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Archive for Geopolitics

Will Brazilian President Lula Squash the Nuclear Beef Between Iran and the West?

According to Pepe Escobar, there’s a good chance:

“Iran has all but agreed that Brazil should be the mediator between Tehran and the United Nations – rather than the axis of the US, Britain and France inside the UN Security Council, plus Germany – to finally settle the Iranian nuclear dossier. According to the Fars news agency, after his visit early this week to New York, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, in a phone call with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, told him that Iran had agreed with the Brazilian proposal for a nuclear fuel swap deal for the Tehran research reactor, which produces medical isotopes for cancer treatment. The proposal will be discussed in detail when Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visits Tehran by the end of next week.”

-Asia Times

Global Economic Power to Shift as BRIC Countries Demand More Power in IMF

We have Luxemburg, the Netherlands and Belgium that have more voting power than Brazil, China and India. This is completely absurd. So the BRICs have to start their pressure from the inside and that is – try to alter and ameliorate at least the Bretton Woods institutions and start to actually act as new emerging economic powers in the world.”

-Pepe Escobar


Cyber Threats Increasing

No April Fools joke.

The other day President Obama’s twitter account got hacked which just goes to show you how privacy is fading away, or at least getting more expensive. I saw the video below on 60 minutes a while back and meant to do a post on it but never got around to it. Where gonna see these type of incidents more and more. Some of you might already heard about google getting hacked in China.

part 1

part 2

CNN Interviews Matthew Hoh Who Resigned In Protest Over Afghanistan

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Interviews State Department Official Matthew Hoh Who Resigned In Protest Over Afghanistan War.

Hoh does a very good job describing the Afghan landscape and the logistical difficulties and pointlessness of the U.S. operations there when dealing with a unique region and culture.

PBS- The Market Maker: Eleni Gabre Madhin Creates First Commodity Market in Ethiopia [Full Episode]

Trailer:

While in college future economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin  watched the famine in her home country Ethiopia, where about a million people died of starvation. The most messed up part about it was that in the northern part of the country there was a surplus of food which was thrown away.

In the video we get to watch her as she goes back to Ethiopia to set up a commodity exchange so that Ethiopian farmers get access to the market all across Ethiopia- and with enough time, the world. This is an amazing documentary (and the only one I know of) showing a person developing a national commodities exchange from scratch.

If you want to see the whole video in full screen, go here:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/the-market-maker/full-episode/5293/

Oliver Stone’s South of the Border

via Street Knowledge

I’m always open to anything that sheds light on US media bias.

This flick specifically portrays U.S. media bias against Hugo Chavez, but in a broader way, any leader who happens to favor their people over U.S. corporate interests.

China Town, Africa [Current TV]

July 29 in 100 Seconds: Knock Next Time [TPM]

Today (June 23) in 100 seconds

The Best Show on CNN: Highlights [12:02]

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Fareed Zakaria’s GPS. Here’s the highlight reel of the year’s biggest geopolitical issues.  They cram a lot of information in an hour every week. Good stuff.