The endless opinion pieces about the Boston bombings that have flooded the media-sphere since Monday have one thing in common: they are highly speculative and, for the most part, unreliable. At this early stage, nobody outside the security or intelligence establishments has any idea about the identity or motives of the perpetrator(s) of the attacks —and if they say they do, they are lying. Even those on the inside routinely refer to the ongoing investigation as one of the most complex in the country’s post-9/11 history. As the probe continues, and the nation deals with the meaning of the Boston bombings, it is critical that some of the misinformed and premature notions about the attacks are dispelled at this early stage.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Brazil: Red Command
From: Insight
The Red Command (Comando Vermelho) is Brazil’s oldest and largest criminal group, created in a Rio de Janeiro prison in the 1970s as a self-protection group for prisoners. It started out with low-level crime like muggings and bank robbery, but in the 1980s the group moved into the cocaine trade, working with Colombian drug cartels and taking on a social leadership role in many of Rio’s favelas.
The Red Command (Comando Vermelho) is Brazil’s oldest and largest criminal group, created in a Rio de Janeiro prison in the 1970s as a self-protection group for prisoners. It started out with low-level crime like muggings and bank robbery, but in the 1980s the group moved into the cocaine trade, working with Colombian drug cartels and taking on a social leadership role in many of Rio’s favelas.
Brazil: Amigos dos Amigos
From: Insight
Amigos dos Amigos is a criminal group based in Rio de Janeiro, set up by former members of the Red Command (Comando Vermelho) to fight that group’s dominance, together with current and former members of the security forces. It is currently one of the city’s biggest drug trafficking organizations, although its territory is threatened by the favela police pacification program (UPP).
Amigos dos Amigos is a criminal group based in Rio de Janeiro, set up by former members of the Red Command (Comando Vermelho) to fight that group’s dominance, together with current and former members of the security forces. It is currently one of the city’s biggest drug trafficking organizations, although its territory is threatened by the favela police pacification program (UPP).
Brazil: First Capital Command - PCC
From: Insight
The First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital - PCC) was inspired by the Red Command (Comando Vermelho). Both criminal organizations were formed by prisoners as self-protection groups in Brazil’s brutal prison system. The PCC arose in Sao Paulo in the 1990s, and has fought a bloody ongoing feud with police in the city. The group, now the largest and best-organized criminal organization in Brazil, is believed to have members in two-thirds of the country's states, and controls drug trafficking routes between Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
The First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital - PCC) was inspired by the Red Command (Comando Vermelho). Both criminal organizations were formed by prisoners as self-protection groups in Brazil’s brutal prison system. The PCC arose in Sao Paulo in the 1990s, and has fought a bloody ongoing feud with police in the city. The group, now the largest and best-organized criminal organization in Brazil, is believed to have members in two-thirds of the country's states, and controls drug trafficking routes between Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
Spain's “Move Your Money!” Campaign Advocates for Ethical Banking
From: Global Voices
Various organizations have joined together to launch the “Move your money!“ [es] initiative in Spain, aiming to convince citizens to transition from traditional banks, which are in large part responsible for the current economic crisis, to emerging financial institutions commonly called “ethical banks.”
The recent bailout conditions imposed on Cyprus by the troika pummeled bank savers’ confidence across Europe. The institutions that have agreed to come to Cyprus’ rescue stipulated that Cypriot bank losses be partially covered by a tax levied on those bank's biggest savers, to the tune of up to 60% on accounts that exceed 100,000 euros.
Guinea-Bissau President Caught up in ‘Arms for Drugs’ Conspiracy
From: Global Voices
Guinea-Bissau's interim president is beating back allegations that he played a role in a doomed “arms for drugs” deal that involved smuggling weapons for supposed Colombian FARC rebels
U.S. indictments against seven men, including Guinea-Bissau's former navy chief, includes their testimony which mentions President Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo. The men were arrested off the coast of Cape Verde last week.
