America’s Post World War II Global Dominance Has Just Ended

America’s Post World War II Global Dominance Has Just Ended (Source globalresearch.ca)Here is what has just happened (as reported in German Economic News, and translated by me), which virtually brings down the curtains on America’s dominance of the world — a dominance that started when World War II ended in 1945. Washington nervous: China, Japan and South Korea forge an Alliance.” This news story reports:

“For the first time in three years, the foreign ministers of the three countries met. They agreed on Saturday in Seoul to work towards a summit of their leaders, and to take on problems with the interpretation of history [which have separated them till now]. They also expressed their intention to continue to work for a free trade agreement and for new multi-party talks on North Korea’s controversial nuclear program.” Here’s the important context of that: The U.S. in WW II conquered Japan, which had invaded China and conquered Korea; but, now, Japan, China and South Korea are moving toward one-another, while China, and indirectly the BRICS group of rising economic powers as a whole — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — are making their move past the previous U.S.-European control of the world. Furthermore, these Asian powers are collectively inviting North Korea to move toward them, and to join this group, which would finally bring an end to the stalemated hostilities between South and North Korea. And, in addition: for these three economic powerhouses to “work for a free trade agreement” that’s outside the orbit of Obama’s secret negotiations for his TPP or Trans-Pacific Partnership with them, may mean that they all will be less likely to accept the trade-deal that he is trying to negotiate collectively with them.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Russia to build Jordan’s first nuclear power plant

Russia to build Jordan’s first nuclear power plant (Source Aljazeera.com) Jordan has signed a $10bn deal with Russia to build the kingdom’s first nuclear power plant, with two 1,000-megawatt reactors in the country’s north. The deal, signed in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Tuesday caps efforts of the energy-poor kingdom to attain energy sufficiency and reduce imports in this area. Jordan lacks any local energy sources and imports 96 percent of its electricity. The violence in neighbouring Iraq and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has threatened and in many cases, completely cut off electricity supplies in Jordan. According to the state’s Petra news agency, Jordan plans to finish construction of the plant in Amra by 2022. There are hope it will be fueled with uranium mined in Jordan. The deal was signed with Russia’s state-owned Rosatom company. “As you know, we lost the oil from Iraq, natural gas from Egypt, and the country has been bleeding and losing on an average $3bn every year,” said Khalid Toukan, head of the Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission. “Nuclear power is definitely one of the solutions to graduate from total dependency on oil and gas,” he added. “I am optimistic that the raw materials, the yellow cake, will come from Jordan.” He was referring to the kingdom’s large uranium deposits discovered in 2007 but still undeveloped.

Pentagon Sending Troops Into Ukraine in April

PENTAGON SENDING TROOPS INTO UKRAINE IN APRIL (Source FDL) According to a Department of Defense press release, the Pentagon is sending 290 US service members into Ukraine to train Ukrainian military units in April. The training will reportedly occur in the Ukrainian city of Yavoriv near the Ukraine-Poland border. The US soldiers will be from the173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy. The basis for the training mission, per the press release, is to further “ongoing efforts to help sustain Ukraine’s defense and internal security operations. In particular, the training will help the Ukraine government develop its National Guard to conduct internal defense operations.” As Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland herself pointed out before Congress, the US does not have a defense treaty with Ukraine making the act of sending in troops to train Ukraine forces seemingly inappropriate if not openly provocative to Russia. Or maybe that’s the point? The government in Kiev is struggling to maintain order and has been jailing journalists and others for opposing the draft and the continued war with separatists in the east. The government also faces an increasing threat from neofascist militias known as “volunteers” that it once empowered. The militias have become antagonistic of the government and threatened to overthrow it for failing to crush the separatists. President Poroshenko’s attempts to consolidate power have been made easier by a wave of apparent suicides by former officials of overthrown President Viktor Yanukovich. Whether a weakened opposition is enough to help him fend off disaster remains to be seen as the Ukrainian economy poses just as much of a threat to his rule as the neofascist militias. Yesterday Ukraine’s finance minister warned that Ukraine could be forced into defaulting on its debts if there was not a restructuring soon.

