geopolitics

And how China answers:

a) a video in Italian  http://temi.repubblica.it/limes/cina-prove-di-superpotenza/

b) In Madagascar, a country described in a guide by my friend Paolo Gabrielli, almost everyone is hungry (except fo the survival economie de chasse- cueillette). Most cultivable lands on planes are on Daewoo, i.e. private Korean Kolonial Kontrol – KKK, in order to provide safety food to  fat Koreans; even the moderate Ft condemns this as neocolonialism in an editorial.

BUT, IN AN INTERPRETATION I AM NOW DISCUSSING WITH MICHELE BOLDRIN (in early 2009), THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING: the crazy tension between the necessity of hypergrowth in Chindia (to sustain Western bubbles and consumption), the geo-natural constraints on the one hand, and an unlimited L supply in Chindia on the other hand, will deepen the contradictions.

So Daewoo unilaterally breaking contracts and saying they won’t pay for land rent is not neo-, BUT STRAIGHT COLONIALISM, TO WHOM WE ARE MOVING VERY FAST, along the current global growth pattern. And China using an old stupid tyrant, in order to get rid of European farmers in Zimbabwe – on the border of a Colonial War with ethnic clearing.

081119kkkorea-in-mada

c)  All Africa is about to be colonised very roughly, almost emptied by China (see the important report by the Council of Foreign Relations, June 2008 – http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/mozambique-a-chain-saw-for-every-tree.html?page=0%2C0

See there, in this  Part 2, the amazing story of the Zambezia province, North of Moçambique. The Empire of the Middle has already, in a few years, destroyed a tropical forest of one of the poorest countries on Earth. ASHAME ! Honestly, the report concludes that US buyers of low cost Chinese furniture are co-responsible.

c) See also on The Nation,  May 1, 2008: Michael  Klare  – The new geopolitics of energy.

ITALIAN ABSTRACT

Ultimo numero di Limes  in edicola dall’11 luglio:

http://temi.repubblica.it/limes/il-marchio-giallo/

La geopolitica nasce nella geografia “di destra” tedesca, che teorizza lo spazio vitale. Qui forniamo 2 piste principali: inviti alla lettura della rivista  Lies  gemellata con Heartland (in inglese). Letture sulla nuova guerra nucleare-globale e  problemi inter-connessi, dal prof. Creveld e dal sito geopolitico Fabius Maximus.

HEARTLAND

A useful Italian-based review, from which the first picture above is drawn, is: http://www.heartland.it/ whose base periodical, in Italian, is at: http://www.oltreillimes.net/,  http://www.limesonline.com , http://temi.repubblica.it/limes .   Other maps:

http://www.heartland.it/geopolitical_maps_europe_asia.html

LAST HEARTLAND ISSUE: “THE POPOLAR GAME” – Downloadable from the site

“Our planet is becoming larger. Not in a physical sense but as in geopolitical space. A new, immense territory of approximately 30 million square kilometers – one hundred times the size of Italy and one-sixth of terrestrial mass. It is the Arctic, occupying half of the Polar Sea that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific, which remains covered by ice for nine months of the year. However, the elevation of temperatures is redesigning the environmental profile of the extreme North. From 1994 to today, its icy surface has been reduced beyond 40,000 square kilometers per year and the medium thickness of ice has diminished by 40%. This theme seems destined to increase; a forecast by some authorities of climatology. And thus the curtain rises revealing a completely new geopolitical and economic scene. The “game for the Pole” has begun…Download Now Free – (Pdf 2.5Mb)

“The Energy Game “

The Earth is almost five billion years old and at best will last another five billion years before the Sun goes out. This of course with the concurrence of the 718 currently registered potentially dangerous asteroid, of which one, Apophis (the Greek name for the Egyptian god Apep, «the destroyer») will cross the orbit of our telecommunications satellites on April 13th 2029.

“CHINDIA – The 21st Century Challenge”

It has yet to begin and already it mustn’t be. Throughout the world the media has determined that this will be the “Asian century”. By the beginning of the new millennium it became fashionable to evoke the China of miracles, now joined by India. The slogan-makers coined a new term: Chindia, the Sino-Indian centaur of nearly two and a half billion people predestined for global hegemony.

