Category: Asia

U.S. Turns to Drones to Counter China

Michael Richardson on

A recent offer by the Seychelles to refuel and replenish Chinese naval ships on anti-piracy patrols in the northwest Indian Ocean was seen as the latest sign of China’s expanding naval power. But it obscured an even more significant development: U.S. deployment of a mini-air force of long-range, remotely-piloted aircraft from a network of airfields in the Seychelles, the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula to track and if necessary attack suspected terrorists on land and pirates at sea. Victoria, capital of the Seychelle islands, is 1,480 km east of the southern tip of lawless Somalia. There and in Yemen, on the north side of the Gulf of Aden, local al-Qaida affiliates have sprung to prominence, potentially posing a wider terrorist threat.

Iranian president visits Venezuela

Xinhua on

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived Sunday in Venezuela, kicking off a four-country Latin American tour to seek support as tougher Western sanctions threaten its oil exports and economy. The Venezuelan government said President Hugo Chavez…

Okinawa, New Year 2012: Tokyo’s Year End Surprise Attack

Gavan McCormack, Sakurai Kunitoshi, Urashima Etsuko on

Here is not the place for a comprehensive account of the deepening crisis of Japan-Okinawa-US relations. The forthcoming study by Satoko Oka Norimatsu and myself attempts to do that in a systematic way (Gavan McCormack…

The US-Iran Economic War

Pepe Escobar on

Here’s a crash course on how to further wreck the global economy. A key amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act signed by United States President Barack Obama on the last day of 2011 –…