ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

By Paul Craig Roberts  - The protests in the western Ukraine are organized by the CIA, the US State Department, and by Washington- and EU-financed Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that work in conjunction with the CIA and State Department. The purpose of the protests is to overturn the decision by the independent government of Ukraine not to join the EU. The US and EU were initially cooperating in the effort to destroy the independence of Ukraine and make it a subservient entity to the EU government in Brussels. For the EU government, the goal is to expand the EU. For Washington the purposes are to make Ukraine available for looting by US banks and corporations and to bring Ukraine into NATO so that Washington can gain more military bases on Russia’s frontier. There are three countries in the world that are in the way of Washington’s hegemony over the world–Russia, China, and Iran. Each of these countries is targeted by Washington for overthrow or for their sovereignty to be d...

By Reuters  - " Reuters " - - The Syrian opposition called on Wednesday for a transitional governing body to be set up that would oversee a total ceasefire under U.N. monitoring, and be empowered to drive out foreign fighters deployed on both sides of the civil war. The confidential paper, seen by Reuters, was presented to international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi and a Syrian government delegation at a joint session held at peace talks in Geneva. It made no mention of the fate of President Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but opposition forces said that he had been ignored on purpose to make clear he had no role. The Syrian government delegation said on Wednesday that negotiations must focus first on fighting terrorism and rejected parallel track talks on the opposition's priority of a transitional government as a "fruitless" idea. "The Transitional Governing Body (TGB) will prepare and oversee a total ceasefire by taking immediate measures to stop military ...

By Hurriyet Daily  " Hurriyet Daily " - Russia said on Feb. 12 it would veto a U.N. resolution on humanitarian aid access in Syria in its current form, denouncing the draft as an effort to lay a foundation for military strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's government. Moscow had already dismissed the Western-Arab draft debated in the Security Council on Feb. 11 as a non-starter, but a senior diplomat's unequivocal condemnation indicated Russia would seek major changes before dropping its opposition. "Its whole purpose and aim is to create grounds for future military action against the Syrian government if some demands it includes are not met," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said in Geneva, according to state-run news agency RIA. "It is unacceptable to us in the form in which it is now being prepared, and we, of course, will not let it through." At the United Nations on Feb. 11, French Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters that R...

The Barents Sea region spans across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northwestern Russia. Although the region is roughly the size of Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain combined, it is home to only about 5.2 million people. Most of the population and territory is Russian, as are the largest urban centers, which host most of the population. Norway and Russia are the most relevant actors in the region because of their dominance in its oil and natural gas sector. With dwindling oil and natural gas reserves in the south, the defense of Norwegian interests above the Arctic Circle has become increasingly important for Oslo -- as has Norway's relationship with Russia. Nordic countries and Russia view each other with suspicion , but as neighbors they also see the benefits of economic cooperation. For instance, Norway emphasizes its NATO membership and strong defense ties with other Nordic countries while at the same time collaborating with Russia in the energ...

According to the latest data released, the total trade surplus of China rose to $31.9 billion during the month of January. The rising trade surplus has helped address concerns that the world's second largest economy might be facing a slowdown. The figure of $31.9 billion is about 14 per cent higher than the previous year and stronger than forecasts for a $23.7 billion surplus. The total imports into the country increased by 10.6 per cent from a year earlier, which is much lower than forecasts, to $207.13 billion. The growing trade surplus has backed suggestions that China might overtake US as the largest trading nation in the world. China is already the world's largest exporter and analysts expected toe trade to be affected due to the China's biggest annual holiday, the Lunar New year. China is expected to post its slowest growth in over a decade this year as its GDP will grow slower than earlier. However, the growth will still be much higher than the advanced western econo...

By Mark Danner If you’re a man of principle, compromise is a bit of a dirty word. -- Dick Cheney, 2013 1. “We Ought to Take It Out”  - " Tom Dispatch " - In early 2007, as Iraq seemed to be slipping inexorably into chaos and President George W. Bush into inescapable political purgatory, Meir Dagan, the head of the Israeli Mossad, flew to Washington, sat down in a sunlit office of the West Wing of the White House, and spread out on the coffee table before him a series of photographs showing a strange-looking building rising out of the sands in the desert of eastern Syria. Vice President Dick Cheney did not have to be told what it was. “They tried to hide it down a wadi, a gulley,” he recalls to filmmaker R.J. Cutler. “There’s no population around it anyplace... You can’t say it’s to generate electricity, there’s no power line coming out of it. It’s just out there obviously for production of plutonium.” The Syrians were secretly building a nuclear plant -- with the help, it app...

With NSA overreach, nobody is safe from confirmation bias By Matthew Harwood Portland lawyer Brandon Mayfield speaks at a press conference May 24, 2004 in Portland, Oregon. Mayfield was exonerated of involvement in terrorist activities connected with the train bombings in Spain.Greg Wahl-Stephens/Getty Images  " Al Jazeera America " - During a live Web chat in late January, National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden explained one of the least discussed dangers of bulk collection. By indiscriminately sweeping up the call records and the international communications of Americans, the government has the ability to engage in retroactive investigation, or mining the historical data of targets for any evidence of suspicious, illegal or simply embarrassing activities. It is a disturbing capability that should make even those fully convinced of their own propriety to think twice before uttering out loud, “What do I have to fear if I have nothing to hid...

 Stratfor By Scott Stewart On the afternoon of Jan. 30, the mother of a Pittsford, New York, man made a terrifying discovery. Her son, 44-year-old Benjamin Smith, had disappeared from the family home armed with a lever-action rifle and left a disturbing note for his mother that said, among other things, "I am going to work for George W. Bush and the Pentagon" and "I have to slay the dragon and then Barbara Bush is mine…" The U.S. Secret Service was able to use Smith's cell phone to track him, and he was located and arrested early the next morning in midtown Manhattan, some 330 miles from Pittsford. At the time of his arrest, Smith was armed with his rifle and a machete. Barbara Pierce Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush mentioned in Smith's letter, works and resides in Manhattan. In a time when so much attention has turned to the very real threat posed by grassroots jihadists , the Smith case is a reminder that not all lone wolves are ideol...