Berto Jongman: David Brin on World War IV — Russia-Syria-Iran-Iraq and Shi’ite vs. Sunni — Saudi Arabia as the Wild Card

Is World War IV taking shape? David Brin davidbrin.blogspot.com World economics seer Louis-Vincent Gave, of the Gavekal Partnership, has explained the pivotal meaning of the Crimea Incident in a larger context which he calls a looming “World War IV” —the conflict between the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam, in which Sunnis control larger reserves …

Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed: NASA Models Collapse of Western Civilization — Concentration of Wealth and Cascade of Critical Break-Downs

NASA-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for ‘irreversible collapse’? Natural and social scientists develop new model of how ‘perfect storm’ of crises could unravel global system A new study sponsored by Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly …

NIGHTWATCH: Iraq Headed Toward Sunni Autonomous Region?

Iraq: Prime Minister al-Maliki urged residents and tribes of Fallujah to ‘expel’ al-Qaida militants from the Sunni-dominated city to avoid an all-out battle. Multiple news outlets have reported that the government is planning a major ground and air attack against Fallujah if the residents and tribes fail to oust the al Qaida militants.

Chuck Spinney: Patrick Cockburn Interviews Muqtada al-Sadr on Iraq — Toxic Mix of Sectarianism, Incompetent and Corrupt Government, and Interference by US, UK, and Iran

The United States bears a moral responsibility for the murderous state of affairs in Iraq, but contemporary American grand strategy has become a self-referencing mix of arrogance, narcissism, and exceptionalism; so it is not surprising that most Americans have dismissed Iraq their minds (as they are now dismissing Afghanistan).  Below is an excellent reminder of the situation …

Berto Jongman: Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Special Report Fixing Intelligence on Syria?

Special report: fixing intelligence on Syria? If there is anything to learn from the Syrian conflict, it is that in the fog of war, truth really is the first casualty. Narratives and counter-narratives of the conflict have plagued media accounts and the blogosphere ever since it erupted in the form of angry street protests over …