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Turkmenistan to boost gas deliveries to China
AP
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Energy-hungry China is set to sign an agreement with the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan later this year to boost its future annual natural gas purchases by 20 billion cubic meters, state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan reported Wednesday.
The deal means Turkmenistan’s annual gas sales to China will eventually reach 60 billion cubic meters — equivalent to more than half China’s entire natural gas consumption last year.
Turkmenistan began delivering gas to China through a newly completed pipeline in late 2009, but that route is only expected to reach full annual capacity of 40 billion cubic meters by 2015. As of mid-February, Turkmenistan had supplied 5.8 billion cubic meters of Read more…
Iran, China playing key role in establishing new, fair world order
Iran and China could as two ancient civilizations play an effective role in establishing a new justice-based world order, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday.
He made the remarks in a meeting with the new ambassador of China who was meeting with the Iranian President to submit his credentials to him.
“The current system of the world is old and rotten and its unjust nature has now become clear to everyone,” President Ahmadinejad said stressing that under the present circumstances, the world needed a “new, humanitarian and fair order which could be defined and established with the help of Iran and China.”
Referring to the common economic and political points between Iran and China, President Ahmadinejad said promotion of Tehran-Beijing bilateral ties was one of Iran’s top priorities.
Meanwhile, the Chinese diplomat referred to Iran as a great and ancient civilization which enjoyed a high position among the Middle Eastern states.
He added that Iran has also been playing a great role at the regional and international arenas.
The Chinese ambassador stressed the need to further activating existing potentials to upgrade bilateral cooperation between the two capitals.
Middle East Meltdown Could Mean Oil at $300 a Barrel, Pump Prices of $9.57 a Gallon
moneymorning.com [Editor’s Note: U.S. oil prices yesterday (Tuesday) hit their highest levels since September 2008 as investors reacted to fears that Middle East tumult would spread from Libya to such key Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as Iran and Saudi Arabia. But never fear: Even if the Middle East melts down and oil prices soar, there are moves you can make to hedge away your risk. We have two suggestions for you here.] By Martin Hutchinson, Contributing Editor, Money Morning The unrest in the Middle East oil patch is roiling the global oil markets on an almost daily basis. 
The events in Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Oman and other countries are also forcing us to ask that long-dreaded question: What happens if the countries throughout the Middle East region fall to radical governments? The answer is both stunning and surprising. In an absolute worst-case scenario – if the entire Middle East falls under radical control – we could be looking at $300-a-barrel oil and pump prices of $9.57 a gallon. Definitely a stunner. Here’s the surprise: Even such a worst-case outcome would Read more…
Iran to build permanent naval base in Syria
Just two days after two Iranian warships reached the Syrian port of Latakia via the Suez Canal, Friday, Feb. 25, an Iranian-Syrian naval cooperation accord was signed providing for Iran to build its first Mediterranean naval base at the Syrian port, debkafile’s military and Iranian sources reveal.
The base will include a large Iranian Revolutionary Guards weapons depot stocked with hardware chosen by the IRGC subject to prior notification to Damascus. Latakia harbor will be deepened, widened and provided with new “coastal installations” to accommodate the large warships and submarines destined to use these facilities.
Iran has much to celebrate, debkafile’s military sources report. It has acquired its first military foothold on a Mediterranean shore and its first permanent military presence on Syrian soil. Tehran will be setting in place the logistical infrastructure for accommodating incoming Iranian troops to fight in a potential Middle East war.
According to our sources, the Read more…
Will $200 oil kill the economy?
Unrest in key oil-producing nations opens the door to price spikes that could push gas to $7 a gallon and spin the world back into recession. Here’s how we’d get there, and how to protect your portfolio.
Are your pocketbook and portfolio ready for $200-a-barrel oil?
This kind of dramatic price spike may seem less likely now than a few days ago, with oil markets calming down a bit and the price slipping below $100. But given the instability and unrest rolling through the Middle East and North Africa, it’s a definitely a viable scenario.
For the moment, most oil sector analysts have gone off high alert because of a Saudi Arabian pledge to increase production to make up for any shortfalls sparked by unrest. But that ignores a key angle in all this: There’s simply not enough spare capacity to make up for the production losses we’d see if the rolling crises in the region hit just two or three major producers at once.