Russia to Unveil Robot Army at Arms Expo

Russia to Unveil Robot Army at Arms Expo (Source Newsweek) The Russian Ministry of Defence’s robotics centre is due to unveil its range of ongoing projects with unmanned military vehicles and robots in an upcoming arms manufacture expo this summer, according to Russian new agency Itar-Tass. According to the Russian defence ministry’s “scientific development centre for robotechnics” Russia’s latest ventures into the design and manufacture of unmanned aerial and marine vehicles as well as military “robots” will be on show in the Armiya 2015 expo outside Moscow this June. The event will provide a glimpse into Russia’s wide ranging developments in arms manufacturing and will showcase around 5,000 different examples of Russian military engineering this year, and provide a working demonstration of some of the armed forces’ experimental high-tech units. The remote controlled rocket strike system Platform-M was unveiled less than a year ago and has already been reported to be in use by the Russian armed forces. The device is armed with a grenade launcher and a machine-gun system for combat without direct contact with the enemy. Even more in the vein of a real-life Terminator, Russia is also set to test the anthropomorphic robot “Avatar” (pictured) by the end of the year which is supported by the state-run Fund for Advanced Studies (FPI). Russian president Vladimir Putin has already observed the Avatar robot design earlier this year, and the humanoid machine is set to be tested on its abilities to operate vehicles and machinery in an obstacle course. Russia is also developing what are being referred to as sapper robots, which are intended to clear the way for ground troops in mine fields – Uran 6 and a larger unit working on a similar platform called Uran 14 which is also capable of putting out fires and clearing debris. Russian university students in Kursk, western Russia are currently developing what they are calling an underwater reconnaissance robot for the Ministry of Defence which will be tested in the summer and is planned to enter production in the fall. The Orlan-10 surveillance drone is among the vehicles which have already been tested, while Russian arms contractor Rostec is also currently announced it is developing the amphibious drone Chirok which will be capable of carrying bombs and explosives. Rostec also said earlier this month that they are developing equipment which will allow soldiers to receive instant updates from surveillance drones via encrypted channels about the tactical environment they are in – a system which will be integrated in the standard soldier’s uniform vest. The project has been labelled “the Soldier of the Future”.

 

Russia to Unveil Robot Army at Arms Expo

Russia to Unveil Robot Army at Arms Expo (Source Newsweek) The Russian Ministry of Defence’s robotics centre is due to unveil its range of ongoing projects with unmanned military vehicles and robots in an upcoming arms manufacture expo this summer, according to Russian new agency Itar-Tass. According to the Russian defence ministry’s “scientific development centre for robotechnics” Russia’s latest ventures into the design and manufacture of unmanned aerial and marine vehicles as well as military “robots” will be on show in the Armiya 2015 expo outside Moscow this June. The event will provide a glimpse into Russia’s wide ranging developments in arms manufacturing and will showcase around 5,000 different examples of Russian military engineering this year, and provide a working demonstration of some of the armed forces’ experimental high-tech units. The remote controlled rocket strike system Platform-M was unveiled less than a year ago and has already been reported to be in use by the Russian armed forces. The device is armed with a grenade launcher and a machine-gun system for combat without direct contact with the enemy. Even more in the vein of a real-life Terminator, Russia is also set to test the anthropomorphic robot “Avatar” (pictured) by the end of the year which is supported by the state-run Fund for Advanced Studies (FPI). Russian president Vladimir Putin has already observed the Avatar robot design earlier this year, and the humanoid machine is set to be tested on its abilities to operate vehicles and machinery in an obstacle course. Russia is also developing what are being referred to as sapper robots, which are intended to clear the way for ground troops in mine fields – Uran 6 and a larger unit working on a similar platform called Uran 14 which is also capable of putting out fires and clearing debris. Russian university students in Kursk, western Russia are currently developing what they are calling an underwater reconnaissance robot for the Ministry of Defence which will be tested in the summer and is planned to enter production in the fall. The Orlan-10 surveillance drone is among the vehicles which have already been tested, while Russian arms contractor Rostec is also currently announced it is developing the amphibious drone Chirok which will be capable of carrying bombs and explosives. Rostec also said earlier this month that they are developing equipment which will allow soldiers to receive instant updates from surveillance drones via encrypted channels about the tactical environment they are in – a system which will be integrated in the standard soldier’s uniform vest. The project has been labelled “the Soldier of the Future”.

 

Putin says Russia will stand firm in standoff with West

Putin says Russia will stand firm in standoff with West (Source AP) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday voiced confidence that Russia will come out as a winner in its standoff with the West if it firmly stands its ground. Speaking before senior officials of the Federal Security Service, the main successor to the KGB agency, Putin said “the situation around our country will change for the better, but not because we will make concessions, bend down or trifle with someone.” “It will change for the better only if we become stronger,”.The Russian leader accused the West of using “attempts at political isolation, economic pressure, large-scale information war and instruments of special services” to weaken Russia. He named the deployment of NATO’s forces near Russian borders, the development of the alliance’s U.S.-led missile defense program, and a U.S. program of developing high-precision long-range conventional weapons among the top threats. “No one has succeeded in scaring our country or pressuring it and no one will,” he added. Russia’s relations with the West have plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War over the Ukrainian crisis. The United States and the European Union have slapped painful economic sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Putin, a KGB veteran, praised the agency, known under its Russian acronym FSB, for its efforts to catch foreign spies, saying it exposed 52 foreign intelligence officers and 290 of their agents last year alone. He added that a top priority for the FSB now should be tracking Russian citizens who have left to fight alongside the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. “Later they could be used against us, against Russia and its neighbors,” Putin said. “So it’s important to take additional measures to cut international links and resource base of the terrorists, block avenues for their entry and exit from Russia.”

