NIGHTWATCH: The Mali Expedition Begins – Illustrated – Is Niger Oil the Real Reason? 1:50,000 Charts?

Algeria: The Algerian government has given tacit approval for an African-led military intervention in Mali so long as there are no troops stationed on Algerian soil. Comment: This means that Algeria will try to help by sealing its border with Mali once the intervention begins [never mind the Tauregs behind their lines]. Mali: Update. News …

David Isenberg: The True Cost (Locally) of Military Strikes Against Iranian Nuclear Targets + Iran Nuclear Meta-RECAP

The Myth of “Surgical Strikes” on Iran By David Isenberg TIME Battleland | October 18, 2012 For all the years that the world has focused on the confrontation between Western nations and Iran, oceans of ink have been spilled over many aspects of its nuclear program — the quantity and quality of its enriched uranium, …

Berto Jongman: Kosovo – Crime without Punishment, Power without Responsibility

Crime without punishment, power without responsibility – Kosovo, international policy and the rule of law Unless the international community demonstrates it is serious abouthuman rights, restitution and disrupting organised crime and criminality, its current policy of stability in place of justice can only continue to fuel both injustice and instability. Learn more about the principles …

Tom Atlee: Collective Thinking About Public Affairs

Collective thinking about public affairs (NOTE: In this essay I intentionally subsume the thinking processes of official decision-makers into the thinking processes of the citizenry as a whole. I realize that official decision-makers can and do make decisions independently of the will of the people, unless that public will is united and organized. But elite …

Parag Khanna and Frank Jacobs: The New World – More Small Nations, New Economic Zones, High-Speed Rail, Singapore to Vladivostok to London — While the Americas Decline

The New World Frank Jacobs and Parag Khanna The New York Times Sunday Review, September 22, 2012 IT has been just over 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the last great additions to the world’s list of independent nations. As Russia’s satellite republics staggered onto the global stage, one could be …

Review: The Global 2000 Report to the President: Entering the Twenty-First Century

Gerald O. Barney, Council on Environmental Quality 5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligence with Integrity Ignored by Government and Private Sector,September 20, 2012 This treasure was included in my donation to George Mason University of my entire library, and only now do I wish I could pull it down to look at the table of …