Could geography be a major determinant for the next world war? I certainly think so. With the direction that international politics are currently headed in, we can be sure that the next conflict will be enumerated with the motif “The East meets the West” (With a possible exception of North and South America).
Very few individuals have their alarm clock set to 3:30AM to endure a 40-minute commute and arrive at one of the epicenters of the broadcasting world, MSNBC Studio. I arrive almost on a daily basis to hear the loud humming of colossal-sized satellites that are constantly importing information and exporting information throughout the world. After the studio’s expected security procedure, I usually make my way across the studio set to my computer station and absorb the current events off the wires.
A recurrent theme in the phenomenon of war is the constant battle to unify a region. As far-fetched as it had seemed, scholars and great thinkers of the west would have never imagined that the continent of Europe could ever be united. Although, recent developments have shown that that fiction is now our reality. Last week, the European Union had finally flexed its autonomy by formulating and ratifying its first, tangible constitution. Now the European Union is beginning to reason whether it should assimilate far-reaching nations border lined with the Middle East.
In the east, the Peoples Republic of China continues to take the economic spotlight by storm, which would have never been possible if China had never unified itself at the end of World War II. Today, China continues to grip its neighbors with intimidating foreign policy and uncertainty over the issue of Taiwan. In addition to the building tension in Asia, we can be sure that the rogue state of North Korea will have its hand in the future policy shifts of the region. Finally, there is only one more question left to ask… “Where does the East meet the West?”. You’ve guessed it… the ideologically torn Middle East. I’ll let you figure out the rest.
At the end of the Cold War, progressive thought revolved around the issue of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands such as rogue states or terrorists. But it seems like that phase is already coming to an end, and a new phase is beginning… a race to put weapons into space. The global arms trade has never been as industrious as it is today. With NGOs scrambling for customers to buy their weapons, war is not in our hands any more but in the hands of corporations.
Despite my busy schedule, I look forward to putting up posts on my Xanga. I will be typing about things that I want to type about and no one can stop me. So if you ever want a dosage of realism, visit my page I can guarantee you important issues revolving around the fate of our humanity.
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Missile + Enriching Uranium = ?
The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to defy the international community with its nuclear program. The I.A.E.A. continues to rapidly exhaust its diplomatic efforts in attempting to halt the regime’s intentions to enrich uranium and hand over a sufficient report of its nuclear program by the 25th of November. Despite the international pressure on Iran, the regime shows no sign of putting a stop to its nuclear activities and refuses to freeze uranium enrichment.
But many experts are also worried that Islamic regime’s pursuance of nuclear technology along side of advancements made recently in its ballistic missile program are not coincidental. Decades of investments into both of these programs will make it difficult for Iran to be “enticed” (as stated by the Tehrantimes.com) by any international bribes.
In a CRS Report for Congress by Sharon Squassoni, a Specialist in Foreign Affairs, indicates that Iran has had nuclear motives for almost 50 years. The war between Iran and Iraq during the late 1970’s and into the early 1980’s slowed down Iran’s nuclear research. But in the past two decades Iran has been more ambitious than ever in attempting to achieve it’s goal in enriching uranium.
The latest, two projects within the realm of Iran’s ballistic missile program remain the Shahab-3 and the Shahab-4 missiles. Both missiles are derivatives of the No-Dong program, which was originally initiated by North Korea for their own ballistic missile research. Iranian officials have consistently emphasized that the Shahab-3 missile, which is now fully operational, has put the nation of Israel within its range. Speculation is also growing that the Shahab-3 wields the capability of carrying a nuclear warhead, thus making it no coincidence that both the enrichment activities and the ballistic missile advancements are occurring simultaneously.
As Iran continues its enrichment of uranium, worries are growing that the Islamic regime could develop a nuclear weapon in the near future. Amongst those that are worried about the issue lies the predominantly Jewish state of Israel. Israel has a history of preemptively attacking regimes with nuclear ambitions, as it did with the Osiraq reactor in Iraq during the early 1980’s. Many experts are concerned about whether Israeli intelligence might prompt them to commit the same act by preemptively attacking Iran in the near future.
Iran, completely aware of Israel and the U.S.’s hostility to it’s nuclear program, has threatened to retaliate if attacked. In an interview with Arab news agency Al Jazeera, Iranian Defense Minister Al Shamkhani threatened, "If Israel fires one missile at Bushehr atomic power plant, it should permanently forget about Dimona nuclear centre, where it produces and keeps its nuclear weapons, and Israel would be responsible for the terrifying consequence of this move,”.
Both Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile program have embraced a wide range of international assistance. With regards to Iran’s nuclear program, Russia has been backing the development of the nuclear reactor in Bushehr and has finally completed the reactor last week. When discussing Iran’s ballistic missile program, countries like China and North Korea have contributed their efforts in furthering the Islamic regime’s ballistic missile capabilities up to the Shahab-3. Further research is being conducted to advance to a Shahab-4. The Iranian Defense Minister boasted that the new missile “…will be used to carry satellites into space”.
The latest developments have indicated that the U.S. and other European nations will formally propose economic incentives to Iran in their bid to halt the regime’s enrichment activities by November 25th. Iran has yet to formally announce its fate. The international community will wait and see if Iran will permanently halt it’s enrichment activities and accept the economic package or choose to add to the growing turmoil in the Middle East by accelerating its nuclear program and possibly pursuing a nuclear weapons program.
~ Yours truly  | 
