bryant

So, what’s up in the world this fine morning? Stratfor kindly converted my US/Iraq war subscription into a general subscription, so I have a wealth of material to speak of.

India and Russia are conducting joint naval exercises, which are pretty much symbolic — they want to remind the world that they’re allies. It’s a good thing to remember, considering that India fully intends to become a world power over the next twenty years. Bruce Sterling wrote a great article about the India/China space race, which echoed this Guardian article from January. It might be somewhat disturbing to consider the fact that China, India, and Russia are all cheesed off about Gulf War II. Or not, if you think we’ve reached the end of history and no other nation will ever rise in prominence.

On a more cheerful note, India and Pakistan have resumed diplomatic relations. Breathe a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, in Turkey, the military just observed that the secular nature of Turkey’s government should be “carefully protected.” Erdogan is not someone the Turkish military wants to see in power, and his party is the direct descendant of the government which fell in 1997. By “fell,” I mean “was pressured to step down by the military.” We could see another coup in the relatively near future; certainly tensions are high.

Also of note: Kurds in Turkey are protesting violently in the aftermath of the recent quake. More Kurdish/Turkish friction can’t be good.