Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Eurasia Review: News & Analysis

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• China Rebuilds Defence Ties With India – Analysis
• Amnesty International Says Iran Must Halt ‘All Upcoming Executions’
• The End Of Strategic Happy Talk? – OpEd
• Southern Africa: Increasing Hostility Towards Chinese Traders
• Equality Requires Men And Non-Mom Working Women To Work Less – OpEd
• China’s Loud Speak And Big Strategic Appetite – Analysis
• Greece: Coalition Leaders Fail To Agree On Crucial Cuts
• Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Camp Has Narrow Lead In Election
• Mexican Weapons Cache Uncovered May Be Linked To Fast & Furious‏ – OpEd
• Elvis Presley’s Bible Brings $94,000 In Auction
• Croatia: Fifth Indictment Surfaces In Sanader Case
• Russia Prepared To Discuss Kuril Problem With Japan – Analysis
• The Democrats’ Jerusalem Arithmetic – OpEd
• The Liberal Way To Run The World: ‘Improve’ Or We’ll Kill You – OpEd
• Rethinking Territorial Disputes In South China Sea: Transforming Problem Into Opportunity – Analysis
• Why Did The Syrian Crisis Slow Turkey’s Rise? – Analysis
• Japan-Korea Territorial Dispute: Setback For East Asian Cooperation? – Analysis
• Life And Death: The Tank Man And Rachel Corrie – OpEd
• Algeria Denies Rumors Of President’s Death
• Maureen Dowd Falls Out Of Love – OpEd
• Tattoo This: “It’s The Sun, Stupid!” – OpEd
• Syria: Car Bomb Kills At Least 17, Wounds Over 40 In Aleppo
• Germany: 80 Policemen Injured, 31 Detained In Kurdish Festival Clashes
• Iraq Attacks Kill At Least 92; Sunni VP Sentenced To Death

China Rebuilds Defence Ties With India – Analysis Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:51 PM PDT By Arun Sahgal The visit by China’s Defense Minister to India after a hiatus of eight years comes at a time when bilateral relations are marked by growing economic and political cooperation and concerns over growing Chinese influence in South Asia and the extended Indian Ocean region (IOR). The visit has evinced great interest in [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Amnesty International Says Iran Must Halt ‘All Upcoming Executions’ Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:42 PM PDT Amnesty International has demanded that Iran “halt all executions” scheduled in the coming days. The human rights organisation said it believes that up to 23 individuals, among them at least five Afghan nationals, may be at imminent risk. The group reported that 22 death row prisoners had been removed from their prison cells in recent [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

The End Of Strategic Happy Talk? – OpEd Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:39 PM PDT Thoughts on Robert Kaplan’s “Revenge of Geography” By Mackubin T. Owens During the decades after the fall of the Soviet Union and the American victory against Iraq in 1991, far too many U.S. policymakers came to accept a vision of the world that can only be described as “strategic happy talk.” First, there was the [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Southern Africa: Increasing Hostility Towards Chinese Traders Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:35 PM PDT In the last decade, Asian migrants have fanned out through southern Africa, opening shops in small towns and rural backwaters. While consumers in countries facing increasing economic hardships have come to depend on their low prices, local shop owners complain they are being forced out of business, pressuring governments to introduce restrictions on foreign traders. [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Equality Requires Men And Non-Mom Working Women To Work Less – OpEd Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:31 PM PDT The latest feminist volley, “Finding balance requires changing the lives of men,” from Professors Joan C. Williams and Anne-Marie Slaughter, calls to mind nothing so much as “Harrison Bergeron,” Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliant short story projecting to its logical conclusion what the demand for strict equality would result in: everyone equally handicapped. Thus, as employers perversely [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

China’s Loud Speak And Big Strategic Appetite – Analysis Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:27 PM PDT During the meeting of annual security forum of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Hanoi in July 2010, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi faced volleys of complaints about his country’s behavior in the region. Making a derisive comment on Vietnam and staring directly at Singapore’s foreign minister George Yeo, Jiechi bawled “China [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Greece: Coalition Leaders Fail To Agree On Crucial Cuts Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:22 PM PDT The leaders of the three parties in Greece’s coalition government have failed to agree on a package of spending cuts worth 11.5 billion euro, which the Prime Minister says are crucial to restoring the country’s financial credibility. On Sunday conservative Premier Antonis Samaras, socialist Evangelos Venizelos and Fotis Kouvelis of the Democratic Left, disagreed on [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Camp Has Narrow Lead In Election Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:20 PM PDT By Michael Lipin Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement has taken a narrow lead in a legislative council election that represents a major test for the autonomous Chinese territory’s new pro-Beijing government. Official results released early Monday show pro-democracy candidates won 18 of the 35 legislative seats directly elected by voters in Hong Kong’s geographical constituencies. Sixteen [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Mexican Weapons Cache Uncovered May Be Linked To Fast & Furious‏ – OpEd Posted: 09 Sep 2012 09:09 PM PDT Mexican police officers discovered a large weapons cache that may be linked to the U.S. gun-walking snafu, Operation Fast and Furious, an American drug enforcement official working as an “advisor” in northern Mexico said on Friday. The anonymous source told the Law Enforcement Examiner that the weapons apparently belong to drug traffickers who stored them [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Elvis Presley’s Bible Brings $94,000 In Auction Posted: 09 Sep 2012 09:06 PM PDT A bible which once belonged to Elvis Presley has sold for £59,000 ($94,000) at auction in Greater Manchester, according to BBC News. The 1,600 page book was given to the singer by his Uncle Vester and Aunt Clettes for his first Christmas at his Graceland home in 1957. It contains annotations by Presley, who died [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Croatia: Fifth Indictment Surfaces In Sanader Case Posted: 09 Sep 2012 09:02 PM PDT By Drazen Remikovic In what is being heralded as the biggest corruption case ever tried by Croatia’s judiciary, the country’s anti-corruption police unit (USKOK) filled another official corruption indictment against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and his associates on Monday (September 3rd). The new allegation, involving the illegal sale of a building to the Croatian [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Russia Prepared To Discuss Kuril Problem With Japan – Analysis Posted: 09 Sep 2012 09:00 PM PDT By Andrey Fedyashin Russia is prepared to develop cooperation with Japan in all spheres of trade and economy and would like to ‘close’ all the problems that both countries inherited from the past, Vladimir Putin announced at the final press-conference on Sunday after the APEC summit in Vladivostok. ‘Problems of the past’ are the big [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

