Syria: I have to say, this is becoming more like Pandora's Box every day. The escalation from tin-pot, extreme Middle Eastern brutality and inhumanity punch-up between no-bodies, into an international super-power tinder-box of high-explosives, has happened in a matter of months.
The famous "West" has been reluctant to put 'boots-on-the-ground' in the Levant and Iraq. The reason to my mind is oil - the USA has enough thank you very much, and the rest of you can get stuffed. Why should the American people be willing to sacrifice their youth to some Islamic internecine war of obscene atrocity? There is no will within the US to commit, when no one liked them for what they did previously anyway. I think they have a good reason to tell the impossibly intransigent Sunni-Shia mob to go kill themselves, if they can't stop a thousands year old feud.
But then the Americans, who are the only ones who have the resources to make any difference, begin to wonder if perhaps there are other reasons to take action in the M-E. But what other reasons are these?
Meanwhile, Russia, apparently sees a direct self-interest in the fact that Syria has allowed Russia to have a navy port. Now this is in Syria, and yet somehow, it also applies to something in the Dead Sea (of Jason fame), which I can't get straight. Anyway, Russia sees very distinct self-interest in supporting Assad in Syria. So they send in their 'boots' and all the rest.
Not to be outdone, Iran also decides to send in its 'boots' and no doubt it's famous general (although his name hasn't been mentioned yet).
Meanwhile, US (and Australia for God's sake!) has upped it's operations in bombing IS in Syria, after finally pulling Turkey on board.
Then Russia bombs the US supported anti-Assad forces. And Iran is doing something - what we don't yet know.
Next we have Norway, along with 'unnamed' other Russian impacted EU nations, feel it necessary to boost their military capability in response to a generally perceived hyper-activity by Russia in the North Sea as well as Ukraine.
So, now we have the US fighting on the same side as Russia and Iran in Syria, except they are not talking nor coordinating, and the likelyhood of killing each other very high. This is the mad hatters tea party in hell. Meanwhile let's not leave out the huge military and interventionist expense by the deficit-ridden Saudi Arabia, who has just murdered hundreds of Harjj pilgrims (Jesus, you'd of thought they could at least manage their one international religious event with all their money).
I'm godsmacked by the insane complexity of such a horrendous personal-suffering situation.
Now they tell us that the refugees invading Europe from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria (read George Bush's children) are about to multiply exponentially (blowback?). Considering the Taliban have begun their conventional warfare reclaiming of Afghanistan, and the Afghan government is about to prove itself completely incompetent.
Next China is in decline, which has triggered the biggest fall in resources stocks across the globe for a decade.
But wait, the governor of the Bank of England has just reported that the world economy is facing the biggest threat to financial stability for a very, very long time. Why? It's something we often don't realise, but there is a tendency to wonder why governments of the world states are so beholding to fossil fuel energy corporations. Think one reason: vast, unbelievable quantities of wealth. Climate Change, the darling of science and greenies, the dawning realisation of nation states that this threat is so real and devastating, that indeed we all have to shift to Renewables, has left one critical fact out of the equation: this will upturn the wealth structure of the globe.
Climate Change policies being unavoidably enforced on all governments, means that three quarters of global fossil fuel resources will have to be left in the ground. That represents a vast equity devaluation, impacting international finance in a way very few have anticipated. Insurance companies are in the front line. If we wait, and put off the transition, the eventual and unavoidable consequences on global wealth hierarchies will push the world economy over the cliff in a way that will make the GFC look like kindergartner. But even if action is taken sooner, the consequences are still devastating and unpredictable.
We live in exciting times...
