Pip, pip, and Cheerio, Great Britain! And so long to the EU! Greetings Global Friends! The Plaid Avenger has been pulled out of summer slumber in order to rant and rage a bit about the BREXIT vote which has pulled the UK out of the European Union, and caused chaos across the continent! In this extended plaid filibuster, the Professor will cover what happened with this BREXIT deal, why it happened, the short term effects, the long term effects (like losing Scotland), and even some points on the broader, ideological context that this BREXIT business has brought into question. God save the Queen!…but who will save the UK?
Keywords: BREXIT, UK, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Scotland, Northern Ireland, European Union, EU, referendum, David Cameron, Prime Minister, eurosceptic, sovereignty, nation-state, populist, trade
After a year of almost non-stop chaos in eastern Ukraine, the Professor summarizes the major events of the Ukrainian unraveling in the last 11 months….but mostly as a backdrop to the actions of Vladimir Putin in this drama, and the potential long-term impacts that all of this mess will have in the Eurasian region. Putin can certainly ‘win’ at any confrontation in Eastern Europe, but many of us fear that Russia will ‘lose’ in the long run. The East/West rift between Russia and the US/EU seems to be getting progressively worse, and all will suffer for it…it may not be a new Cold War, but the possible outcomes look very similar already.
Let’s get rude with the crude! What’s up with dropping oil prices world wide? Like the Titanic, they are going down my friends, and that has titanic geopolitical consequences for a whole lot of countries. The Professor points out the winners (USA! USA! USA!) and losers (sorry Russia!) of the precipitous petroleum plunge!
Keywords: oil, petroleum, OPEC, frack, fracking, USA, Russia, Saudi Arabia, supply, demand, China, Japan, EU, India, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Qatar , Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, North Dakota
100 Iraqi Kurdish fighters are flying into Turkey today to cross the border into Syria in order to help out some Syrian Kurds who are defending the town of Kobane from ISIS….but Turkey ain’t none too happy about this. Say what? Why would Turkey not want to help defeat the extremist IS group? Because over the long term, they are more concerned with Kurds than with the crazies! Confused? Then dig this podcast and get a Kurdish clue!
Holy kilt-lifter! A historic Scottish vote goes down tomorrow, Sept 18, to determine the fate of a future state called Scotland! The Professor talks about why this is happening, as well as the much bigger repercussions it has for Europe and the world!
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