On December 5, 2011 Burmese democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi had a Skype interview with Virginia Tech geography Professor John Boyer and his 3000 student World Regions class.
Lo and behold! A bunch of separate current events is unfolding that are quite independent of each other in terms of details, but all have a single theme uniting them: Democracy is currently kicking ass on the world stage! From the Arab Spring to Burma to BRICS to the Occupy Wall Street Movement in America, democracy is suddenly manifesting itself in quite unpredictable ways, creating a whirlwind daze of freedom-loving rage. Democracy is back to being a worldwide craze!
Keywords: democracy, Arab Spring, Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, BRICS, Occupy Wall Street, US, China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Turkey, Thein Sein, Hilary Clinton
Crickey! 1000 troops being deployed to Australia? What, is there a rabid army of koalas getting ready to overrun Canberra? Not at all, and in fact this is a much longer-term strategic shift that I believe is going to be of great consequence for the entire Pacific realm. Just as US President Obama is pushing for the Pacific free trade area called the TPP, it is being leaked out that the US has plans (for the first time ever) to have US troops stationed in Australia. Taken together, this speaks to a gigantic US shift of focus, both economically and militarily, to the Pacific realm…probably to increase economic activity, shore up and protect its allies, increase its influences, all while also simultaneously countering the growing influence of China in this PAcific ‘hood. Watch this and learn more about the Pacific specifics of US moves into this most crucial 21st century water world!
Keywords: Pacific Ocean, Pacific Rim, APEC, TPP, Japan, Australia, US troops, Darwin, Northern Territory, China, South China Sea
Barack Obama’s new baby: a full on free trade block forming! The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an Asia-Pacific regional trade agreement currently being negotiated among the United States and eight other partners…and is getting ready to be rolled out at the big APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting this weekend in Honolulu. This move signals the ever-increasingly important economic shift from the Atlantic-centered world to the Pacific, and also can be interpreted as a US strategic move to cement its influence in the Pacific arena…possibly to counter China’s power, and certainly to try to expand US exports to these bustling economies. Who will get on board this TPP train? Let’s find out!
Keywords: TPP, Trans-pacific Partnership, APEC, US, Obama, Japan, South Korea, Chile, China, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Peru, Brunei, Malaysia
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