ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Back in 2007 I wrote Reinventing Collapse , in which I compared the collapse of the USSR to the forthcoming collapse of the USA. I wrote the following: “Let us imagine that collapsing a modern military-industrial superpower is like making soup: chop up some ingredients, apply heat and stir. The ingredients I like to put in my superpower collapse soup are: a severe and chronic shortfall in the production of crude oil (that magic addictive elixir of industrial economies), a severe and worsening foreign trade deficit, a runaway military budget and ballooning foreign debt. The heat and agitation can be provided most efficaciously by a humiliating military defeat and widespread fear of looming catastrophe.” (p. 2) A decade later these ingredients are all in place, with a few minor quibbles. The shortfall of oil is in the case of the US not the shortfall of physical oil but of money: against the backdrop of terminal decline of conventional oil in the US, the only meaningful supply increase h

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton US President Donald Trump has just officially threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea.  In comparison with his previous “twitter threats”, this one was made during the annual General Debate of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. Unless North Korea stops its nuclear and missile tests, Trump said, “We will have no choice than to totally destroy North Korea.” “Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime,” he said calling on UN member states to join his effort to isolate Pyongyang until it ceases its “hostile” behavior. He also criticized the nuclear deal with Iran  saying that it “is an embarrassment to the US,” and adding “frankly, I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it.”  Follow NBC Nightly News   ✔ @NBCNightlyNews BREAKING: Pres. Trump: US "will h

Click to see the full-size map Syrian government forces have lbierated the villages of Rasm Tawil and Shayman from ISIS in the eastern Salamiyah countryside. The villages are located in the southern part of the ISIS-held pocket north of the Homs-Palmyra highway. Meanwhile, ISIS has released a photo report showing clashes between government troops and ISIS members in the area. According to photos, the army and its allies have lost at least 2 battle tanks. Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see