• Thousands flee homes in Kashmir as Pakistan-India shelling escalates
  
• China threatens military intervention in Kashmir on the side of Pakistan
  

• India's 'Operation All-Out' brings Kashmir closer to all-out war (24-Jun-2017)
  
  
• Kashmir violence surges as India launches massive house-to-house sweep (06-May-2017)
  
  
• Police clashes in India-governed Kashmir kill 36 and leave thousands injured (14-Jul-2016)
  
  
• Uprising in Kashmir growing into major regional war between India and Pakistan (01-Apr-2017)
  

• China and India have military confrontation over Bhutan's Doklam plateau (08-Jul-2017)
  
  
• As Narendra Modi visits Washington, China threatens India after border clash (28-Jun-2017)
  
  
• China's 'thuggery' transforms Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement into independence movement (30-Aug-2016)
  

• China establishes its first foreign military base, in Djibouti
  
• Russia, India, Japan prepare for war with China
  

• Djibouti, Eritrea border clash looms after Qatar withdraws peacekeepers (17-Jun-2017)
  
  
• Concerns grow about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) (10-Jun-2017)
  
  
• China and India have military confrontation over Bhutan's Doklam plateau (08-Jul-2017)
  

• Mongol invasion of China in 1206 has impact today (06-Dec-2010)
  
  
• Vietnam buys cruise missiles from Russia to threaten China (02-May-2015)
  
  
• Russia's concerns about China's 'invasion' of the Far East continue (21-Jun-2015)
  
  
• Russia holds massive Vostok 2014 military exercises amid anti-US hysteria (26-Sep-2014)
  

• Turkey threatens the Kurds in Afrin, Syria, with Operation Euphrates Sword
  
• Turkey's assault on Afrin may jeopardize the battle in Raqqa
  

• Turkey builds a northern Syria 'National Army' from Free Syrian Army militias (31-May-2017)
  
  
• Turkey's warplanes strike Kurdish militias fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq (26-Apr-2017)
  
  
• Turkey's 'Operation Euphrates Shield' turns into full-scale invasion of Syria (26-Aug-2016)
  

• Some analysts are suggesting that because of the complexity of
  the operation, Turkey has no intention of attacking Afrin, but is
  using the threat of an attack as a bluff to gain concessions.
  
  
• According to some reports, Russia had stationed troops in
  Afrin to prevent the Turkish operation, but withdrew them two
  months ago because the Russians are angry at the Kurds for
  working so well with the Americans.
  
  
• Another report says that Russia withdrew its troops in a
  tit-for-tat exchange to buy cooperation from the Turks in
  planned operations in Idlib later this year.
  
  
• A variation of that report says that Iran and Russia are willing
  to hand over Afrin to Turkey "in exchange for concessions" in other
  parts of Syria, especially related to Russia's de-escalation
  zones.
  
  
• The Kurds took control of Afrin in 2013, by driving the Syrian
  regime army out. Another report says that Russia is asking the Kurds
  to hand Afrin back to the Syrian regime in order to stop the attacks
  from Turkey.

• In dramatic development, US warplanes smash fortified wall in Raqqa, Syria (05-Jul-2017)
  
  
• US will 'quickly' arm Kurdish militias in Syria, despite Turkey's opposition (11-May-2017)
  
  
• Final push to expel ISIS from Raqqa, Syria, to begin in June (16-May-2017)
  
  
• US-backed Kurdish militias in Syria make surprise announcement of Raqqa operation (07-Nov-2016)
  

• Paranoid China races to censor news of death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo
  
• China responds with outrage at countries praising Liu Xiaobo
  

• China's people commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre, June 4, 1989 (04-Jun-2009)
  
  
• China scrambles to suppress Tiananmen Square terror attack reports (30-Oct-2013)
  
  
• Hong Kong and Taiwan commemorate China's Tiananmen Square massacre (05-Jun-2011)
  

• EU countries refuse to help Italy deal with massive refugee crisis
  
• Italy considers a 'code of conduct,' and possibly the 'nuclear option'
  
• Italy's 'nuclear option' would force other countries to absorb refugees
  

• NGOs will be banned from making phone calls or firing flares
  that might signal to human traffickers that they could push their
  migrant boats out to sea.
  
  
• The NGO vessels will also be obliged to let police travel with
  them to help root out any human traffickers hidden amongst the
  migrants.
  
  
• NGOs will be required to always keep their ships' transponders
  turned on. These are radar identification systems that allow the
  ships to be tracked remotely. Some commercial ships turn them off to
  avoid being asked to carry out rescue operations. Some NGOs turn off
  the transponders to avoid being tracked into Libyan waters.
  
