Authored by Tom Luongo,
In 1989 Francis Fukayama declared that we had reached “The End of History.” Democracy as a form of government would, in fact, be the end of the evolution of human interaction. The West had triumphed and that the rest was ‘just a chase scene,’ to borrow a phrase from Neal Stephenson’s brilliant dystopian novel “Snow Crash.”
Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,
Trying to figure out what on earth is happening in the Middle East appears to have gotten a lot harder. Perhaps (because) it’s become more dangerous too. There are so many players, and connections between players, involved now that even making one of those schematic representations would never get it right. Too many unknown unknowns.
Early this morning, Israeli Channel 10 news published a leaked diplomatic cable which had been sent to all Israeli ambassadors throughout the world concerning the chaotic events that unfolded over the weekend in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, which began with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's unexpected resignation after he was summoned to Riyadh by his Saudi-backers, and led to the Saudis announcing that Lebanon had "declared war" against the kingdom.
Authored by Zainab Calcuttawala via OilPrice.com,
The Middle East isn’t yet ready to agree on the future of OPEC’s output reduction deal as the bloc’s November 30 summit approaches, during which the cartel is set to decide on the depth and length of the cuts one year from their initial approval.
Here are the three key geopolitical issues wreaking havoc on the region’s ability to collectively raise the price of oil.
1. The Trump Administration’s Ongoing Iran Nuclear Deal Drama
Authored by John Pilger via Counterpunch.org,
On 16 October, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation aired an interview with Hillary Clinton: one of many to promote her score-settling book about why she was not elected President of the United States.