Synopsis: September is turning into a seriously sloppy surprise for Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. After German forces in NATO were to blame for a bloody civilian bombing accident, Merkel and her country have been berated and badgered by fellow NATO allies….but that’s just the tip of the weinerschnitzel for Merkel. This misplaced mortar may be responsible for her losing a re-election bid, as her political opponents try to rally a overwhelmingly anti-war German public to vote to end Germany’s participation in the NATO Afghan campaign. The Avenger describes this situation, and why this election has repercussions for the US, for NATO, for Afghanistan, and the world.
Synopsis: The Plaid Avenger travels deep into central Asia to report on on the on-going ethnic violence plaguing the Xinjiang Autonomous Province in northwestern China. He explains how and why this Han/Uyghur friction has accelerated in the last few decades, how ti is manifesting itself today in these bizarre needle attacks reported widely in the news, and the greater repercussions they hold for the central Chinese leadership as they ponder what to do about their Wang.
Synopsis: While most of the world sits idly by, the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan is quickly going to hell in a hand-basket. Despite US President Barack Obama sending an additional 17,000 US troops to stabilize the country (mostly in an effort to have the recent elections go smoothly), the US and its NATO allies are losing ground to the Taliban…badly. This plaidcast covers some of the reasons for the Taliban resurgence, why this effort is not solely a US one, and most importantly why the entire world has a vested interest in the US not losing this fight.
Related Stories:
Keywords: Afghanistan, Taliban, al-Qaeda, US, NATO, Hamid Karzai, Pakistan, India, Russia, China
Synopsis:
Pakistan has been on the brink of full-on catastrophe and chaos for some time now, and most look to the woes of the struggling democracy as reason for the calamity. However, the Plaid Avenger wants you to consider the indecisive nature of the the military and the intelligence communities within Pakistan as the primary problem behind the current calamity in Afghanistan, in the Swat Valley,and in the entire western side of Pakistan….which taken together may spell the possible future failure of the state itself.
Keywords: Pakistan, al-Queda, Taliban, Swat Valley, Afghanistan
Kyrgyzstan announced that it was closing a major US air base in their country which is a strategic center of the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan. This comes one week after a promise of huge amounts of aid to Kyrgyzstan from the Russians, as well as a joint security venture including these two sates and others. But the Russian motives are more complex than just pissing off the US. This move increases western reliance on Russia's aid and influence to fight the Afghan campaign….thereby having a strategic lever by which to get what is wants out of the US/NATO, namely no more NATO meddling in Ukraine and Georgia, and possibly stopping the development of the proposed NATO missile defense shield in eastern Europe.
Are you a college professor teaching World Regions or Global Political classes? Pick up the cutting edge, most entertainly educating textbook currently on the market.
