Summary: Holy hibachi! Japan is in a Pacific pinch, my friends! A collision between a Chinese fishing boat and Japanese coast guard vessels in September near the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands north of Taiwan set off a firestorm of diplomatic fury by both countires…only to be followed in November by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pissing off Japan by visiting the disputed island of Kunashira in the Kuril island chain north of Hokkiado. Damn! Battered from both ends! But these territorial squabbles centering around Japan have repercussions far beyond the borders of these dink-ass islands. In this plaid-cast, the Avenger high-lites some of the deeper ramifications of these Pacific geo-political problems.
Summary: Holy hibachi! Japan is in a Pacific pinch, my friends! A collision between a Chinese fishing boat and Japanese coast guard vessels in September near the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands north of Taiwan set off a firestorm of diplomatic fury by both countires…only to be followed in November by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pissing off Japan by visiting the disputed island of Kunashira in the Kuril island chain north of Hokkiado. Damn! Battered from both ends! But these territorial squabbles centering around Japan have repercussions far beyond the borders of these dink-ass islands. In this plaid-cast, the Avenger high-lites some of the deeper ramifications of these Pacific geo-political problems.
The big annual Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit was held in Hanoi Vietnam on Oct 29/30, and an array of international stars were in attendance!!! Everybody wants to do business with ASEAN! From China to Japan to India to Australia to Russia, all major East Asian and Pacific regional powers want a piece of the action. On top of that, the East Asia Summit (EAS) now takes place directly after the ASEAN party, and it focuses on regional stability/defense issues…a group that includes the Russians and Americans too! Damn! ASEAN is the Asian shizzle!
Bottom line: As Asia’s star continues to rise and they become the center of international action, ASEAN is becoming the anchor for trade and regional stability…a combo EU and UN, but for East Asia!
Synopsis: On April 12th and 13th, US President Barack Obama hosted the first-ever ‘Nuclear Security Summit’ which was attended by leaders from 47 states plus a handful of international organizations. This summit mostly focused on getting a handle on loose nuclear material around the world in order to eliminate the threat of possible ‘nuclear terrorism.’ However, in the bigger picture this move is just a warm-up to a revamping of the all important NPT, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is coming up soon. In Part 2 of this plaidcast, the Avenger does a roll call of important cats at the convention (as well as those not invited), and what the hell they actually agreed on to limit those loose nukes.
Keywords: US, Obama, Russia, Medvedev, Sarkozy, Hu, Gordon Brown, P5, P5 +1, Merkel, Germany, Singh, India, Netanyahu, Israel, Calderon, Lula, Harper, Kirchner, Zuma, Erdogan, Yakunovich, Hatoyama, Lee Myung-Bak, Ban Ki Moon, UN, Yukio Amano, IAEA, Iran, North Korea
Synopsis: Holy Russian rage! Not only did two female suicide bombers (Black Widows) bomb the Moscow Metro on Monday March 29, but now there have been 5 separate terrorist attacks in the 5 days since…the rest occurring in ethnic provinces in Russia’s North Caucuses region. In this plaid-cast, the Avenger describes the likely Russian response of fury, but more importantly tackles the thorny issue of why these attacks are occurring, and are likely to continue: The volatile region in question is home to a bunch of non-Russian ethnic groups who don’t wan to be part of Russia (mostly Chechan and Dagestani), alongside a growing Islamic insurgency movement which is trying to make this so! Its getting raucous in the Caucus, and after watching this, you will know why!
Keywords: Russian, Medvedev, Putin, North Caucuses, Caucuses Mountains, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Moscow Metro bombing, Islamic insurgency, First Chechen War, Second Chechen War, Beslan School Siege, Moscow Theater Hostage Crisis
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