ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

China is going to launch 10 satellites into space over the next three years to maintain non-stop surveillance over the disputed South China Sea, according to the Hainan Daily, citing Li Xiaoming of the Sanya Institute of Remote Sensing. The first three optical satellites are set to go into space in 2019. Three more optical satellites, two hyperspectral satellites and three synthetic aperture radar will follow them later. Yang Tianliang, director of the Sanyan Institute of Remote Sensing, says that the satellite network will play a vital role in the Maritime Silk Road project. China is consistently increasing its military capabilities in the South China Siea aiming to turn it into its own foothold for further expansion in Asia Pacific.

Written by  Tom Luongo ; Originally appeared at  tomluongo.me Iran is joining the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). By early next year, February by  this account , Iran will join the five founding members of the Union and open the door for Turkey to do so later in 2018. Between this and the end of the war in Syria, it’s not hard to declare the Brzezinski Doctrine of U.S.-led Central Asian chaos as gasping its last breaths. Iran finally joining the EAEU is a response to a number of factors, the most important of which is the continued belligerence by the U.S. Expanded economic sanctions on Iran and the EAEU’s leader Russia has created the need for greater coordination of economic and foreign policy objectives between them. And it is creating the new realities in the region that will reshape the word for the next hundred years. The Nuclear Gambit In the dying days of the Obama administration it looked like the goal was to placate Iran to stop its pivot towards Russia and China

Written by  The Saker;  Originally appeared at  The Unz Review First, the bragging dummies Trump and Haley are still at it.  The want to force China to take action against the DPRK by threatening to take North Korea “into their hands” if China refuses to comply.   Haley said  “ But to be clear, China can do more, (…) and we’re putting as much pressure on them as we can. The last time they completely cut off the oil, North Korea came to the table. And so we’ve told China they’ve got to do more. If they don’t do more, we’re going to take it into our own hands and then we’ll start to deal with secondary sanctions .” First, let’s reset this scene in a kindergarten and replay it. Kid A has a fight with Kid B.  Kid A threatens to beat up Kid B.  Kid B then tells Kid A to go screw himself.  Kid A does nothing, but issues more threats.  Kid B keeps laughing.  And then Kid A comes up with a brilliant plan: he threatens Kid C (who is much much bigger than Kid B and much much stronger

The only thing that kept tens of thousands of people from dying Monday morning in what has become merely the latest terrorist attack in New York City is that the ISIS-inspired terrorist was as incompetent as his bomb-maker. According to authorities, the suspect — 27-year-old Bangladeshi national Akayed Ullah — prematurely set off what has been described as an “effectively low-tech” pipe bomb inside the Port Authority’s bus terminal located underneath Midtown Manhattan. As a result, only three people were injured, though none seriously. As for Ullah, he suffered burns and abdominal wounds when the bomb went off. “Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals,” New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said after the attack. As reported by  Fox News , the inability of Ullah and anyone who may have helped him to construct a better device was evident: Ullah strapped the crude pipe bomb to his body with Velcro and zip ties. The suspect allegedly packed the 5-inch metal pipe

On December 14, the pro-opposition Syrian Islamic Council (SIC) accused the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Russian Army of supporting an ISIS attack in the northeastern Hama countryside. In its official statement, the SIC said that the Syrian Army moved ISIS units and their weapons to northeastern Hama and that the Russian Aerospace Forces are supporting the ISIS attack. Click to see the full-size image However, in reality ISIS entered the northeastern Hama countryside after a deal with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Later hundreds of HTS and Free Syrian Army (FSA) defected and joined ISIS in Hama, according to local opposition sources. The SIC also warned from the SAA advance in Hama, Idlib and Aleppo governorates, and held HTS the responsibility for driving out several FSA groups from theses governorates. The council said that the defeats will continue unless HTS abandoned its hostile behaviour against other opposition armed groups. HTS and even pre-2014 ISIS are known for