In completely unrelated stories, there is suddenly a flurry of protest activity this week by pissed off indigenous peeps that are creating a bit of chaos on two different continents. In China, pro-Tibetan-rights peeps are facing of against a crushing Chinese military presence in Tibet and Sichuan; and in Australia, pro-Aboriginal-rights groups had a bizarrely brazen “attack” on Aussie Prime Minister Julia Gillard! Crikey! The Professor covers a bit of background on these events and offers some hypotheses about why that are happening now, and what they are all about.
You asked for it, and you got it! A Boyer rant on the very real, very unpredictable, and very tense situation in North Korea resulting from the death of modern-day madman/moron Kim Jong-Il. While we mock the dictator death from a safe distance, this is a highly charged political and military situation in the Korean ‘hood. Will the anointed puppet Kim Jong-Un take power, or will the military take control? Or are we about to witness a “fall of the Berlin Wall” moment? Historic shizzle going down!
Keywords: Kim il-Sung, North Korea, military, South Korea, Japan, China
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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