According to the documents, these men, now defendants, told U.S. undercover anti-narcotic agents (who were pretending to be FARC rebels) that they were in contact with the president over the cocaine and weapons smuggling deal. The evidence that mentions Nhamadjo is found on page 7 of the indictment [pdf]:
CC-1 (defendant) agreed to a proposal to ship FARC cocaine to Guinea-Bissau for later distribution in the United States and to procure weapons for FARC, including surface-to-air missiles. CC-1 also stated that he would discuss the plan with the President of Guinea-Bissau. CC-1 stated, “The day after tomorrow I'll talk to the President of the Republic.”
Page 10 of the same document, talks about the weapons order:
CS-1 (undercover agent) provided CC-5 (defendant) with a list of weapons that the FARC were requesting, which included among other things, surface-to-air missiles, AK-47 assault rifles, and machine guns. Mane (defendant) said that he and CC-5 (defendant) would speak to the President and Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau about the weapons order for FARC.
The government allegedly expected a percentage of the 4,000 kg of cocaine as a fee:
During the meeting, CC-2 and CC-4 (defendants) agreed to facilitate the receipt of approximately 4,000 kg of cocaine from the FARC in Guinea Bissau, approximately 500 kg of which would be later sent to customers in the United States and Canada.
The president has lashed back at the allegations, calling them “criminal” [pt].
Political and military instability have been a constant feature of life in Guinea-Bissau, a country which has never seen an elected president reach the end of their mandate since its independence from colonial Portugal in 1974. The latest coup d'etat on April 12, 2012, a few days after the second round of presidential elections, saw Nhamadjo appointed transitional president as part of a deal made between military commanders and political, religious, and civic leaders.
US indictment.
Journalist Helena Ferro de Gouveia wrote [pt] on her blog about what it would mean for Guinea-Bissau if the allegations were true:
A confirmar-se o envolvimento do presidente de transição num esquema de tráfico de cocaína e armas, milímetros separam o país do abismo.
If the involvement of the transitional president in a scheme of cocaine and weapons trafficking is confirmed, millimeters separate the country from the abyss.
Even before the coup, connections between certain elites, military figures, and drug traffickers have long been an open secret in Guinea-Bissau. In the last decade, the country has become one of the main transit points for cocaine smuggling from South America into Europe.
Before the news of the president's alleged involvement in the drug and arms smuggling scheme, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of East Timor, José Ramos-Horta, who has led the United Nations Integrated Peace-Building Office in Guinea-Bissau since February 2013, said that “Guinea-Bissau faces an existential threat, as a State, as a nation” and hoped that the political and military elites “will conduct an introspection, a self-examination” on the anniversary of the coup.
At the end of March as the anniversary of the country's coup drew near, he described [pt] on his blog Guinea-Bissau's role in the world's drug trafficking:
A Guine-Bissau nao produz droga e o consumo e baixo. Ha sim grupos que funcionam como correio e pelo trabalho recebem umas migalhas e já ficam muito contentes. Individuos de outras nacionalidades – Colombianos, Bolivianos, Peruanos, Libaneses, Marroquinos e Nigerians – os profissionais do negocio. Face a eles, o Bissau-Guineense e um amador que se contenta com migalhas mas que fica com a fama!
Guinea-Bissau does not produce drugs and the consumption is low. There are however groups that work as courier and receive for the work a few crumbs and with that they become very happy. Individuals of other nationalities – Colombians, Bolivians, Peruvians, Lebanese, Moroccans and Nigerians – the business professionals. Comparing to them, the Bissau-Guinean is an amateur who is satisfied with the crumbs but gets all the fame instead!
Confirming Ramos-Horta's point is accused drug kingpin Real Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto's amusingly amateur blog-autobiography [pt]. Na Tchuto, former head of the navy, is now under arrest in New York. He had been released from prison on orders of Guinea-Bissau's army chief in June, 2012, after serving a few months due to accusations of leading the coup attempt of December 2011.
Earlier in March, Guilherme Dias from Lusomonitor blog summarized [pt] a Der Spiegel reporter's experience looking into the drug traffic in the Bijagós islands alongside an underfunded prosecutor:
As drogas chegam em carregamentos de 600 ou 1.200 quilos e são armazenadas em três depósitos, de onde são enviadas para a Europa. Dois países europeus têm satélites apontados à região e os investigadores internacionais sabem que um destes depósitos está numa zona militar. “Eu até sei que um voo vai aterrar esta semana no sul”, afirma Biague, sem dinheiro para qualquer operação de apreensão. Com um custo estimado de 115 euros, o repórter decidiu financiar. No final, foi um fracasso.
