Turkey had a titanic earthquake this week in the mostly-Kurdish, southeastern part of their country! But before that even happened, the ground was shaking under Kurdish feet in nothern Iraq—because Turkey invaded it and has been bombing it! Why? To route out the PKK, a Kurdish terrorist group. In this rant, the Professor explains why this is happening, and more importantly, why is the US suddenly throwing support behind this endeavor…and who may be behind the resurgence of PKK activities!
Russia and 7 other countries just signed a free trade agreement…which makes it more of a free trade block. What is so fascinating about that? Well, the 7 countries in question are all former republics of the Soviet Union! Is Russia trying to re-form the Union? Hmmm…doubtful, but this does come on the heels of Vladimir Putin publicly promoting the formation of a “Eurasian Economic Union,” and the strengthening of the SCO group which is dominated by the Chinese and Ruskies. Wow! We are definitely seeing the beginnings of a serious alternative to the EU, and the geo-political and economic future of the Eurasian continent as whole. Putin party on!
Keywords: Russia, Eurasian Economic Union, EU, CIS, SCO, USSR, Commonwealth of Independent States, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Ukraine
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!
The Professor tackles a news story that did not make any major headlines in the US…but has profound consequences for the world…and he wants you to be hip to it!
Today…it’s all about Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s proposal to create some sort of ‘‘Eurasian union’’ between former Soviet republics that may become an alternative to the EU. Seem trivial? Perhaps, but it certainly speaks to the direction that Putin intends to take Russia in for the foreseeable next decades…a decade that he will be overseeing as the next President of Russia!
The Professor gives his take on a few international stories he thinks are of much greater significance this week than the droll domestic political drivel that is forced upon the American public on a daily basis. This week:
...floods in southern Pakistan, along with increased terror attacks
...flaring tensions on the Kosovo-Serbian border
...the big UN meeting meeting next week, wherein Palestinian sovereignty is a big issue
...Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan’s increasing influence in the world….
and how Recep and Obama are likely to have a pow-wow on the sidelines of the imminent UN meeting!
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