Marijuana Science: Why Today’s Pot Packs a Bigger Punch

 Marijuana Science: Why Today’s Pot Packs a Bigger Punch (Source Live Science) The marijuana that is available today may be much more potent than marijuana cultivated in the past, according to the results of new tests. The psychoactive component in the marijuana plant is the chemical THC, and the new tests showed that today’s marijuana may contain 30 percent THC, Andy LaFrate, the author of the new report, said in a statement. By contrast, THC levels in marijuana 30 years ago were lower than 10 percent, said LaFrate, who is the president and research director at Charas Scientific, one of eight labs certified by the state of Colorado to conduct marijuana potency testing. “As far as potency goes, it’s been surprising how strong a lot of the marijuana is,” LaFrate said. He called 30 percent a “huge” number. At the same time, the marijuana samples tested had very low levels of a compound called cannabidiol, or CBD, that is touted for its medicinal properties. In fact, some samples did not contain any of this compound. Researchers are investigating CBD for its potential in treating people with schizophrenia, Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Still, even marijuana with low or nonexistent CBD levels has medicinal properties, said Anthony Fabrizio, a marijuana chemistry expert at Terra Tech Corp, a California agricultural company focused on local farming and medical cannabis.

Washington Misses Bigger Picture of New Chinese Investment

Washington Misses Bigger Picture of New Chinese Investment Bank (Source globalresearch.ca)

Virtually all of the closest European allies of the United States, beginning with Britain, defied pressure from Washington by deciding to apply for founding membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). This Chinese initiative could quickly rival the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank as a major source of funding for big development projects across Eurasia. The new bank, which offers a serious multilateral alternative to the Western-dominated international financial institutions (IFIs) established in the post-World War II order, is expected to attract about three dozen initial members, including all of China’s Asian neighbors (with the possible exception of Japan). Australia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf states are also likely to join by the March 31 deadline set by Beijing for prospective co-founders to apply. Its $50 billion in initial capital is expected to double with the addition of new members, and that amount could quickly grow given China’s $3 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves. More details about the bank can be found in a helpful Q&A here at the Council on Foreign Relations website. Along with the so-called BRICS bank—whose membership so far is limited to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—the AIIB poses a real “challenge to the existing global economic order,” which, of course, Western nations have dominated since the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the final days of World War II. As one unnamed European official told The New York Times, “We have moved from the world of 1945.” But the main point here is that official Washington—including Republicans in Congress and the mainstream media—is not paying adequate attention to major shifts in the global order and how isolated the United States has become vis-à-vis the “international community,” especially its most important allies. It’s very difficult to exercise global “leadership” when you’ve isolated yourself from the rest of the world and fail to take account of how much the world has changed from that much-cherished “unipolar moment.”

Russia is flexing its muscles in Central America

Russia is flexing its muscles in Central America (Source Yahoo News) A Serbian MiG-29 Russia has once again started to flex its muscles in a bid to rebuild its influence in the Central American state of Nicaragua, McClatchy DC reports. Moscow may strike a possible arms deal with Nicaragua that would provide the Central American country with fighter jets. Although details of the deal have not been revealed, there are rumors in local papers from both countries that suggest that Russia could provide MiG-29 fighter aircraft. Nicaragua has said that it needs the fighters to help fight the drug trade. However, the US and neighboring states are concerned that the arms deal is a way for Russia to make its presence felt in a region close to the US in retribution for what Moscow perceives as Western meddling in Ukraine and the Baltics.

“One doesn’t combat drug trafficking with that kind of heavy military equipment for fighting wars,” Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel González said in late February. McClatchy notes that Nicaragua’s possible acquisition would create “an imbalance for the region,” according to a former armed forces commander in Honduras. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will arrive in Nicaragua this week. In February, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu paid a two-day visit to the country and touted a new topographic center set up by Russian specialists.  “We hope that the center will make a significant contribution to improving the combat capabilities of units and formations of the army of Nicaragua, which will benefit the Nicaraguan people,” Shoigu said at the opening ceremony.

Russia controls this vital strategic exclave in the heart of NATO-allied eastern Europe

Russia controls this vital strategic exclave in the heart of NATO-allied eastern Europe (Source businessinsider.com) The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad is a political and geographic anomaly. Separated from Russia and situated on the Baltic Sea, the region is surrounded by NATO-member states Poland and Lithuania. It’s closer to Berlin and Prague than it is to Moscow and St Petersburg. Until 1945, Kaliningrad was known as Königsberg, the former capital of East Prussia. But after its World War II victory over Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union annexed the city and the surrounding area, which served as a strategically vital warm-water port on the Baltic. The Soviets mounted a policy of Russification, and what was once an overwhelmingly German quickly took on its current, Russian character. Throughout the Cold War, Kaliningrad was as a dagger pointed at Scandinavia and Central Europe. That part of the Baltic coast was one of the most heavily militarized regions in the USSR. The exclave still has great military and strategic value for Moscow, especially given Russian president Vladimir Putin’s appetite for stirring up trouble with his neighbors. Russia’s new military doctrine named Kaliningrad as one of three fronts for militarization and Moscow sent nuclear capable missiles to the region as part of war games last week.