in [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:28 PM PDT
By PR Chari Call it unintended irony. But India’s Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser using a forum to discuss the resurrected Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan and the Holy Grail of nuclear disarmament to emphasise India’s devotion to nuclear deterrence is surely an oddity. What these officials said is worth quoting. SM Krishna, External Affairs [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:25 PM PDT
By Amruta Karambelkar Early August, around 100 persons took to streets in Hanoi as part of a gay pride parade. The procession came at the backdrop of an announcement to legalise same sex marriage in the country. The event received significant media attention, some describing it as revolutionary in Vietnam. The article analyses these developments [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:21 PM PDT
GOP presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as noted in my previous piece, Mitt’s Big Secret, is probably stonewalling demands that he release his 2009 and earlier IRS filings because they could expose to the public that he availed himself of a 2009 IRS amnesty for those who admitted to earlier felonious hiding of income in [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:18 PM PDT
Reverend Donald Reeves, a peacebuilder with substantial experience in the Balkans, offers five observations on Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasising that the intervention of ‘experts’ must be on the invitation of the people themselves. By Reverend Donald Reeves MBE Reading carefully all the contributions and comments on constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I would like [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:16 PM PDT
The Spanish and Greek Civil Wars, and the experience in the Balkans, all suggest outside powers will act with more regard for how events affect their own interests than for how to mitigate the physical and social damage done by the fighting. By David B. Kanin One problem with the overused term “reconciliation” is with [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:13 PM PDT
By Betül Durmus Thirty-six universities across Iran had announced that from now on, women will not be allowed to register 77 fields of study including engineering, chemistry, accounting, education, English literature and many others. This decision will be implemented in the coming year. This decision of universities is shocking for female students who constitute 52% [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:11 PM PDT
By Rafiga Gurbanzade Last year’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Japan and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown highlighted the importance of a diligent assessment of nuclear power plants (NPP) to endure ground shakings or possible displacements [1]. According to the USGS, around 90 to 95 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:08 PM PDT
By Gizem Erbas On 20 August 2012 a terrorist bomb attack occurred in the city of Gaziantep, Turkey. The attack aimed the Karşıyaka police station at 19:45 in Şehitkamil district, which was one of the most crowded areas in the city. Bombs that were exploded through a remote-control system were planted in a low truck, [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 10:05 PM PDT
By Fatma Yilmaz Elmas After the downfall of the Merk-kozy alliance, Europe is now the scene of a competition between Hollande and Merkel. A combination of Spain, Italy, and France has halted the Sarkozy and Merkel pact which has led the way in Europe since the global crisis began and is working to isolate Germany. [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:59 PM PDT
A confidential document photographed by Britain’s Press Association news agency lays out Scotland Yard’s simple strategy for dealing with Julian Assange should he ever try to leave Ecuador’s Embassy in London, The Associated Press reports. “Assange to be arrested under all circumstances,” the hand-written note says. The briefing paper, captured by an eagle-eyed photographer as [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:56 PM PDT
The UN nuclear watchdog and Iran failed on Friday, Aug 24 to strike a deal aimed at allaying concerns about suspected nuclear weapons research by Tehran, a setback in efforts to resolve the stand-off diplomatically before any Israeli or U.S. military action, Reuters reported. A flurry of bellicose rhetoric from some Israeli politicians this month [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:54 PM PDT
I was not interested in Paul Ryan, the man about to be nominated by the Republican party for the office of Vice President, until the name Ayn Rand popped up. Ayn Rand, it was said, was one of the main inspirations for his particular philosophy. Since Ryan is being represented not as an ordinary, run-of-the-mill [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:51 PM PDT
I’ve been struck by the baldness of Romney’s repetitive lies about Obama — that Obama ended the work requirement under welfare, for example, or that Obama’s Affordable Care Act cuts $716 billion from Medicare benefits. The mainstream media along with a half-dozen independent fact-checking organizations and sites have called Romney on these whoppers, but to [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:49 PM PDT
By Jessy Joseph A Catholic priest and a nun accused of killing crane chicks and violating forest laws continue to languish in a northern India jail. Fr. Simon D’Cunha and Sr. Deena today completed 17 days in a sub jail in Haldwani, a town in Uttarakhand state. “We are very much disappointed and sad that [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:43 PM PDT
The calm but cold message delivered to Nepal by China’s premier Wen Jiabao at Rio and the Chinese vice Minister at the International Department – Ai Ping during his recent visit to Nepal is another clear signal that China is pursuing a more confident and assertive posture in its foreign policy and is prepared to [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:25 PM PDT
Indra, one of the leading IT multinationals in Europe and Latin America, has designed the strategic plan for the Peruvian administration to implement smart grids in the country’s electrical system. The company has been awarded a contract with the Supervisory Body of Investments in Energy and Mines (OSINERGMIN). OSINERGMIN is the public Peruvian body that [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:22 PM PDT
Egyptian security authorities, reluctant to lift a seven-month old ban on professional soccer, are considering testing the waters by allowing a limited number of fans to attend a closed door African championship match scheduled to be played in Cairo next month. The move would constitute a small victory for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in his [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:16 PM PDT
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui In an article in the state-run New Light of Myanmar on Wednesday, August 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Myanmar, stated, “It is obvious that the violence in the Rakhine State are neither the conflict between two religious groups of different faith nor humanitarian issue.” “The incidents in the Rakhine State are [...]

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Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:12 PM PDT
By John Robles Syria’s claims that the uprising on its sovereign territory is being orchestrated from outside the country were given further credibility, by an eight-hour-operational-meeting held in Ankara behind closed doors between US Ambassador to Turkey Elisabeth Jones, Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Under-Secretary Halit Cevik, diplomats, military representatives and intelligence agency representatives. The detailed [...]

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