Drugs arrive in shipments of 600-1,200kg and are stored in three warehouses, from where they are sent to Europe. Two European countries have satellites pointed to the region and international investigators know that one of these warehouses is in a military area. “I even know that a flight is landing this week,” says Biague [Director of Police Investigation in Guinea-Bissau], without any money for a drug bust. With an estimated cost of €115, the reporter decided to finance the trip. In the end, it was a failure.
Satellite image of Guinea-Bissau in January 2003. The Islands are known as Bijagos Archipelago. Image in the public domain.
Meanwhile, another mainstream media article, this time by Portuguese daily Público [pt], revealed the heroic efforts of two women, Lucinda Barbosa Ahucarié and Carmelita Dias, to enforce the rule of law in Guinea-Bissau. Barbosa Ahucarié, the country's ex-director of police investigation, told Público that captured drug kingpin Bubo Na Tchuto threatened her, accusing her of feeding information to US investigators.
The article seems to have fallen between the cracks, generating very little comment in social media and in the blogosphere, even though it was republished in Brazil and beyond.
The Fed’s Assault On Gold: “Short Selling” and the Rigging of the Gold Market
From: Paul Craig Roberts
I was the first to point out that the Federal Reserve was rigging all markets, not merely bond prices and interest rates, and that the Fed is rigging the bullion market in order to protect the US dollar’s exchange value, which is threatened by the Fed’s quantitative easing. With the Fed adding to the supply of dollars faster than the demand for dollars is increasing, the price or exchange value of the dollar is set up to fall. A fall in the dollar’s exchange rate would push up import prices and, thereby, domestic inflation, and the Fed would lose control over interest rates. The bond market would collapse and with it the values of debt-related derivatives on the “banks too big too fail” balance sheets. The financial system would be in turmoil, and panic would reign.
France’s Media Admits that the Syrian “Opposition” is Al Qaida. Then Justifies French Government Support to the Terrorists
From: Global Research
In a report published on the 11th of April French daily Le Monde admits that rebels fighting the government of the Syrian Arab Republic are dominated by Japhat Al Nosra, a terrorist group linked to Al Qaida. The admission comes after two years of non-stop disinformation trumpeted from all French mainstream media outlets from the official right to the official left, disinformation that has attempted to convince the French public that democratic revolutionaries are fighting a war for human rights and freedom against a brutal, tyrannical dictator, who is ‘’ killing his own people’’.
War In Mali: Geopolitics, Economic Conflicts And Terrorism
From: Turkish Analyst Journal
The Republic of Mali witnessed a number of military and security developments, with the onset of 2013. French Army launched military operations into Northern Mali, where the fundamentalist groups took ground, so that it could render help to the African forces. In fact, social unrest in this region has historical roots in the demands of Tuareg people, which live in Mali. In addition, the transformation that African continent has gone through for more than ten years, has also had a great impact on the incidents in Mali. For the time being, even though most of the states in Northern Africa have been historically within French sphere of influence, it is also predicted that the US will emerge as a dominant actor in this region in the forthcoming period. It is also evident that strong regional actors such as China, India and Brazil will try to get involved in the region as far as they can, due to the rich natural resources of the region. In this context, Mali comes into prominence among various states of the region, because it serves as an intersection among Africa’s critical regions of Maghreb, Sahel, Sahara and the Gulf of Guinea.
Turkey: The New Security Paradigm And A Proactive Foreign Policy
From: Turkish Analyst Journal
Changes in its own region and across the world have made it necessary for Turkey to develop a new security paradigm. An important dimension of this paradigm is a settlement process aimed at having the PKK abandon the use of weapons and building peace. Launching a ‘peace process’ aimed at having the PKK give up the use of guns and establishing peace is, to a large degree, linked to the new security paradigm and state mentality which Turkey has been obliged to develop in the face of changing regional and global circumstances. Undoubtedly the official mentality is not the only reason why the settlement process has been started but it is an important one. Mention of an official mentality does not imply any denial of the fact that the main area for the settlement process will be politics. The letter from the PKK’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, that was read out during the Nevruz celebrations contained references to regional and global developments and also consigned some things to history and thus confirms this interpretation. The Israeli apology to Turkey is also an initiative with important consequences for the Arab Spring and developments in the region, and Turkey’s role in relation to them.