This could easily happen, given the heightened Read more…
Iran Seeks Missile Components in Norway, Official Says
Norway yesterday said it had thwarted a number of attempts by Iran to obtain from small domestic firms components suited for incorporation in nuclear-armed missiles, Reuters reported (see GSN, Feb. 10).
(Mar. 1) – Iran‘s Sajjil 2 missile lifts off in a 2009 test. The Middle Eastern nation has unsuccessfully sought potential missile components from Norway on several recent occasions, a top Norwegian security official said yesterday (Vahi Reza Alaee/Getty Images).
Entities targeted by Iran deal in “special components that can … be used in weapons of mass destruction, for building missiles,” Norwegian Police Security Service General Director Janne Kristiansen said. The United States and several European powers suspect Iran’s nuclear program is geared toward weapons development, a contention consistently denied by Tehran (see related GSN story, today).
Iran has focused in the past 12 months on acquiring Read more…
VERY INTERESTING” LEAK”- Resurfaced-The Map of the “New Middle East”
“Hegemony is as old as Mankind…” -Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor
The term “New Middle East” was introduced to the world in June 2006 in Tel Aviv by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who was credited by the Western media for coining the term) in replacement of the older and more imposing term, the “Greater Middle East.”
This shift in foreign policy phraseology coincided with the inauguration Read more…
‘Russian missiles could be passed on to Hezbollah’
Photo by: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Following Russia’s announcement that it will transfer missiles to Syria, Defense Ministry fears weapons could fall into “wrong hands.”
The Defense Ministry issued a statement Saturday regarding publications that Russia intends to complete a deal to transfer cruise missiles to Syria. “This deal was signed two years ago and has been in the process of implementation for some time, despite Israel’s appeals to Russia regarding the matter.”
Security officials warned that the Russian cruise missiles “are potentially dangerous weapons and they may come fall into the hands of Hezbollah, just as other weapons systems came from Syria.”
The announcement came after Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that Russia would Read more…
Robert Kaplan on the New New Great Game
The U.S. can maintain its global primacy if it (among other things) plays Russia off China, India, Iran and Turkey off Russia and Turkey off Iran. That’s the analysis of globe-spinner extraordinaire Robert Kaplan, along with his brother Stephen (apparently recently retired as a top CIA official).
The essay, America Primed, is in the new edition of The National Interest and doesn’t deal too explicitly with the Caucasus or Central Asia. But it’s all about how the U.S. (assisted by the “Anglosphere,” other English-speaking countries like Canada, the U.K. and Australia) can maintain dominance on the Eurasian continent. And that requires American leadership to make sure that no other country — in particular China, Russia or Iran — gets too powerful. What does that entail, specifically?
For one, playing India off Russia (and “punishing” Pakistan):
Out of national pride, and because of its own tense relationships with China and Pakistan, India needs to remain officially nonaligned. But that will not stop New Delhi from accepting more help from Read more…
Limited Nuclear War Could Deplete Ozone Layer, Increasing Radiation
By Chris Schneidmiller
WASHINGTON — A nuclear conflict involving as few as 100 weapons could produce long-term damage to the ozone layer, enabling higher than “extreme” levels of ultraviolet radiation to reach the Earth’s surface, new research indicates (see GSN, March 16, 2010).
(Feb. 24) – A 1971 French nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll. The ozone layer could sustain lasting harm from a nuclear exchange involving as few as 100 weapons, allowing increased levels of ultraviolet radiation to reach the Earth’s surface, according to new research (Getty Images).
Increased levels of UV radiation from the sun could persist for years, possibly with a drastic impact on humans and the environment, even thousands of miles from the area of the nuclear conflict.
“A regional nuclear exchange of 100 15-kiloton weapons … would produce unprecedented low-ozone columns over populated areas in conjunction with the coldest surface temperatures experienced in the last 1,000 years, and would likely result in a global nuclear famine,” according to a presentation delivered on Friday at a major science conference in Washington.
Today, there are five recognized nuclear powers — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. India, Israel and Pakistan are all known or widely assumed to hold nuclear weapons, while North Korea has a Read more…
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