This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Russia, India to sell supersonic cruise missile to Vietnam
- Over 500 migrants drown in Mediterranean after boat was rammed
- U.S. to send 3,000 troops to Liberia to fight Ebola
Russia, India to sell supersonic cruise missile to Vietnam
Talks for sale of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, jointlydeveloped by India and Russia, to Vietnam are at an “advanced stage.”Vietnam has already been deemed a “friendly country” by Russia andIndia, and acquisition of the BrahMos would be a significant strategiccoup for Vietnam to bolster its credible defense against China.
Vietnam is ill-equipped to prevent China from annexing territoriesbelonging to Vietnam and other countries bordering the South ChinaSea, and the supersonic missiles would allow Vietnam to threaten anynaval assets that China may choose to use in the future againstVietnamese interests.
The BrahMos, developed jointly in a strategic partnership betweenIndian DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organization) andRussian NPO Mashinostroyeniya, is a stealth cruise missile with arange of 290 km and travels at a speed of Mach 2.8 to 3. Itsdeveloper claims that the missile cannot be intercepted for the next20 years.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, these alliancesfurther support the ten-year-old prediction, based on generationalanalysis of the countries involved, that the approaching Clash ofCivilizations world war would pit China plus Pakistan plus the SunniMuslim countries versus the U.S. plus India plus Russia plus Iran. InAsia, the alliance between India, Russia, and Vietnam is growing, whilein the Mideast, we see a realignment in progress that’s allying theU.S. with Iran and Russia, versus the Sunni-jihadist Islamic State /of Iraq and Syria (IS or ISIS). These realignments are continuing.Diplomat and BrahMos press release
Over 500 migrants drown in Mediterranean after boat was rammed
About 500 migrants, 400 adults and 100 children, traveling from Egyptto Malta drowned after the boat carrying them collided with anotherboat. The migrants’ boat may have been rammed and deliberately sunkby human traffickers, who were demanding that they give up their boatin exchange for a smaller boat. According to survivors, thetraffickers were laughing after ramming and sinking the boat.
The number of migrants traveling from Africa to Europe has beensurging exponentially this year, and this would be the biggestdrowning incident so far. Last October there were two tragicshipwrecks in which more than 400 Eritrean, Somali, andSyrian migrants drowned. ( “16-Oct-13 World View — Sicily declares state of emergency as African migrants flood in”)
The deaths of 400 migrants caused a scandal throughout Europe, andItaly began spending $13 million dollars per month on a program calledSicily. Many people believe that the exponential surge in migrants isan unintended consequence of the Mare Nostrum program, since a migrantcan feel confident that he’ll reach Europe one way or another.
Italy has been complaining bitterly that Europe should be paying a lotmore of the $13 million monthly tab. The Europeans have agreed to asmall expansion of its Frontex border agency into a “Frontex Plus”program, but for the most part, the Europeans are happy to sit backand just let Italy bear the entire cost. CNN and Guardian (London)
U.S. to send 3,000 troops to Liberia to fight Ebola
Most people are aware of the close relationship that the United Stateshas had with the country of Liberia, resulting from the fact that itwas founded by freed American slaves in the early 1800s. Since thattime, America has provided aid and support to the country whennecessary, and Liberia provided valuable resources, particularlyrubber, in support of America’s war effort in World War II.
With the Ebola virus spreading exponentially throughout Liberia,Liberia is facing an existential crisis, and so it’s not surprisingthat the U.S. is going to help. Under the U.S. plan, 3,000U.S. troops will be sent to a new command center in Liberia’s capital,Monrovia, to help with the transportation of supplies and otherpersonnel. U.S. forces will construct 17 health care facilities of100 beds each to isolate and treat victims. The U.S. mission will alsoset up a facility to train 500 health care workers per week.
The Ebola crisis threatens to wipe out ten years of rebuilding Liberiafollowing the bloody civil war that ended in 2003. Liberia’s societyis split between indigenous tribes — the people who lived therebefore the freed slaves arrived — and the freed slaves who settledthere. Although making up only about 5% of the population, the freedslaves and their descendants, known as “Americo-Liberians,” were adominant minority and ruled Liberia following independence, until thecivil war began in the 1960s. The society that sent freed slaves toLiberia in the 1800s selected the ones with the strongest ProtestantChristian beliefs, and the ruling Americo-Liberian minority consideredthemselves and their religion to be superior to the religions of theindigenous tribes, whether animist or Muslim. Ironically, the freedslaves themselves became slavemasters to the indigenous people,continuing into the 1900s. The war ended, but tensions between thesettlers and the tribes continue. The civil war that ended in 2003left the country destitute, and now it’s facing destitution again fromEbola.
Some people are criticizing the American action to be too little, toolate. Based on the reports that have been coming out of Liberia inthe last few months, it’s quite possible that even 3,000 Americantroops cannot stop the rapid spread of the disease. It seems likelythat the pandemic will have to run its course, meaning that almost allpeople in Liberia will sooner or later become sick for the disease,and either survive or not. The survivors should then be immune fromfurther illness from Ebola. VOA and White House and Liberian National History Project
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Russia, India, Vietnam, BrahMos missile, China,Egypt, Malta, Italy, Eritrea, Somalia, Syria,Mare Nostrum, Our Sea, Frontex Plus,Liberia, Ebola, Americo-Liberians
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