Changes in its own region and across the world have made it necessary for Turkey to develop a new security paradigm. An important dimension of this paradigm is a settlement process aimed at having the PKK abandon the use of weapons and building peace. Launching a ‘peace process’ aimed at having the PKK give up the use of guns and establishing peace is, to a large degree, linked to the new security paradigm and state mentality which Turkey has been obliged to develop in the face of changing regional and global circumstances. Undoubtedly the official mentality is not the only reason why the settlement process has been started but it is an important one. Mention of an official mentality does not imply any denial of the fact that the main area for the settlement process will be politics. The letter from the PKK’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, that was read out during the Nevruz celebrations contained references to regional and global developments and also consigned some things to history and thus confirms this interpretation. The Israeli apology to Turkey is also an initiative with important consequences for the Arab Spring and developments in the region, and Turkey’s role in relation to them.
North Korea’s ‘Ranting And Raving’ Threatens China’s Strategic Interests
From: Richard Rosseau
North Korea’s continuous war of rhetoric in the wake of recent United Nations condemnations may appear absurd to most people at first glance. Yet it actually has its own logic, and it is not a totally crazy logic. In fact, the third nuclear test, the launch of a satellite in last December and the ensuing ’frenzied’ language used during the joint U.S-South Korea military exercises reflect the hopes and ambitions of President Kim Jong-Un to kill two birds with one stone, or perhaps more appropriately, to have his cake and to eat it too.
India And Pakistan: Tracing The Nuclear Trajectory
From: IPCS
One of the open secrets of the Indian security establishment is the evolution of its nuclear weapons capability. The process did not follow any established norms that guide the discernment of theory into a security strategy or the rendition of technology into a nuclear stockpile. Rather, its development was driven by a single-point politico-scientific coterie stirred by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) combine. The leadership neither saw strategic significance in a more eclectic approach nor clarity that a theory did not endanger political ideology or scientific savvy, but was an instrument to fertilise both.
Global Food Prices Continue to Rise
From: Resilience
Continuing a decade-long increase, global food prices rose 2.7 percent in 2012, reaching levels not seen since the 1960s and 1970s but still well below the price spike of 1974. Between 2000 and 2012, the World Bank global food price index increased 104.5 percent, at an average annual rate of 6.5 percent. The price increases reverse a previous trend when real prices of food commodities declined at an average annual rate of 0.6 percent from 1960 to 1999, approaching historic lows. The sustained price decline can be attributed to farmers’ success in keeping crop yields ahead of rising worldwide food demand. Although the global population grew by 3.8 billion or 122.9 percent between 1961 and 2010, net per capita food production increased by 49 percent over this period. Advances in crop breeding and an expansion of agricultural land drove this rise in production, as farmers cultivated an additional 434 million hectares between 1961 and 2010.
Pakistan : vers un nouvel équilibre diplomatique ?
From: Diploweb
Géopolitique du Pakistan. Alors que les relations entre Washington et Islamabad s’apparentent à une succession de crises diplomatiques, le Pakistan consolide ses liens stratégiques régionaux avec la Chine et l’Iran. « Relations internationales » : cette nouvelle rubrique du Diploweb.com analyse un thème précis à travers différentes publications dans une autre langue que le français, issues de revues ou d’instituts spécialisés dans les relations internationales. L’objectif est ici de présenter une étude approfondie d’un sujet ayant fait l’objet d’un traitement médiatique particulier durant les dernières semaines. Cette édition présente des publications en langue anglaise : Foreing Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations, Business Standard.
PEUT-ON ENCORE considérer Pakistanais et Américains comme des pays alliés ? De nombreux analystes estiment en effet que les intérêts communs aux deux Etats ne sont plus suffisants pour garantir une union politique.