  
• The boats will no longer be allowed to transfer refugees to other
  ships, but will instead have to bring them to port themselves,
  limiting their operations.
  
  
• There will be a categorical ban on NGOs entering Libyan waters
  unless human life is clearly in danger.

• Italy begs for help after 12,000 migrants arrive in four days (30-Jun-2017)
  
  
• Italy prepares for possible Mediterranean refugee crisis this summer (05-May-2017)
  
  
• With Libya in chaos, migrant deal with Italy collapses (16-Jan-2017)
  
  
• Monday's EU summit to show that Europe 'not detached from reality' over migrants (14-Sep-2016)
  

(07-09-2017, 10:30 AM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: The 1206 victory of the Mongols over the Han Chinese still has
enormous impact on Chinese thinking today.

** 6-Dec-10 News -- Mongol invasion of China in 1206 has impact today
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/xct.gd.e101206.htm#e101206

Han Chinese adopted much from Mongol culture, and many aspects of the
two cultures merged -- culturally, not ethnically.

After the Mongols conquered the Han Chinese, they went on to attack
the Russians.  The Russian culture has definitely NOT merged with the
Mongol/Chinese culture.  For example, the Chinese adopted the Mongols'
agricultural tax system and a four-tiered system for bureaucratic
preference, while the Russians did not do anything of the sort.

• Muslim leaders express outrage at metal detectors at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque / Temple Mount
  
• Concerns grow of a new round of violence at compound
  

• Palestinians accuse Israel of 'declaration of war' as tensions mount in Jerusalem (31-Oct-2014)
  
  
• Jordan returns its ambassador to Israel (03-Feb-2015)
  
  
• Abbas's UN speech raises concerns about a Palestinian 'third intifada' (05-Oct-2015)
  
  
• Israeli-Palestinian violence spreads across West Bank as anger grows (09-Oct-2015)
  

(07-16-2017, 07:14 PM)Warren Dew Wrote: > I read your link. It doesn't appear to substantiate what you're
> trying to claim here. For example, it says, "The xenophobia
> between Mongol and Han Chinese is still a powerful force today",
> which suggests that the cultures have in fact not merged.

> It also says the agricultural tax system was only adopted by the
> Mongol rulers after they took over China - which of course makes
> sense, since the Mongols were a pastoral, not an agricultural,
> society before taking over China, and so would not have had an
> agricultural tax system to start with. That was an adjustment of
> the Mongol rulers to Chinese traditions, not a merging in of
> Mongol traditions, and it likely was the result of the advice of
> the Han neoconfucian advisors who advised each consecutive
> dynasty.

> Even today, the Uighurs and other successors of the Mongols
> continue to constitute the biggest security threat to China - and
> they are still also a security threat to Russia, as well.

• China bans Winnie The Pooh because Xi Jinping looks like him
  
• Indonesia defies China and renames part of the South China Sea
  

• The death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo
  last week was a tremendous humiliation to Xi Jinping and
  China because the international community ridiculed China for having
  jailed him for years simply for advocating greater democracy in
  China. Liu's name has been banned from social media. So has the
  phrase "RIP" or an image of a burning candle.
  
  
• And now the international community is demanding that his wife,
  Liu Xia, be freed from jail. She's been jailed since 2010 for the
  crime of being Liu Xiaobo's wife.
  
  
• An exiled Chinese billionaire, Guo Wengui, living in New York,
  continues to publish evidence on Twitter and Youtube that Xi Jinping
  and other party officials are guilty of graft and corruption.
  
  
• The recent commemoration of the handover of Hong Kong to China
  exposed the fact that China had lied
  when it promised "One Country, Two Systems."
  
  
• The Dalai Lama, vitriolicly hated by the Chinese officials,
  celebrated his 82nd birthday on July 6.
  
  
• June 4 was the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre,
  where Chinese soldiers massacred thousands of peaceful pro-democracy
  students. Anything related to the massacre is banned from the
  internet.
  
  
• July is the anniversary of the 1999 crackdown on the Falun Gong
  spiritual movement that grew out of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
  Older people would get together to meditate and do exercises. Beijing
  became alarmed, and declared in 1999 that practicing the Falun Gong
  was illegal. Millions of Chinese have been jailed, tortured and
  killed simply for doing the equivalent of Richard Simmons
  exercises.

