ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The 10-year natural gas deal signed Nov. 20 between Germany's Wintershall and Norway's Statoil highlights a fundamental change in the way traditional natural gas exporters to Europe price their product. The contract, which will account for 6 percent of Germany's annual consumption, is based on spot-market prices rather than on oil-indexation like previous contracts, and it has two significant implications. First, the size and duration of the deal suggests that Germany will continue to prefer long-term contracts from its two largest suppliers, Norway and Russia, the latter of which signed a similar agreement with Germany's E.On earlier in 2012. Second, the move away from oil-indexation confirms a trend of pricing less subject to the volatility of crude oil prices.  Europe is still far from having a fully liberalized natural gas market, and European consumers will continue to prefer long-term contracts to ensure a stable supply. But changes in the European natural gas

Benefit From the Latest Energy Trends and Investment Opportunities before the mainstream media and investing public are aware they even exist. The Free Oilprice.com Energy Intelligence Report gives you this and much more. Click here to find out more. Predicting the Middle East’s political future has always been more of a gamble than an exact science. The region’s prevailing political precariousness is what makes it so impossible to sensibly forecast future developments. However, despite all the instability -- or perhaps in spite of all the instability it is safe to make the following call: more violence can be predicted in the coming 12 months. Additionally, it is safe to say that there will also be more changes in the coming year. And that can be a cause of conflict. Change, as a rule, frightens most people, and today there are good reasons to be fearful considering the situation in the Levant – in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Gaza. It could hardly get any worse. Could it?

In the struggle to secure energy resources, the great powers consider all states to be fair game. Indeed, this is precisely what characterizes American foreign policy in the modern era. When it comes to economic and geopolitical interests, Washington seldom differentiates between democratic leaders and despots, especially when those interests involve oil. Currently, the stakes are high in the rush to secure oil resources and nowhere is this more evident than in the Sino-American rivalry in Africa. Both states are competing to secure their share of oil supplies in order to quench their addiction to the coveted ‘black gold.’ One of Washington’s primary energy security concerns has been to diversify its sources of foreign oil. During the 1970s oil crisis, the United States imported one-third of its petroleum. Now, it imports approximately 11.4 million barrels per day of petroleum (which includes crude oil and petroleum products), amounting to 45 percent of all petroleum consumed in A

Global military expenditure stands at over $1.7 trillion in annual expenditure at current prices for 2011 (or $1.63 trillion dollars at constant 2010 prices), and has been rising in recent years. (1991 figures are unavailable. Chart uses 2010 constant prices for comparison.) Summarizing some key details from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)’s recent trends summary : World military expenditure in 2010 is estimated to have reached $1.63 trillion at 2010 prices; This represents a 1.3 per cent increase in real terms over 2008 and a 50 per cent increase since 2001; This corresponds to 2.6 per cent of world gross domestic product (GDP), or approximately $236 for each person in the world; The USA with its massive spending budget, is the principal determinant of the current world trend, and its military expenditure now accounts for just under half of the world total, at 41% of the world total; SIPRI has commented in the past on the increasing concentrati

Biometrics are the measurable biological (anatomical and physiological) or behavioral characteristics used for identification of an individual. Fingerprints are a common biometric modality, but others include things like DNA, irises, voice patterns, palmprints, and facial patterns. Over the years, biometrics has been incredibly useful to the FBI and its partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities—not only to authenticate an individual’s identity (you are who are say you are), but more importantly, to figure out who someone is (by a fingerprint left on a murder weapon or a bomb, for example), typically by scanning a database of records for a match. The FBI has long been a leader in biometrics. We’ve used various forms of biometric identification since our earliest days, including assuming responsibility for managing the national fingerprint collection in 1924. More recently, the Bureau’s Science and Technology Branch created the Biometric Center of Excellence (BCOE)

Enlarge Chart   Making the Ultimate Sacrifice Report on Law Enforcement Officer Deaths Released 11/19/12 Tragically, during 2011, 72 law enforcement officers from around the nation were killed in the line of duty, while another 53 officers died in accidents while performing their duties. And 54,774 officers were assaulted in the line of duty…all according to our just-released annual report Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2011 . Here’s a look at some of the data collected for this report: While the 72 officers killed in the line of duty came from city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal agencies, the majority (50) were employed by city police departments. The average age of the officers feloniously killed was 38, while their average length of service was 12 years. Forty-nine of these officers were slain while on assigned vehicle patrol. Most of the 72 officers slain were killed with firearms, and 51 of these officers were wearing body

By M A Mughal In the last five decades or so, the media and its influence on the societies, has grown exponentially with the advance of technology.  First there was the telegraph and the post offices, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the internet and the new media including palmtops, cell phones etc. There are positive and negative influences of mass media, which we must understand as a responsible person of a society. Before discussing the influence of mass media on society it is imperative to explain the three basic functions of mass media; they are providing news/information, entertainment and education. The first and foremost function of the media in a society is to provide news and information to the masses, that is why the present era is some time termed as the  information age  as well. People need news/information for various reasons, on one hand it can be used to socialize and on the other to make decisions and formulate opinions. Entertainmen

Today the US is looked down upon as the most ruthless and biggest terrorist state in the world that has fuelled uncertainty, insecurity and chaos in the world. It is hated because of its unjust and dual faced policies and going to any extent to achieve its strategic and mercantile interests. Its wholehearted support to Israel and India and its penchant to topple regimes and plunder resources has lowered its esteem.   The sole super power which was prancing like a wild elephant at the dawn of new millennium is currently in thick soup since the war on terror it had initiated in the aftermath of 9/11 has not proceeded in accordance with its chalked out plan. US-NATO forces claiming to be invincible have got bogged down in the quagmire of Afghanistan and things have gone topsy-turvy. The rag-tag Taliban living up to their past reputation, have taken the steam out of the elephant by pushing it against the wall and have left it dazed and helpless.   Despite their massive superiorit