As promised last podcast, the Professor now looks forward to the new year of 2012 to inform you of the details of the significant shift of world leadership going down in the next 365 days. From new leaders to be tested in North Korea, Italy and Spain; to election cycles in US, Mexico, France, Russia, and Taiwan; to major turnovers in China, Palestine and possibly Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen…the parade of new faces started in 2011 is going to be accelerated significantly in the coming year, and the Professor wants you to be in the know!
Happy New Year’s Eve! The Professor takes some time on the brink of 2012 to look back at what happened to world leaders from around the globe in 2011. It was a tough year to be in charge this year, as evidenced by the demise of dictators, the overthrow of or attacks on authoritarian regimes, plagues of personal health, and even the decline in support of significant democratic leaders all over the planet. Sometimes “it’s good to be da’ king!”....but not in 2011 it wasn’t!!!!
Synopsis: The SCO as the “NATO of the East”? Bold words and bold thoughts, my plaid friends…but it could come to pass! As the tenth annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) drew to a close on June 16th, several declarations were issued by this rising Asian block that drew the avenger’s attention. Mainly, the SCO threw the collective smack-down to the US/NATO missile defense shield in Europe, but other tidbits of note included India as a full member, a chat about Afghanistan, and Iran spouting nonsense-as-usual. Join the Avenger for an extended look at what this still young, but potentially powerful, Asian block is up to right now!
The Professor’s SCO lesson: http://vimeo.com/16099396
Move over Godzilla; the Dragon has risen! It is now official for the Plaid Avenger: China has just surpassed Japan to become the 2nd largest economy on the planet, with a GDP in excess of $5 trillion/year. They still have a ways to go to catch the $14 trillion US economy, but the writing is on the wall! Listen as the Avenger explains why it is obvious that the Chinese economy will continue to explode, and why there is no hope that Japan will ever regain its #2 position?its all about the consumers, baby! Bye-bye Japan?.buy, buy, buy for China!
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
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