NIGHTWATCH: China-India-Russia Confer on Afghanistan

China-India: Chinese media reported that India and China have agreed to start a dialogue on Afghanistan. An “in-principle” agreement on official-level dialogue has been reached and dates for the first meeting are being worked out. Earlier this week, Indian National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon travelled to Moscow for the first three-way dialogue between India, Russia …

Open Power: Democracy Lost & Found Essay, Book Review Blurbs and Links [Updated 3 MAR 2015]

NEW: Kindle Book Open Power ($2.99) OLD: Core Documents for Both Initiatives (Free) OLD: the foundation book The Open Source Everything Manifesto ROBERT STEELE: There are two schools of thought on effecting political (and hence economic and social) reform. One school is the school of love — this school emphasizes trust building and doing no …

John Maguire: An Evolving Systems Analysis of Sandy Hook

An Evolving Systems Analysis of Sandy Hook Sandy Hook in a New Light: Lately I find myself attempting to fit both personal experience and global events into a General Systems framework. General Systems Theory is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry pioneered by biologist Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy. It seeks to expound principles that are applicable to …

Review: The Coup: 1953, The CIA, and The Roots of Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations

Ervand Abrahamian 5.0 out of 5 stars We NEED Deep History to Counter-Act Criminal Insanity Within Our Elite, February 17, 2013 This book could not have come out at a better time, as the neo-conservatives continue to try to inspire confrontation with Iran, using the same methods that Dick Cheney used — in his case …

Reflections on Lincoln, Principle, Compromise, Autonomous Internet & Citizen Intelligence / Counter-Intelligence 2.0 with Meta-RECAP

EDIT of 21 January 2013:  I have gotten both sharp criticism from folks I revere, and complements.  I am more than willing to delete this, but I am more interested in having people think outside the lines.  I’ve made some revisions, adding issues and readings in each section.   Email me as you please, robert.david.steele.vivas [at] …

Chuck Spinney: Arab Spring Act II — Near Enemies Falling First?

Arab spring, act two Are the Arab monarchies next? As the chaotic transition towards democracy continues in North Africa and Yemen, the fighting in Syria is intensifying. And, less noticed, opposition to the Arab monarchies is growing. by Hicham Ben Abdallah El Alaoui Le Monde Diplomatique, January 2012 The Arab Spring is not an outcome, …