Multiple high-profile al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders have recently been taken by the newest of new in death-dealing technologies: the drone! But what are these drone things? How long have they been around? Who is using them, and where? And why are they exploding in numbers and usage in the modern era? The Avenger tries to touch upon all of these questions while also hinting at how the use of these unmanned, remote-controlled aircraft are revolutionizing how war itself is conducted, their repercussions on the definition of sovereignty, as well as the changes to war geography they are causing in this bold new era of the robot warriors. As Plaid Yoda would say: Begun, the Drone Wars have!
So China is on the rise in the world, and China is specifically on the move on the water: assertively and aggressively pushing out its power and influence into the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean in general. Can their power now ever be checked? Is Chinese world domination around the corner? Ah! Mommy! I’m scared! NOT! There appears to be a political /military/ideological team slowly former that certainly will not stop China, but may serve nicely to check its growth and contain its more aggressive policies. The potential Pacific China-checking team? The Asian Axis of Democracy! Let the Avenger clue you in!
Keywords: Asia, Asian Axis of Democracy, China, US, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam
Sweet Sub-Saharan salvation! The outside world is finally, finally, finally looking to truly invest in the future of Africa…and this interest in the continent is certainly going to trigger other parties to get into the game as well! The country kicking off this race for investment and influence in Africa is none other than India! Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh just finished a three-day tour of Africa in which billions of dollars of credit and infrastructure aid has been promised, the first-ever serious long-term investment strategy in the region of the planet that has long been marginalized. All the pundits are raging about how this sets India in competition with China, who has long been a investor in Africa focused on resource extraction. But the Avenger knows there is much more to the story than that! Africa stands to gain big-time, long-term from the events being initiated right this second, so tune in an find out the bigger impacts to the region, to India, and the world!
Yes, yes, yes, there is tremendous hype and pomp and circumstances surrounding the death of Osama Bin Laden by US forces who covertly invaded Pakistan and took out the head terrorist honcho of al-Qaeda a couple of weeks ago. While much attention has been focused on the man since his death, and the future of his death-wielding terrorist group, and even on how this affects US power/prestige in the world, the Plaid Avenger believes the biggest impacts of bin Laden’s locational transfer to hell will be most felt by the Afghanistan Taliban…who will be ‘legitimized’ and become an accepted power player in Afghan politics.
Say what? Yeah, confusing stuff! That’s why the Avenger did this two-part series to unpack it for you:
Part 1 goes over the differences between the main groups involved in the chaos in this neighborhood, including the goals and objectives of the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban, and al-Qaeda.
Part 2 offers 5 reasons why the death of Osama bin Laden will influence the US, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the wider world to accept the Afghan Taliban as a legitimate component of a future stabilized Afghanistan.
The Avenger also points out some relevant insight into the dangers of a growing Pakistani Taliban, and what this might mean for future US/Pakistani relations. And he wants your opinion on how that should be proceeding as well…
Let?s finish up this plaid Af-Pak mini-series with a final furious summary and chaotic catch-up of current events. In the last 2 weeks, the Pakistanis re-opened their border to allow NATO supply lines to resume running through their territory, AND the US just wrote Pakistan a $2 billion check for foreign aid?.what a coincidence! NOT!
The Avenger also tries his best to empathize and explain the reasons why the Pakistanis are so passionately pissed at the US/NATO?and offers several succinct scenarios which have arisen since the NATO invasion of Afghanistan which have served to totally tank US/Pakistani relations.
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