Vladimir Putin is back in the saddle of the Russian presidency, and one of his first moves involved a double-diss throw down on the US! He refused to attend the big G-8 Summit being hosted in the US! What is up with that? Plenty my friends, and it’s not all about the US either. Putin’s moves reflect a tilt way from the Team West dominated G-8 and NATO groups, and towards grander relationships with Asia and specifically China. Learn all the details of the double-diss here and the deeper meaning behind them.
In completely unrelated stories, there is suddenly a flurry of protest activity this week by pissed off indigenous peeps that are creating a bit of chaos on two different continents. In China, pro-Tibetan-rights peeps are facing of against a crushing Chinese military presence in Tibet and Sichuan; and in Australia, pro-Aboriginal-rights groups had a bizarrely brazen “attack” on Aussie Prime Minister Julia Gillard! Crikey! The Professor covers a bit of background on these events and offers some hypotheses about why that are happening now, and what they are all about.
As promised last podcast, the Professor now looks forward to the new year of 2012 to inform you of the details of the significant shift of world leadership going down in the next 365 days. From new leaders to be tested in North Korea, Italy and Spain; to election cycles in US, Mexico, France, Russia, and Taiwan; to major turnovers in China, Palestine and possibly Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen…the parade of new faces started in 2011 is going to be accelerated significantly in the coming year, and the Professor wants you to be in the know!
Happy New Year’s Eve! The Professor takes some time on the brink of 2012 to look back at what happened to world leaders from around the globe in 2011. It was a tough year to be in charge this year, as evidenced by the demise of dictators, the overthrow of or attacks on authoritarian regimes, plagues of personal health, and even the decline in support of significant democratic leaders all over the planet. Sometimes “it’s good to be da’ king!”....but not in 2011 it wasn’t!!!!
Synopsis: The SCO as the “NATO of the East”? Bold words and bold thoughts, my plaid friends…but it could come to pass! As the tenth annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) drew to a close on June 16th, several declarations were issued by this rising Asian block that drew the avenger’s attention. Mainly, the SCO threw the collective smack-down to the US/NATO missile defense shield in Europe, but other tidbits of note included India as a full member, a chat about Afghanistan, and Iran spouting nonsense-as-usual. Join the Avenger for an extended look at what this still young, but potentially powerful, Asian block is up to right now!
The Professor’s SCO lesson: http://vimeo.com/16099396
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