The Diversified Employment of China's Armed Forces
From: Ministry of National Defense
In today's world, peace and development
are facing new opportunities and challenges. It is a historic mission entrusted
by the era to people of all nations to firmly grasp the opportunities, jointly
meet the challenges, cooperatively maintain security and collectively achieve
development. It
is China China China China China
Turkey Blocks NATO Meeting With Israel
From: Defense News
Despite a recent, partial thaw in its problematic diplomatic ties with one-time ally Israel, Turkey has declined to agree to a meeting of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue group, which includes Israel and six Arab countries, Turkish diplomats here said. They said Egypt also declined to convene the group for the first time in five years. A NATO official in Brussels declined to comment.
Argentina y Bélgica suscriben un acuerdo para la capacitación en misiones de paz
From: Defensa
El ministro de Defensa, Arturo Puricelli, firmó un acuerdo técnico con su par de Bélgica, Piete de Crem, para que oficiales de las Fuerzas Armadas del país europeo participen como alumnos e instructores en diversos cursos que se dictan en el Centro Argentino de Entrenamiento Conjunto para la Paz. El ministro Puricelli destacó que “el objetivo de este encuentro bilateral es intensificar las relaciones entre la Argentina y el Reino de Bélgica en materia de Defensa.El acuerdo suscripto deja establecidos todos los derechos y obligaciones de las partes para hacer más fácil y dinámica la participación de militares argentinos en centros de entrenamiento belgas y viceversa”.
El ministro de Defensa, Arturo Puricelli, firmó un acuerdo técnico con su par de Bélgica, Piete de Crem, para que oficiales de las Fuerzas Armadas del país europeo participen como alumnos e instructores en diversos cursos que se dictan en el Centro Argentino de Entrenamiento Conjunto para la Paz. El ministro Puricelli destacó que “el objetivo de este encuentro bilateral es intensificar las relaciones entre la Argentina y el Reino de Bélgica en materia de Defensa.El acuerdo suscripto deja establecidos todos los derechos y obligaciones de las partes para hacer más fácil y dinámica la participación de militares argentinos en centros de entrenamiento belgas y viceversa”.
China’s Defense Paper Stresses New Military Employment
From: Defense Talk
China on Tuesday issued a white paper on national defense elaborating on its new security challenges in peacetime and the employment of armed forces to cope with them. The document, the eighth of its kind issued by the Chinese government since 1998, warns that the Asia-Pacific region has become an increasingly significant stage for world economic development and strategic interaction between major powers. “The United States is adjusting its Asia-Pacific security strategy, and the regional landscape is undergoing profound changes,” the paper said. The paper warns that China still faces multiple and complicated security threats and challenges. The issues of subsistence and development security and traditional and non-traditional threats to security are interwoven, the document says. “Therefore China has an arduous task to safeguard its national unification, territorial integrity and development interests,” it says.
Before the Collapse, a Call to Action
From: Counterpunch
Before we get to the impact of the Obama budget, let’s explode a critical myth: there is no recovery (at least for the 99%). Last month’s unemployment numbers revealed the fraud of the unemployment rate. Even though the country produced less than 90,000 new jobs, when over 120,000 are needed to keep up with growth, the unemployment rate declined. Why? Because hundreds of thousands are giving up on work each month and they don’t get counted.
The Mindset of North Korean Elites: what's really going on?
From: Counterpunch
On March 27 Kim Jong-un, the “Dear Respected Marshal” and leader the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, severed the last military hotline between North and South. Three days later he announced that the DPRK was renouncing the armistice agreement of 1953 and “entering the state of war.” On April 2 he announced the reactivation of a plutonium reactor closed in 2007, and the closure of Kaesong Industrial Park the next day. (Pyongyang bravely declared that it receives “few economic benefits from the zone,” where 53,000 North Koreans work for 123 South Korean companies, “while the South side largely benefits from it.”) On April 4 U.S. intelligence reported movement of a medium-range missile to an eastern location for possible testing. The next day British and Russian diplomats reported that their missions in Pyongyang had been encouraged to evacuate family members.