PROF. VAN CREVELD

Professor van Creveld has written about almost every significant aspect of war — technology, logistics, air power and maneuver warfare, the training of officers, the role of women in combat, military history (several books), nuclear proliferation, and strategy (several books).

His masterpiece (A MUST) is the history and theory of the State and its imminent obsolescence, The Rise and Decline of the State.

Besides his books, reviewed by Fabius Maximus (see below: the next is forthcoming in Sept. 2008, Culture and War), here are his papers available on line:

  • The Fate of the State, Parameters, (Spring 1996), summary of his magnum opus Rise and Decline of the State
  • Through a Glass Darkly (2000), summary of Transformation of War (perhaps his second most important work)
  • Naming a New Era: the New Middle Ages, (Foreign Policy, Summer 2000)
  • Only a wall will keep them from each other’s throats, Telegraph (17 March 2002)
  • Sharon’s plan is to drive Palestinians across the Jordan, Telegraph (28 April 2002)
  • These nuclear weapons are preventing a war, Telegraph (26 May 2002)
  • How Not to Fight Terrorism, Center for Unconventional Security Affairs (September 203) — pdf
  • Iraq: a lost peace : When the Americans leave, International Herald Tribune (19 November 2003)
  • Into the Abyss (2004) — forecast of the Iraq War
  • Why Iraq Will End as Vietnam Did (2004)
  • “Modern Conventional Warfare: An Overview“, presented at the workshop on the “Changing Nature of Warfare“, part of the National Intelligence Coucil’s 2020 Project (25 May 2004)
  • Sharon on the warpath : Is Israel planning to attack Iran?, International Herald Tribune (21 August 2004)
  • In Troubled Time (2005) — ethnic cleansing ended the Moorish crisis for the Spanish Crown; might it work for modern France?
  • Costly Withdrawal is the price to be paid for a foolish war, The Forward (25 Nov 2005)
  • Brutality or Restraint, Internationale Politik (Spring 2006) — subscription or purchase only.
  • Knowing Why Not to Bomb Iran is Half the Battle, The Forward (21 April 2006)
  • In this war, too, victory is unlikely, International Herald Tribune (2 August 2006)
  • The coming U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, International Herald Tribune (16 November 2006)
  • Make a Deal With Syria and Weaken the Iran-Hezbollah Axis,  The Forward (26 January 2007)
  • Motivated army overcame the odds, Jewish Standard (8 June 2007)
  • Let Palestine Split into Two,  The Forward (12 June 2007)
  • The World Can Live with a Nuclear Iran, The Forward (24 September 2007)
  • Actually, Iran is not so tough, Tribune Media Services  (24 October 2007)
  • Israel’s War With Hezbollah Was Not a Failure, The Forward (30 January 2008)
  • Peace Is Worth the Risk Of Withdrawing From the Golan, The Forward (29 May 2008)
  • Sonshi interviews Martin van Creveld (date unknown) – discussion of his work in context with other great military theorists.

    • FABIUS MAXIMUS

    Here is a readings list from Fabius Maximus blog.

    Books About Geopolitics

    These are books that I found valuable and have written about.  These are not really reviews, but enough to perhaps catch your interest.  They also include links to reviews.

    2. The Constitution: wonderful, if we can keep it:  If We Can Keep It by Chet Richards.
    3. Valuable new insights about the culture of war… a preview – The Culture of Warby Martin Van Creveld (out this Fall, you can pre-order on Amazon).
    4. Diagnosing the Eagle, Chapter II — book recommendations for 2008 – Three great books, all telling much about 21st America.
    5. Diagnosing the Eagle, Chapter III — reclaiming the Constitution – about Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom.
    6. Diagnosing the eagle, chapter IV – Alienation – about The Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch.
    8. Least we forget: lessons for us from the Battle of Ia Drang – about We Were Soldiers Once… and Young.
    9. The Changing Face of War:  Lessons of Combat, From the Marne to Iraq, by Martin van Creveld — one of the major books about 4GW.

    Here is a list of information sources and books I have found useful:  You might find these info sources useful — I do!

    Articles about the works of Thomas Barnett

    1. The Myth of Grand Strategy (31 January 2006)
    2. America’s Most Dangerous Enemy (1 March 2006)

    Here are archives of online articles by some major writers about 4GW:

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