Concern for the Planet

[Rob G]

Is it just me, or does the whole fucking planet seem on the verge of total destablization culminating in a world war.

The shit is all happening at the same time. Its mind boggling.

N. Korea is shooting off missiles. Purposly landing them near japan. Whilst test fire special long range missiles. The funny thing is that all of Koreas possible enemies and ancestral enemies are within their medium range capabilities, except one. The only nation they would need a long range missile for is us. At the same time their lanching these missiles they are developing nuclear technology.
Now Japan is revaluating their constitution which wont allow them to wage war. Even if we dont go after Korea shit could still go down. The Koreans and Japs are arch enemies down to the man.

Meanwhile the Isreal shit is hitting new heights. Their banging palestine and Lebenon at the same time. Their stated goal at this point is to wipe out the militaristic capabilities of Hezbollah and Hamas. This is interesting statement as Hamas is currently the majority of the elected Palestinian government. How far will Israel go. And we're not even interested in stopping them. In my lifetime any Israel has even done 1/10 of what it is doing now, there where international pleads lead by the US for them to stop. I see no such calls now. And Israel is infamous for taking a mile when you give them an inch.
Worse then the Japs and Koreans, The Jews and Palestinians are arch enemies to the man.

And now,
India is taking massive terorist attacks. These no doubt come from Pakistani resistance movements. And just like the other the Paks and the Indians are arch enemies. And they have nuclear weapons.

To the side of all this is crumbling democracy in Russia and the continued ascension of China as the preeminent world power.

It seems to me that the equalibriam formed by World War 2 is crumbling. A new reckoning is coming.

I say Let the indians and pakistanis kill each other.
Leave Korea alone, eventually China will deal with them.
And let the israelites handle their business and get their back if the big arab countries try to bang on them.

No matter what though I definatly feel like something huge and terrible is looming.

[Ring the Merciless]

When do you think i should let those Israeli soldiers out of my closet. Before or after Israel attacks Syria and Iran. ;D

[Ken]

I agree wholeheartedly. There is about to be a monumental war erupting in the Middle East with Isreal, Syria, Lebanon and possibly even Iran. If that happens, then the United States is honor-bound, and treaty-bound, to jump in on that one too. And if Iran gets involved, where does that leave Russia and Iraq? Could this be the war that throws the whole world off kilter? While we are involved in Iraq and with Isreal, what will the Koreans and the Chinese accomplish?

Russia and China refuse to really, truly, support the world's efforts to keep nuclear technology out of Iran's hands. It's like they want Iran to develop nuclear weapons. We have been trying the diplomatic route, but where is it getting us? The United States seems to be the only one negotiating. Russia continues to say it will veto any resolutions from the U.N Security Council, so why should we bother bringing it up formally?

China, which seems to have much influence over N. Korea, continues to sit on it's laurels, and refuses to put real pressure on the N. Koreans. At this point, I think it would be wise and prudent to let Japan arm itself, and train its services. Maybe that will help stabilize the region. If we arm the Japanese, they will be ahead of the N. Koreans and the Chinese in technology, and that may give them the edge they need.

But the real problems seem to be the Russians and the Chinese. We cannot deny that the Chinese are quickly becoming a world power, and with Russia entering the world oil production stage, they will become an economic force to be reckoned with. So, economically, we will need these countries, just as they will need us. But as the United States tries to use diplomacy more and more, China and Russia seem to be blocking all our attempts at real agreements and change.

It seems like things will break down sooner or later. The United States is a big dog, and so is China and Russia. Will these big dogs fight it out, or will they eventually reach common ground?

At the G8 Summit, The United States is successfully keeping Russia out of the World Trade Organization over disputes over patents and things of that nature. We are the only country opposing their entry. Is this revenge for Russia not supporting us with Iran?

I agree with Rob, something big and terrible is looming. It could be another world war, while other wars simultaneously take place, like an India and Pakistani war. Or proliferation of nukes and subsequent terror or outlaw nations striking at hated targets.

The next ten years could be very bad.

[abisai]

Let 'em all have nukes. Anyone uses one and we have three in stock for every city they have. India and Pakistan both got nukes and it might actually keep them each at bay from warring over Kashmir. This is the very "equilibrium" cited that arose out of WW2.

Let the kids play in the sandbox while the major powers go about doing anything else but that. The obliteration of Isreal and creation of a pan-Arab Islamic state would do us no harm. The eradication of all nations other than Israel in the Middle East would do us no harm. All funding to prevent either outcome could be better spent finding alternatives to fossil fuel dependence. As it stands, we pay money for oil to people who fight each other with those funds. Then we pay money to fund military manuevers. We pay both ways on both sides.

If you want to be even more depressed, watch Al Gore's movie about global warming.