ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

By F. William Engdahl - " 21st Century Wire " - The events in Ukraine since November 2013 are so astonishing as almost to defy belief. An legitimately-elected (said by all international monitors) Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, has been driven from office, forced to flee as a war criminal after more than three months of violent protest and terrorist killings by so-called opposition. His “crime” according to protest leaders was that he rejected an EU offer of a vaguely-defined associate EU membership that offered little to Ukraine in favor of a concrete deal with Russia that gave immediate €15 billion debt relief and a huge reduction in Russian gas import prices. Washington at that point went into high gear and the result today is catastrophe. A secretive neo-nazi military organization reported linked to NATO played a decisive role in targeted sniper attacks and violence that led to the collapse of the elected government. But the West is not finished with destroying Uk...

After what Moscow regards as the western-backed takeover of Kiev, the Kremlin's choreography has been impressive By Luke Harding - " The Guardian" - Days after the end of Vladimir Putin's Sochi Olympics, the borders of Europe are shifting. Or, more accurately, military forces suspected of acting on Moscow's orders are creating a new cartographic reality on the ground. Overnight, alleged undercover Russian special forces seized control of Simferopol airport, in the administrative capital of Crimea. The move comes less than 24 hours after a similar squad of shadowy, well-armed, Russian-speaking gunmen seized Simferopol's parliament building and administrative complex. If anyone was in doubt what this meant, the gunmen left a clue. They raised a Russian flag above the parliament building. Ukraine 's interior minister, Arsen Avakov, described the operations in Crimea in apocalyptic terms . What was unfolding in the south was "an armed invasion and occup...

By RTE - " RTE " - - Russian aircraft carrying nearly 2,000 suspected troops have landed at a military air base near the regional capital of the Crimean peninsula, a top Ukrainian official said accusing Moscow of an "armed invasion". "Thirteen Russian aircraft landed at the airport of Gvardeyskoye (near Simferopol) with 150 people in each one," Sergiy Kunitsyn, the Ukrainian president's special representative in Crimea, told the local ATR television channel. He said the air space had been closed. It was not immediately clear if Russia had the right to use the base or send additional troops there under its agreements with Ukraine. Kiev's main airport has said flights to the Crimean capital of Simferopol have been cancelled as tensions escalate on the peninsula. A spokeswoman who did not give her name said flights for this evening and tomorrow morning had been cancelled because "the situation in Simferopol does not allow them to a...

Gunmen storm Crimea's regional administrative complex in Simferopol and hoist Russian flag above parliament building By Harriet Salem in Simferopol, Shaun Walker in Kiev, and Luke Harding - " The Guardian" - Fears of a major regional conflict in Crimea pitting Russia against the west have intensified after unknown pro-Russian gunmen seized the government and parliament building in a well co-ordinated military operation. According to witnesses, the men dressed in fatigues stormed Crimea's regional administrative complex in Simferopol at 5am on Thursday. They hoisted a Russian flag above the parliament building. About 120 men were holed up inside, armed with heavy weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles, witnesses said. They threw a flash grenade in response to a journalist's questions. Phonecalls to region's legislature rang unanswered, and its website was down. It was unclear if the men were members of a pro-Russian self-defence militia ...

People at a rally supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Feb. 26. (RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Venezuela is teetering on the edge of a major political upheaval . Despite the country's large energy reserves, it is facing a shortage of foreign reserves, aggravated by widespread inflation and corruption that has spun beyond the government's control. Basic consumer goods are growing scarce, inflation is at a critically high rate (45 percent according to the central bank, but the true number is likely much higher) and the gap between the official and black market rate for the bolivar is widening. As a result, Venezuela's typically fractured opposition movement is now widening its base, pulling in a growing number of Venezuelans who are simply fed up with living under economically volatile conditions and coping with high rates of violent crime. With Venezuela bracing for more violent protests, a quiet but potentially significant mediation effort...

People line up to get money from a bank machine in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Feb. 20 as a result of the financial panic caused by the protests in Kiev. YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP/Getty Images Summary The violent protests that have rocked Ukraine since the beginning of the year seem to have settled down after the Yanukovich government's retreat, but the situation in the country is far from resolved. While the new and yet-to-be-determined government will have to grapple with problems such as Ukraine's fundamental east-west divide, the issue of immediate concern is much more mundane: The country is perilously close to insolvency. Analysis The political upheaval of the past three months has aggravated the inherent vulnerabilities of the Ukrainian economy and has strained the country's limited foreign currency reserves. In addition to a monthly natural gas import bill to Russia that amounts to roughly $1 billion, in January the National Bank of Ukraine disbursed $1.7 bi...

Protesters wave Russian flags in front of the Sevastopol city hall Feb. 24 in Ukraine. (VASILIY BATANOV/AFP/Getty Images) Summary After being voted into office today, the Ukrainian interim government is already facing a standoff with Russia following the occupation of the Crimean parliament by a group of Russian supporters. The new government is absorbed with trying to avoid a deeper economic and financial crisis and trying to get the different factions that make up the interim government to work together on short notice. Kiev has little capacity to counter Russia's moves in Crimea and thus will try to avoid a confrontation between those in Crimea welcoming a Russian intervention and groups defending the unity of Ukraine. In fact, Kiev is unlikely to seek a confrontation even if Moscow further increases its military presence in Crimea. Considering the upheaval in Ukraine's security forces and military in recent weeks, it is unclear how much control the government has over for...

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at a news conference in Islamabad on Jan. 7. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Saudi Arabia is running into trouble in its strategy to weaken Iran by supporting rebels who are trying to topple the Syrian regime . Riyadh is working to develop a more independent foreign policy doctrine after its biggest ally, the United States, opted not to engage in military action against Syria and opened talks with the kingdom's biggest enemy, Iran. Between a lack of sufficient international support for the Syrian rebels and the fact that Syria has become a major destination for jihadists of varying ideologies, Riyadh will find it difficult to achieve its goals in Syria. Analysis Saudi Arabia is looking for alternative means to remove the Syrian regime, following the divergence in Saudi and U.S. interests pertaining to the Levant. From Washington's point of view, ousting Syrian President Bashar al Assad is not worth the cost of supporting ...