As politicians and mainstream media blast Trump's apparently incendiary tweet regarding nuclear arms, none other than President Obama just signed legislation that, by striking a single word from longstanding US nuclear defence policy, could heighten tensions with Russia and China and launch the country on an expensive effort to build space-based defense systems.
Oh the irony... Following Trump's tweet...
Submitted by Federico Pieraccini via Strategic-Culture.org,
The previous article focused on the definition of an international order, globalization, geopolitical theories and how this has changed the notion with which a nation exercises control over a foreign country. In this second part I intend to examine the various geopolitical theories, their translations into modern concepts, and practical actions that the United States have undertaken in recent decades to aspire to global dominance.
The Strategy Of Rimland
Following yesterday's unexpected vote in the United Nations, when the United States broke with a long-standing approach of diplomatically shielding Israel, and did not wield its veto power as it had on many prior occasions - a decision Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called "shameful" - leading to the adoption of a resolution demanding an end to Israel settlement building, Israel said it would re-assess its ties with the United Nations. It also said it would not comply with the resolution, suggesting it may now be a "rogue nation" when it comes to UN enforcement.
All quiet since the end of World War 2, the days of pacifism in Japan are now more or less over. Japan begins a $44 billion re-militarization in order to confront China. AntiMedia reports: The Japanese government has announced it will bolster its coast guard capabilities to defend disputed islands in the East China Sea. China also claims and regularly patrols these islands. The coast guard budget is expected to reach a record of 210 billion yen (approximately $1.8 billion), adding eight new ships and more than 200 law enforcement officials.
Submitted by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com,
There’s compelling evidence that US stocks are overvalued. Yet just in the last month, we saw investors react to the US election by bidding the benchmarks up to new all-time highs.
This implies they expect even higher prices next year. Can it happen?
Louis Gave of Gavekal took on that question in a lengthy and masterful presentation last week titled “Something’s Gotta Give” (article is behind paywall).