The Democrats’ Jerusalem Arithmetic – OpEd Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:57 PM PDT By Alison Weir Not often is a political fix so public. The Democratic committee that develops the party’s campaign platform recently failed to include the apparently obligatory “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel” pronouncement. This statement, which is largely untrue and has a number of problems, had been part of previous platforms. [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

The Liberal Way To Run The World: ‘Improve’ Or We’ll Kill You – OpEd Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:55 PM PDT By John Pilger What is the world’s most powerful and violent ‘ism’? The question will summon the usual demons such as Islamism, now that communism has left the stage. The answer, wrote Harold Pinter, is only ‘superficially recorded, let alone documented, let alone acknowledged’, because only one ideology claims to be non-ideological, neither left nor [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Rethinking Territorial Disputes In South China Sea: Transforming Problem Into Opportunity – Analysis Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:53 PM PDT The disputes in the East and South China Seas have not led to war so far, but they can stoke competitive nationalisms and strategic alignments with worrying consequences for regional peace and security. Yet, they present an opportunity to construct a rules-based order grounded in principles and guided by an effective management regime and dispute [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Why Did The Syrian Crisis Slow Turkey’s Rise? – Analysis Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:24 PM PDT Up until two years ago, Turkey’s status and influence were the envy of its neighbors. It was enjoying a thriving democracy at home and a booming economy. Its leaders put it on a path to world leadership status. Two ideas fueled the engines of Turkey’s rise to prominence: strong democratic institutions to build trust for [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Japan-Korea Territorial Dispute: Setback For East Asian Cooperation? – Analysis Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:21 PM PDT The latest territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan comes at a time when conflicting claims in the East and South China Seas are increasing in intensity. As Asia Pacific leaders gather this week in Vladivostok, the question to ask is whether East Asian integration will be stymied or will evolve in new ways. By [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Life And Death: The Tank Man And Rachel Corrie – OpEd Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:14 PM PDT The court decision in Israel, which exonerated the driver of a huge bulldozer in the death of activist Rachel Corrie, recalls a previous confrontation between man and machine – the 1989 stance of a Chinese citizen before a tank squadron moving toward Tiananmen Square. Chronologically and physically displaced, these two events have similar characteristics – [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Algeria Denies Rumors Of President’s Death Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:07 PM PDT Rumors have spread like wildfire since Friday evening in Algiers about the demise of the Algerian President, despite governmental denials. “President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has died,” reported French journalist Alain Julles on his blog. According to him, the Algerian leader died in a Swiss hospital. This rumor spread at a brisk pace in the Algerian capital, [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Maureen Dowd Falls Out Of Love – OpEd Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:05 PM PDT I do not subscribe to The New York Times and do not read it with only one exception. Every Sunday I do read Maureen Dowd’s column. She is a very good writer which, in itself, is reason enough to read her, but more importantly she is a weather vane pointing the direction that liberals are [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Tattoo This: “It’s The Sun, Stupid!” – OpEd Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:03 PM PDT New Berkeley BEST project temperature records confirm: changes in solar radiation influence climate By Willie Soon and William M. Briggs Scientists have been studying solar influences on the climate for over 5000 years. Chinese imperial astronomers kept detailed sunspot records. They noticed that more sunspots meant warmer weather. In 1801, the celebrated astronomer William Herschel [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Syria: Car Bomb Kills At Least 17, Wounds Over 40 In Aleppo Posted: 09 Sep 2012 07:56 PM PDT At least 17 people were killed and over 40 wounded after a car loaded with explosives went off in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Sunday night, state-run SANA news agency reported. According to the agency, the blast occurred in the al-Malab al-Baladi neighborhood near al-Hayat Hospital and the Central Hospital. The powerful explosion also [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Germany: 80 Policemen Injured, 31 Detained In Kurdish Festival Clashes Posted: 09 Sep 2012 07:54 PM PDT At least eighty police officers sustained injuries after violence erupted during a Kurdish cultural festival in the southwest Germany city of Mannheim. More than 30 people were arrested. ­The clashes were sparked after the police intervened in an argument between organizes and a 14-year-old teenager who tried to sneak into the event with the flag [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.

Iraq Attacks Kill At Least 92; Sunni VP Sentenced To Death Posted: 09 Sep 2012 07:52 PM PDT Insurgents in Iraq have carried out a wave of bombings and shootings that killed at least 92 people in a 24-hour period that coincided with an Iraqi court sentencing the country’s fugitive Sunni vice president to death for murder. The onslaught began late Saturday with gunmen killing and wounding Iraqi soldiers at an army post [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.