October 9, 2018 – Astute News

October 9, 2018

It Is Friendship With Russia, Not China, That Will Allow Pakistan to Cut the Cord With the US

With Afghanistan and Pakistan as the staging grounds, politics in South and Central Asia appears to be coming full circle with the making and breaking of alliances involving major regional and international actors. The switching of goalposts by the erstwhile Cold War-era allies — keeping their converging and diverging geopolitical, geoeconomic, and geostrategic interests in mind — apparently indicates the...

Opinion Comment: 1

October 9, 2018

Here’s Why India Might Secure an Anti-Iranian Sanctions Waiver from the US

The US doesn’t want to do anything that could risk Narendra Modi’s reelection next year such as inadvertently contributing to the explosive growth of petrol prices in his country, so it’s possible that Trump might grant America’s new strategic partner a waiver from the forthcoming anti-Iranian sanctions so long as India pledges to gradually reduce its purchases of the country’s...

Opinion Comment: 1

October 9, 2018

What’s Really Going On Behind the “Secret” Saudi-Russia Oil Deal

On Wednesday,Reuters reported the details of a private and “secret” deal reached between Russia and Saudi Arabia, a deal that was aimed at increasing oil output in order to offset the coming shock to oil prices that will follow U.S. efforts to starve Iran of its oil revenues. Notably, Reuters also noted that the deal was struck with cooperation from...

Opinion Comment: 1

October 9, 2018

US-Saudi Split Looming?

The macabre case of a missing Saudi journalist is prompting speculation within the US political establishment about a historic parting of ways between Washington and Saudi Arabia. It’s not clear yet what actually happened Jamal Khashoggi, a 59-year-old prominent commentator who worked for the Washington Post, among other major news outlets. He has been missing for almost a week after he entered the Saudi...

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October 9, 2018

Pakistan After the US — Indian 2+2 Talks

The US — Indian negotiations held in New Delhi on September 6 this year with the participation of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Defence (in the so-called 2+2 format) represent one of the most significant events of late in the region of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It can be compared to a heavy stone thrown into water. The...

Opinion Comments: 0

October 9, 2018

Syria: The New Terra Nullius

SYRIA, seat of an Islamic Caliphate. Syria, site of the Middle East’s newest liberal democracy. Syria, socialist paradise. Syria, a corrupt and murderous dictatorship that practices genocide. Syria, a failed state. Syria a state that is too strong. Syria, soon to be partitioned into ethnic enclaves. Syria, a pawn of Iran. Syria, a tool of Russia. Syria, a haven for...

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October 9, 2018

Is China Turning Trump’s Oil Weapon Against Him?

Usually when referring to the so-called oil weapon, analysts are talking about the decades old policy of major oil producing nations withholding production to tighten supplies and drive prices up, often driven by geopolitical motivations. The most nefarious example of this came in 1973 when middle eastern producers, led by Saudi Arabia, cut oil imports to the U.S. and a...

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October 9, 2018

Faked Concern: Haley & Corporate Media Bleating about Idlib Civilians, Ignore Terrorists’ Presence

Nikki Haley, the hypocritical US Ambassador to the UN, mistakenly thinks she can dictate – from New York City, far from the terrorists which her country supports – that the Syrian army cannot fight and eradicate al-Qaeda in Idlib. Her, and other American figures’ words, come with faked concern over the lives of Syrian civilians. This is particularly ironic given...

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Daily Archive: October 9, 2018

It Is Friendship With Russia, Not China, That Will Allow Pakistan to Cut the Cord With the US

Here’s Why India Might Secure an Anti-Iranian Sanctions Waiver from the US

What’s Really Going On Behind the “Secret” Saudi-Russia Oil Deal

US-Saudi Split Looming?

Pakistan After the US — Indian 2+2 Talks

Syria: The New Terra Nullius

Is China Turning Trump’s Oil Weapon Against Him?

Faked Concern: Haley & Corporate Media Bleating about Idlib Civilians, Ignore Terrorists’ Presence