Geopolitics

China Tests Japan on Senkaku Island Claims After Philippine Success

"China deployed ships to waters near islands disputed with Japan for a record 28 hours, drawing a formal protest as it repeated a strategy of pressing its territorial claims through bolder projections of maritime power. Ships from China’s newly formed coast guard remained in the Japanese-controlled waters for the longest time since Japan bought the islands last year, Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. Japan’s Foreign Ministry summoned a Chinese diplomat and 'sternly protested,' he said. The Chinese action around the islands comes two days after Japan unveiled the largest military ship it has produced since World War II." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Tests Japan on Senkaku Island Claims After Philippine Success

Iran Tanker Owner Seen Expanding Fleet by IHS Amid Sanctions

"NITC, Iran’s biggest tanker company, increased the capacity of its supertanker fleet by 23 percent this year amid sanctions related to the nation’s nuclear program that bar most of the world’s ships from carrying Iranian crude, according to IHS Maritime. NITC has 37 supertankers and its entire fleet can hold about 86 million barrels of oil, equal to 65 days of the nation’s exports, IHS data show. European Union sanctions that started in July 2012 prevent most non-Iranian tankers from hauling the country’s crude because almost all ships are insured under the 28-nation bloc’s laws." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIran Tanker Owner Seen Expanding Fleet by IHS Amid Sanctions

Putin Laughs At Saudi Offer To Betray Syria In Exchange For “Huge” Arms Deal

"One of the more surprising news to hit the tape yesterday was that Saudi Arabia had quietly approached Putin with a proposal for a huge arms deal and a pledge to boost Russian influence in the Arab world if only Putin would abandon Syria's Assad. It will hardly come as a surprise to anyone that in the aftermath of yesterday's dilettante mistake by Obama which alienated Putin from the western world (and its subservient states such as Saudi Arabia of course), has just said no. It will certainly come as no surprise because the biggest loser from Russia abandoning Syria would be Russia's most important company - Gazprom." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPutin Laughs At Saudi Offer To Betray Syria In Exchange For “Huge” Arms Deal

BRICS emerging economies to expand co-operation on internet & security

"Edward's Snowden's revelations about US cybersnooping appear to be pushing its rivals closer together as China and other major emerging economies agree to expand co-operation on internet security. The consensus to emerge from a meeting of senior security officials from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa shows a broad desire to carve out their own turf in cyberspace and reduce reliance on American technology. The bloc is already collaborating on the BRICS cable, a US$1.5 billion marine fibre optic cable linking the BRICS countries and the US with 21 countries in Africa. It is due to begin service in mid-2015." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBRICS emerging economies to expand co-operation on internet & security

Mining the Gobi: The Battle for Mongolia’s Resources

"The country, whose economy has been growing faster than almost any other, is almost entirely dependent on the export of raw materials. Mongolia has things everyone wants -- coal, copper, gold, uranium, rare earth minerals -- and that potential wealth is reflected in the high-ranking visitors it draws. Donald Rumsfeld has been to Ulan Bator, as have Angela Merkel and several Japanese prime ministers. Beijing especially is making an effort to reach out to its northern neighbor. This July the first flat-bed trucks set out from Oyu Tolgoi to China, each bearing 36 tons of a brown, cement-like powder, from which copper and gold would be extracted." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMining the Gobi: The Battle for Mongolia’s Resources

De Facto Hash Truce in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley

"The Lebanese government will not attempt to eradicate marijuana fields blooming across the country's Bekaa Valley, Beirut's Daily Star reported Friday. Sources said it was because of the fragile security situation in the area near the border with Syria and because the government had been unable to live up to pledges to provide financial compensation to farmers whose crops were destroyed last year. They are also up against Bekaa Valley marijuana farmers in no mood to see their livelihood messed with. 'In the absence of alternatives, we will break the hands and legs of anyone who dares destroy our crops,' one of the region's biggest growers said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDe Facto Hash Truce in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley

Pepe Escobar: Al-Qaeda to the rescue

"Doctor Evil and the Orwellian/Panopticon complex are on the same side - and that explains why he'll be allowed to be a motor mouth fatwa machine for as long as he wants, and won't be nabbed like some patsy in the underwear bomber mould. The complex is back in offense. Reform the NSA? Interfere with our metadata? What for? We have just alerted the US government to 'pre-9/11' levels of terrorist chatter! AQAP might well decide not to participate in this worldwide 'pre-9/11' script. Real jihadis, after all, are not foolish enough to be caught by XKeystroke." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: Al-Qaeda to the rescue

Rail Fails While Pipelines Prevail

"It costs approximately $15 per barrel to send oil by rail — compared with $1 a barrel by pipeline and $2 a barrel by ship. However, the steep premium for Brent made up for the huge shipping costs. Bakken oil sent by train was still cheaper than Brent oil carried by ship. Unfortunately for trains, though, prices are now shifting. The price advantage Bakken enjoys over Brent has fallen to only about $10–12 a barrel. Suddenly, spending $15 a barrel to ship Bakken by train doesn’t make sense. Instead, refiners are finding buying Brent is a better and safer deal. But all this talk about ships versus trains leaves out the best solution for crude oil transport." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRail Fails While Pipelines Prevail

Turkish prime minister joins trial run through rail tunnel under Bosphorus

"Turkey has successfully completed a trial run of a rail tunnel connecting Istanbul's European and Asian sides, the first of several planned mega-projects in the country's largest city. The 13.6km (8.5-mile) tunnel, including a 1.4km immersed tube – the deepest of its kind in the world at 56 metres – passes under the Bosphorus strait, the busy shipping channel linking the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea. A Japanese-Turkish consortium began constructing the tunnel in 2004, with funding coming from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation and the European Investment Bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTurkish prime minister joins trial run through rail tunnel under Bosphorus

Rail Fails, Pipelines Prevail

"It costs approximately $15 per barrel to send oil by rail — compared with $1 a barrel by pipeline and $2 a barrel by ship. However, the steep premium for Brent made up for the huge shipping costs. Bakken oil sent by train was still cheaper than Brent oil carried by ship. Unfortunately for trains, though, prices are now shifting. The price advantage Bakken enjoys over Brent has fallen to only about $10–12 a barrel. Suddenly, spending $15 a barrel to ship Bakken by train doesn’t make sense. Instead, refiners are finding buying Brent is a better and safer deal. But all this talk about ships versus trains leaves out the best solution for crude oil transport." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRail Fails, Pipelines Prevail