G’day mates from across the plaid planet! Looks like our esteemed Skype guest from last semester, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has once again become the current Prime Minister of Australia! Crikey! This podcast covers that palace intrigue, as well as pointing out some particulars about new world leaders in Iran, Pakistan, and even a shout out to the clown prince of politics in Italy. New peeps in charge across the planet! Learn more here!
Knock out the nukes! Well, at least the nuke weapons and random nuke materials floating around the planet! That is the new mission of the recently founded Nuclear Security Summit, which just convened it second meeting in Seoul, South Korea. Over 50 leaders of the world’s most powerful states got together to discuss how to make the world more secure from the threat of nuclear terrorism. Listen as the Professor rants about the structure of the NPT, the role of the IAEA, and what/why/how this Nuclear Security Summit will be playing into the future of nuclear nuances around the globe.
Keywords: Nuclear Security Summit, NPT, Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency, US, George Schultz, Russia, P5, South Korea, North Korea, Iran, nuclear material, plutonium, uranium, medical isotopes, terrorism
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.
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
After a bit of pre-gaming for VT vs. Appalachian State, the Professor gives his take on a few international stories he thinks are of much greater significance this week than the droll domestic drivel that is forced upon the American public on a daily basis. This week:
...violence in Jos, Nigeria
...new Japanese Prime Minister Yoda takes over
...Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in trouble
...Kim Jong-Il in Russia, because his country sucks
and…Russia covertly bashes NATO? What is NATO all about now?
Keywords: Muammar, Libya, Nigeria, Jos, Yoshihiko, Noda, Japan, Gillard, Australia, Russia, Medvedev, NATO, North Korea, Kim Jong-Il
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