• Paranoid China races to censor news of death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo (15-Jul-2017)
  
  
• China repudiates its Hong Kong 'One Country, Two Systems' agreement with Britain (01-Jul-2017)
  
  
• 'Tiananmen Mothers' commemorate China's Tiananmen Square massacre (04-Jun-2016)
  

• China's coast guard warship rams vessel in Indonesian waters (24-Mar-2016)
  
  
• Tensions grow with China over Indonesia's Natuna Islands (21-Oct-2014)
  
  
• China builds illegal surface-to-air missile sites in South China Sea (03-Jul-2017)
  
  
• Philippines humiliates China in harsh Hague Tribunal ruling over South China Sea (13-Jul-2016)
  
  
• China's 'ironclad proof' of South China Sea claims revealed as hoax (22-Jun-2016)
  

(07-17-2017, 10:10 PM)Cynic Hero 86 Wrote: > Except that India as we speak is directly challenging chinese
> border claim yet if china is so aggressive as you claim; why
> hasn't their been any meaningful chinese response to India
> standing up directly against china. Curious reaction for an
> aggressive-militaristic power. Why hasn't china attacked India yet
> given the current standoff there if the world alliances are what
> you claim them to be?

(07-17-2017, 10:35 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote:

(07-17-2017, 10:10 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote: >   Except that India as we speak is directly challenging chinese
>   border claim yet if china is so aggressive as you claim; why
>   hasn't their been any meaningful chinese response to India
>   standing up directly against china. Curious reaction for an
>   aggressive-militaristic power. Why hasn't china attacked India yet
>   given the current standoff there if the world alliances are what
>   you claim them to be?

Because China is just as nationalistic and xenophobic as China is at
this time, and a military attack on Bhutan's Doklam region would
trigger full-scale war between China and India, reviving their war
from the 1960s.  Such a war would spread to Pakistan, and bring Russia
or the US in on the side of India, and China isn't ready for that.

(07-17-2017, 10:43 PM)Cynic Hero 86 Wrote: > Given what you just said if china wants to avoid war with India or
> even Japan and Vietnam in the immediate time frame; why would they
> challenge the US instead? Everyone knows that the US is stronger
> than both India and Russia? Why would that be deemed by Chinese
> leaders as a less risky option?

• WW II did not begin with the Anschluss of Nazi Germany and
  Austria, nor did it begin with the Nazi invasion Czechoslovakia.
  Hitler was using the "salami technique" of one conquest after another,
  each one thought to be too small to trigger an all-out war.
  Nonetheless, when the Nazis invaded Poland, Britain felt it had to
  intervene.
  
  Today, China is using the same "salami technique" in the South China
  Sea and elsewhere, as it plans to take control of their entire region
  and control all access to it. At some point, China will take a step
  too far, and Vietnam or the Philippines or India or Australia or the
  United States will feel obligated to oppose the Chinese. Another
  example is that North Korea is using a kind of "salami technique" to
  develop a nuclear-tipped ICBM that could reach American soil. At some
  point, North Korea may conduct one more nuclear weapon test or one
  more ballistic missile test that will cause the US or China to decide
  to do something to stop further nuclear development, and that could
  trigger a war.
  
  However, a "small action" doesn't always trigger a world war. There
  are numerous examples -- US invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11, US
  invasion of Iraq over fear of WMDs (58 year hypothesis), Israel's
  invasion of Lebanon because of Hezbollah's actions (58 year
  hypothesis), Saudi Arabia's invasion of Yemen, the proxy war in Syria,
  Russia's invasion and annexation of Crimea, Russia's invasion of South
  Ossetia and Abkhazia, and so forth.
  
  
• The Pacific theatre of WW II began when Imperial Japan attacked
  Pearl Harbor and other American targets. Today, China may decide to
  launch a direct attack on the US and/or India.
  
  
• WW I began when a high school student decided to shoot and kill
  the archduke of another country. We can imagine many variations of
  this today. In 2011, Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab
  province, tried to reform the blasphemy laws, and was shot dead by his
  own bodyguard. So, if an official from India had been visiting Taseer
  that day, that same bodyguard might have decided to shoot and kill the
  Indian official, and that might have triggered retaliation or a war.
  As another example, in December of last year in Ankara, a member of
  Turkey's security forces shot and killed Russia's ambassador to
  Turkey. Russia decided not to retaliate, but they might have. As a
  final example, one country's "special forces" might infiltrate another
  country and kill the country's leader, and that could trigger
  retaliation and a war.
  
  
• The War of the Spanish Succession began with a legal issue:
  The death of the King of Spain, and a will that bequeathed
  Spain to the grandson of the King of France, triggering
  the war. Today, some sort of legal issue in Taiwan might appear
  to Beijing to be moving Taiwan in the direction of independence,
  which would trigger a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Or we're
  seeing this crazy blockade of Qatar by four Arab countries,
  based on little more than legalisms. That could trigger some
  sort of war.
  