Afghan opium cultivation likely to rise, UN reports
From: Stripes
Opium cultivation is expected to increase across Afghanistan, and in several areas where the crop had previously been eliminated production has resumed, according to a U.N. report released Monday. Despite years of efforts by the NATO-led military coalition and the Afghan government, only the western province of Herat is expected to see a decrease in production this year, according to the report. Afghanistan is the world’s main producer of poppy, which is used to make heroin and provides significant funding for insurgent groups. “The findings of the 2013 Opium Risk Assessment in the Southern, Eastern, Western and Central regions points to a worrying situation,” the report says.
Open letter to al-Zawahiri rocks foundations of Somalia's al-Shabaab
From: Al-Shorfa
The year-long internal crisis within al-Shabaab intensified this month after the group's second-in-command sent a stinging criticism of its leadership to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
![A series of videos featuring Abu Mansour al-Amriki have contributed to the crisis within al-Shabaab's ranks. [File]](http://al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/04/16/amriki-final-appeal-600_384.jpg)
"If we are afraid of foreign players stealing the outcomes of jihad, today we are witnessing a reality that indicates that an internal deviation could lead to losing the profits of our effort in vain," Ibrahim al-Afghani said in an open letter released April 6th on a number of jihadist websites.
He said he felt compelled to write the missive, titled "An Open Letter to Our Amir Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri", "on behalf of the silent majority" of al-Shabaab fighters.
Syria's Jabhat al-Nusra seeks direct relationship with al-Qaeda leadership
From: Al-Shorfa
Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's announcement that his group had merged with the Syrian group Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN) marks a remarkable development in the modus operandi of armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Middle East. The announcement not only confirmed what analysts have been saying for months about the link between ISI and JAN, but was remarkable in the sense that JAN leader Abu Mohammed al-Joulani hastened to refute the announcement of JAN's merger with ISI, al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq, and instead "renewed the bayaa" (oath of allegiance) to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. What could the two contradictory announcements by the leaders of al-Qaeda branches in Iraq and Syria signify?
Monday, April 15, 2013
Once Again, El Salvador Ignores Narco-Congress Links
From: Insight
El Salvador's security minister claimed that no members of Congress were accused of ties to a recently-captured drug trafficker known as "El Repollo," but was forced to backtrack when facts emerged telling a different story. It is not the first time; it is only the most recent. Last week, two journalistic investigations revealed that the Salvadoran state -- the Attorney General’s Office, the National Police (PNC) and the Security Ministry -- ignored clues that tied one member of Congress, Wilber Rivera Monge, to Jorge Ulloa Sibrian, alias "Repollo," a drug trafficker accused of transporting at least 10 tons of cocaine from El Salvador to the United States, while Guatemalan authorities accuse him of shipping another 6 tons northwards.
El Salvador's security minister claimed that no members of Congress were accused of ties to a recently-captured drug trafficker known as "El Repollo," but was forced to backtrack when facts emerged telling a different story. It is not the first time; it is only the most recent. Last week, two journalistic investigations revealed that the Salvadoran state -- the Attorney General’s Office, the National Police (PNC) and the Security Ministry -- ignored clues that tied one member of Congress, Wilber Rivera Monge, to Jorge Ulloa Sibrian, alias "Repollo," a drug trafficker accused of transporting at least 10 tons of cocaine from El Salvador to the United States, while Guatemalan authorities accuse him of shipping another 6 tons northwards.
Is Libya’s Energy Future Green?
From: Geopolitical Monitor
A few years back, an article appeared in the Tripoli Post outlining Libya’s energy prospects for Europe. What made the article different, however, was its focus on solar power rather than oil as the Libyan asset appealing to European clients across the sea. It’s not often one hears about Libya’s energy portfolio outside of oil and gas. Since the discovery of oil in 1959, Libya’s economic progress has been driven by hydrocarbon profits. Typically, oil and gas wealth has represented up to 90% of Libya’s income. Nonetheless, renewable energy has been a part of Libya’s energy policy since the 1970’s. Libya’s Center for Solar Energy Research and Studies was established in 1978. In 2007, Libya also created the Renewable Energy Authority. The Authority’s Planning and Studies Department was working on structured plans for balancing renewable and traditional energy sources as recently as 2011.
