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Christoph Zed

War Profiteers?: Study Reveals Germany Is World's Third Largest Defense Exporter - SPIE... - 0 views

www.spiegel.de/...0,1518,553755,00.html

economics germany export defense military EU Europe globalisation markets

shared by Christoph Zed on 30 Aug 09 - Cached
  • Germany Is World's Third Largest Defense Exporter
  • Once one of the world's most aggressive powers, Germany today likes to project a pacifist image
  • a report released yesterday by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), a German think tank, reveals a different side of Germany's relationship to war.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Germany, it turns out, exports nearly a billion euros worth of military goods each year ($1.55 billion) to developing countries.
  • That makes Germany the European Union's biggest military goods exporter, and worldwide it's behind only the US and Russia,
  • The BICC's annual report, guest-authored by former UN Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix, focused on the rise of military spending all over the world, a development that the end of the Cold War was supposed to reverse. Instead, global spending on weapons and armies rose by 15 percent between 2001 and 2006. Today it tops €650 billion ($1.1 trillion). A third of that is spent by the US.
  • "We see a revival of Cold War politics without the Cold War -- a Cold Peace, if you will."
  • "Apart from America there are a number of fast-growing countries -- like China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan, not to mention Russia -- where the global trend towards militarization is showing itself most clearly,"
Shalini Raj

China's Communists Mark 60 Years in Power With Beijing Parade - Bloomberg.com - 0 views

www.bloomberg.com/...news

shared by Shalini Raj on 01 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Christoph Zed on 04 Oct 09
     
    The parade, in best old school communist tradition, is quite an interesting national display of power at this time. While it is predominantly aimed at the Chinese public (though not all, as access to the event was strictly controlled and limited) broadcast by national TV throughout the "Reich der Mitte" it is reinforcing the identity of a military super power, solid leadership and military state institutions, it also serves in a sense as a means of justification and proof for successful ideology to the ruling elite. And of course the display is aimed at the rest of the world, showing that China is a power to be reckoned with, not just economically but also in regards to it's military - just in case anyone has had any doubt. But is that a message the west needs to be reminded of? With the cold war over, and globalization making a path for cooperation and convergence of east and west in both in the economic and political arena, maybe the display is aimed at old friends eg. Russia and possible future "problems" (from a chinese point of view) such as Iran or N.Korea, who are working towards a stronger military recognition and/or are in strong competition with the market powers China has been able to built up eg: India, Japan.
fiona hou

A military coup in Honduras puts Latin America's fragile democracy in peril, reports Ri... - 0 views

www.newint.org/...out-of-the-barracks

Latin America's fragile democracy

shared by fiona hou on 14 Aug 09 - Cached
  • fiona hou on 14 Aug 09
     
    A military coup in Honduras puts Latin America's fragile democracy in peril.
Christoph Zed

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | The rise of Israel's military rabbis - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8232340.stm

war religion

shared by Christoph Zed on 08 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Military rabbis are becoming more powerful. Trained in warfare as well as religion, new army regulations mean they are now part of a military elite.
  • One of their main duties is to boost soldiers' morale and drive, even on the front line.
  • The 19-year-olds I spoke to at the seminary told me religious soldiers like them can make the army behave better and become "more moral".
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  • The settlement issue could well tear the army apart, he told me, adding that most of his officers were settlers these days.
  • "The morals of the battlefield cannot come from a religious authority. Once it does, it's Jihad. I know people will not like that word but that's what it is, Holy War. And once it's Holy War there are no limits."
Yair Frid

World Military Strength Ranking - 0 views

www.globalfirepower.com/index.asp

shared by Yair Frid on 17 Sep 09 - Cached
  • Yair Frid on 17 Sep 09
     
    Very cool and interesting page. Enjoy!!!
  • Christoph Zed on 19 Sep 09
     
    Interesting to see that 10 of the 30 are European states. No wonder Russia wasn't to happy about the US-Proposed Missile Defence Shield. (which will now not be built in Poland btw). Russia also wouldn't be happy about being ranked lower than China (and prbbly contest it) India's ranking could be seen as a surprise - at least compared to its media coverage in the west - and then of course Egypt is very interesting as well. These would help to explain the US's continued and long-standing commitment to these two countries especially.
Christoph Zed

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Suu Kyi 'welcomes US engagement' - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8272931.stm

US Asia hegemony politics government

shared by Christoph Zed on 25 Sep 09 - Cached
  • San Suu Kyi says she welcomes US plans to engage with the country's military rulers
  • Suu Kyi also wanted the US to engage with the political opposition.
  • direct engagement is good
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  • sanctions remained an important part of US policy but that "by themselves they have not produced the results that had been hoped for on behalf of the people of Burma"
  • US would be looking to employ both sanctions and engagement to "help achieve democratic reform" in Burma.
Christoph Zed

AFP: Kadhafi calls for 'NATO of the south' at Venezuela summit - 0 views

www.google.com/...M5hT-FqACs0lXzH9cRN-FW-VywSvNQ

nato politics power-play

shared by Christoph Zed on 28 Sep 09 - Cached
  • pushing for the creation of a "NATO of the South" by 2011 to counter the military bloc of the United States and European powers.
  • Energy infrastructure development and joint oil project cooperation were the central topics of the meeting,
  • Libya is the gateway to Africa for us because it is a country well-known for its socialist policies that plays an important and strategic role for us
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  • no global challenge in the 21st Century that cannot be tackled by Africa and South America, and there is no challenge that can be addressed without
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