  
• Many wars have begun with popular rebellions. There's Russia's
  Bolshevik Revolution, China's Taiping Rebellion, China's Communist
  Revolution, Iran's Great Islamic Revolution, the French Revolution,
  and so forth. This could happen today in countries like China,
  Russia, Egypt, and so forth.
  
  
• Some country (China) could trigger one of America's mutual defense
  treaties. The United States has some sort of mutual defense treaty
  with many countries: Japan, South Korea, Israel, Taiwan, the
  Philippines, the Marshall Islands, the ANZUS agreement with Australia
  and New Zealand, a special treaty with Iceland, and the NATO agreement
  with all of Europe.

(07-18-2017, 01:36 PM)Cynic Hero 86 Wrote: > Xenakis, what are the possibility of China adopting a "strike
> north" policy, as opposed to a "strike south" policy?

• Eritrean government laughably uses Orthodox Christian Patriarch as show prop
  
• Eritrea's Christian crackdown centers on Medhane Alem Orthodox Church
  
• The violence of generational Awakening eras
  

• Heavy fighting along Eritrea-Ethiopia border raises fears of war (14-Jun-2016)
  
  
• Ethiopia declares extraordinary six-month state of emergency (10-Oct-2016)
  
  
• South Sudan increasingly parallels Syria in genocidal violence (24-Dec-2016)
  
  
• The Gambia's leader, refusing to step down, declares state of emergency (18-Jan-2017)
  

• Cambodia bans all sales of sand to Singapore
  
• The world is running out of sand
  

• An amazing video of Ukrainian sand artist, Kseniya Simonova (29-Sep-2009)
  

• Relations between Germany and Turkey spiral into crisis
  
• Turkey commemorates first anniversary of attempted coup
  

• Obviously, no more than a dozen or so people could have been
  involved in coup planning, or the details would have leaked out.
  
  
• Few people find credible the claim that 76-year-old Gülen
  orchestrated the coup from his easy chair in the Pocono mountains of
  Pennsylvania.
  
  
• In fact, Erdogan has repeatedly demanded that the US extradite
  Gülen back to Turkey, but Erdogan has been unable to provide any
  evidence that would meet American court standards to satisfy an
  extradition request.
  
  
• Erdogan started his purge well before the coup attempt. In
  particular, four months before the coup, Turkey and the world were
  shocked when Erdogan shut down Zaman,
  the country's major opposition newspaper, the largest
  newspaper in the country.
  
  
• In the days following the coup attempt, an extremely large and
  complex purge was put into place, with Erdogan giving himself increasingly dictatorial powers.
  Many
  analysts believe that the purge was in the planning stages for several
  months, waiting for the right opportunity to implement it.
  
  
• For years, starting long before the coup attempt, Erdogan has been
  aggregating power to himself, and has been changing Turkey's character
  from a secular state to a conservative Islamist state. This made him
  popular with millions of pious Turks who had felt ignored by the old
  secular elites. This all came to a head in 2007 over the issue of
  women wearing headscarves.
  
  However, Ataturk, the revered founder of Turkey after the collapse of
  the Ottoman Empire, declared that Turkey would be a secular state,
  with freedom of worship for people of all religions, including Jews
  and Christians. Ataturk asked the army to be the preserver of the
  secular state, and many in the army today see it as their job to stop
  Erdogan's changes. In fact, this split within the army between those
  who honor Ataturk and those who honor Erdogan may have been the reason
  that the coup was attempted in the first place.

• Turkey's Erdogan gives himself dictatorial powers, moving Turkey away from the West (22-Jul-2016)
  
  
• Turkey's 'shameful day for free press' as government seizes Zaman media (06-Mar-2016)
  
  
• More than a million of secularists rally in Turkey (14-May-2007)
  
  
• 26-Feb-10 News - Turkey debates Islam versus secularism (26-Feb-2010)
  

• Palestinian 'day of rage' in Jerusalem results in six deaths, hundreds injured
  
• Power struggle over metal detectors as Mahmoud Abbas threatens to cut ties
  

• Tensions at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque / Temple Mount surge again (17-Jul-2017)
  
  
• Mahmoud Abbas, 81, reelected leader of Fatah/Palestinian Authority (30-Nov-2016)
  
  
• Palestinian 'Oslo Generation' relationship with Israel extremely toxic and explosive (18-Oct-2015)
  
  
• Palestinians accuse Israel of 'declaration of war' as tensions mount in Jerusalem (31-Oct-2014)