A few years back, an article appeared in the Tripoli Post outlining Libya’s energy prospects for Europe. What made the article different, however, was its focus on solar power rather than oil as the Libyan asset appealing to European clients across the sea. It’s not often one hears about Libya’s energy portfolio outside of oil and gas. Since the discovery of oil in 1959, Libya’s economic progress has been driven by hydrocarbon profits. Typically, oil and gas wealth has represented up to 90% of Libya’s income. Nonetheless, renewable energy has been a part of Libya’s energy policy since the 1970’s. Libya’s Center for Solar Energy Research and Studies was established in 1978. In 2007, Libya also created the Renewable Energy Authority. The Authority’s Planning and Studies Department was working on structured plans for balancing renewable and traditional energy sources as recently as 2011.
Gaza’s Siege Intensifies: The Plan to ‘Moderate’ Hamas, Control Gaza
From: Foreign Policy Journal
On Sep. 17, 2012, Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, made another appeal to his Egyptian counterpart Hisham Kandil to consider setting up a free trade area between Gaza and Egypt.
“We explained the concept in detail … the idea is to alleviate the economic hardship in Gaza,” Hamas official, Taher al-Nono was then quoted by Reuters. Kandil promised to look into the matter, indicating that it was too early for a response.The reasonable idea would allow Egypt to support Gaza’s ragged economy while sparing Cairo the political fallout from destroying hundreds of tunnels that provide 1.6 million Palestinians a lifeline under a continued Israeli siege. Palestinians in Gaza rely on goods smuggled through tunnels and, to a lesser extent, United Nations handouts to survive.
Foreign Intervention In The Syrian Conflict
From: Oriental Review
The increased foreign intervention in Syria’s internal conflict suggests that the anti-Assad coalition is preparing for the end of the “battle for Syria.” In northern Jordan, a training camp with mockups of typical Syrian towns and an airport has been established alongside the military training range for soldiers of the royal guard and special operations force units. Syrian security forces near Deraa have discovered a secret Jabhat al-Nusra weapons cache with ATGMs brought across the border from Jordan at the direction of Saudi intelligence as part of a plan to create a “liberated area” in the southern part of the country.
The Search For A Strategic Vision In Turkish-Vietnamese Relations
From: JTW
Both Turkey and Vietnam have drawn attention to themselves with their economic development performance during recent years. Vietnam is steadily turning into one of the most important economies not only of ASEAN but also of the whole Asia-Pacific region. On the other hand Turkey has been a member of the EU Customs Union since 1996 and has become one of the most dynamic economies in the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean basin. The past few years have also witnessed attempts to further the relations between these two rising global economies Turkey and Vietnam. One example is a seminar entitled “Vietnam and Turkey in the New Development Context” jointly organized by the Institute for Africa and Middle East Studies (IAMES) of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), the Centre for Strategic Research (SAM) of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Turkish Embassy in Hanoi and held at the VASS Headquarters in Hanoi, on April 5, 2013. This seminar also carries a special significance, in that it is the first international gathering that deals with Turkish-Vietnamese relations. The seminar drew an illustration of the existing bilateral relations in all their dimensions, it also investigated possible areas of cooperation as well as existing problems and methods for resolving them. The conference also covered the contemporary foreign policy strategies and economic policies of Turkey and Vietnam.
Prospect Of Elimination Of Maoists In India’s Jharkhand Now Real
From: New Indian Express
For the state’s counter-Maoist strategy, the intervening night of March 27-28 brought a landmark success. In Jharkhand’s Lakarbandha forests in Chatra district, 10 CPI-Maoist cadres, including a number of key leaders, were killed by the outfit’s bete noire, the Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC). Twelve more cadres were arrested and subsequently released by the TPC after they promised not to be Maoist cadres any longer.
Like all narratives that emerge from the extremism-affected dark lands of the country, the episode has already set off a chain of controversies. The Jharkhand Police remain glued to their theory of internecine clash between the TPC and CPI-Maoist being responsible for the killing of the Maoists. On the other hand, the CPI-Maoist press release blames the TPC for advancing the cause of the state and indulging in the “gruesome mass killing”. Whether it was a success by default or by design for the state, would perhaps remain a matter of debate for long.
In any event, the setbacks are perfectly in order with the declining trend of CPI-Maoist violence in Jharkhand and across the country. The outfit lost 2,396 cadres to killings, arrests and surrenders in 2012, of which 390 were in Jharkhand. Similarly, in 2011, of the 2,523 Maoists neutralised, 413 were from Jharkhand. Of the 29 security forces killed in 2012 in Jharkhand, at least 22 were killed in landmine explosions, demonstrating the fact that the Maoists have retreated from direct confrontation with the security force personnel. Much of this success is as much due to the security force operations as the factionalism among the extremists.
That the TPC operates in tandem with the police is a familiar narrative in Jharkhand. In a state where state capacities vis-a-vis the Maoists once were non-existent, the police did exploit the division among the extremists. Yet, this is not typical to Jharkhand. The strategy of playing one outfit against the other is age-old, applied with varying degree of success and failures in Indian conflict theatres.
Not surprisingly, in a state where Maoists versus security forces encounters hog media headlines regularly, very few encounters have taken place between the police and TPC. Barring the lone incident in which TPC cadres opened fire on the escort vehicle of Latehar district police chief on February 5 this year, no armed encounter between the security forces and the TPC was reported either in 2012 or 2011. In spite of the fact that the outfit, a splinter group of the CPI-Maoist, has undergone a split itself, it appears to have benefited from a security force strategy that focused more on outfits like the People’s Liberation Front of India. TPC has grown substantially in size and weapons holding in the recent past.
In hindsight, the Maoist blind expansion strategy accounts for its tactical and strategic failure. Post-2004 merger that brought the Maoist Communist Centre and the People’s War Group together in the form of the CPI-Maoist, the bid to overwhelm the Indian state, the outfit’s attempt to build up a large army of fighters, produced an instant casualty, i.e. the commitment of the new cadres to the ideology of the party. Similarly, the great degree of functional autonomy the outfit’s central command provided to its state units to carry out anti-state activities, degenerated into mindless violence without necessarily advancing its core objectives. Once the less committed deserted the party, in search of more funds and other benefits, the state was quick to turn them against their former comrades. Delayed response from the CPI-Maoist to stop internecine clashes, in the form of a cessation of violence declaration in June 2012, apparently did not help.
An existential crisis now faces the CPI-Maoist in a state that contributes enormously to its war chest. The probable loss of Jharkhand combined with the setbacks in West Bengal and Odisha it has received, could push the outfit into becoming mostly a one-state wonder, with its operations confined to Chhattisgarh alone. In such a scenario, a range of efforts combining a serious attempt to preserve its cadres and reclaim the lost territories can be in the offing.
Jharkhand, on the other hand, faces the dual challenge of dealing with the CPI-Maoist’s remnants and also, keeping the violence by non-CPI-Maoist outfits under check, which accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the recorded violence in the state. Unlike Andhra Pradesh, where none filled up the vacuum created by the weakening of the CPI-Maoist, many candidates could be aspiring to fill the outfit’s shoes.
Russia And Central Asia: Do All Central Asian Roads Still Lead To Russia?
From: Center for Strategic Studies
Given its role as the region’s former coloniser, Russia is quite oftenly characterized as a legacy player in Central Asia. By 1873, Russia completed the conquest of the region and Central Asia remained part of, first Tsarist Russia and afterwards Soviet Union until 1991. This long historical relationship provided Moscow with many leverages of influences in the region such as human relations, cultural and language influence, exictense of influential russian minority, ecocnomic and transportation links etc. that Russia’s other global competitors do not benefit from. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, when other foreign powers also got opportunity to cultivate independent relationship with Central Asian countries, Moscow has been trying to prevent the rise of any other state’s influence in the region. In 1993, Russia adopted new foreign policy doctrine which declared Central Asia as part of Russia’s ‘near-abroad area’ – Moscow’s privilidged zone of interests.
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