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US Says Test Successfully Intercepts Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Target

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The US Department of Defense successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile target during a Tuesday test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the nation’s ballistic missile defense system, according to a Missile Defense Agency press release

This was the first live-fire test event against an ICBM-class target for GMD and the US ballistic missile defense system.

According to the Missile Defense Agency, during the test, an ICBM-class target was launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Multiple sensors provided target acquisition and tracking data to the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communication (C2BMC) system. The Sea-Based X-band radar, positioned in the Pacific Ocean, also acquired and tracked the target. The GMD system received the target tracking data and developed a fire control solution to intercept the target.

A ground-based interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and its exo-atmospheric kill vehicle intercepted and destroyed the target in a direct collision, the Missile Defense Agency said.

“The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment for the GMD system and a critical milestone for this program,” said MDA Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring. “This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat. I am incredibly proud of the warfighters who executed this test and who operate this system every day.”

Initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test, the Missile Defense Agency said.

The test, designated Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor (FTG)-15, will provide the data necessary to assess the performance of the GMD system and provide enhanced homeland defense capabilities.

The GMD element of the ballistic missile defense system provides combatant commanders the capability to engage and destroy intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats to protect the US. The mission of the Missile Defense Agency is to develop and deploy a layered ballistic missile defense system to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies and friends from limited ballistic missile attacks of all ranges in all phases of flight.


What Does US-Arab Arms Deal Bring For Region And Pakistan? – OpEd

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As US President Donald Trump signed the deal worth US $350bn with the Saudis, the world watched with the bated breath. Not just because this multi-billion arms deal with the Saudis is the single largest deal in the US history, but also because it doesn’t come without regional and global implications. As per the plan the deal worth US $110bn is to take effect immediately while the remaining amount will be implemented over the period of 10 years.

For the US and KSA the benefits are huge and obvious. It is worth noticing that this agreement is being explicitly appreciated by the US and Saudi Arabia for bolstering the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region “in the face of Iranian threats”, while also bolstering the Kingdom’s ability to contribute to counter terrorism operations across the region.

The US Department of State in a statement expressed hope that this arrangement will help KSA become more self sufficient and it will also reduce burden on the US military forces. For the US it brings massive amount of money and major uplift of its economic landscape. Along with that the US $ 250bn commercial investment is hoped to create thousands of Jobs.

The Military Industrial Complex (MIC) has once again managed to come for the rescue of US GDP by the sale of arms and generating revenues unhindered for at least a decade. According to the reports some of the weapons machinery KSA is going to receive includes tanks, artillery, helicopters, light closer air support, intelligence-gathering aircraft, and systems such as Patriot and THAAD. Saudi Arab will hire US companies and the US will also provide extensive training to their Saudi counterpart. Overall the sale includes deal in five categories that cover border and coastal security, cybersecurity, air force modernization, and air and missile defence.

This show of strategic cooperation between the two old partners sends out a clear message to the regional states as well as to the international community and to the friends and foes alike. The unprecedented arms sale and investment has given a fresh thrust to the long term alliance and conveys that the US is looking forward to having an “Arab NATO” in this part of the world and a common defence against a common enemy.

Here the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson specifically mentioned in the news briefing that the threats to the region are being allegedly posed by Iran. Hence highlighting Iran as a common enemy of the two states and of the whole region. However the idea of Arab NATO has been floating around since long where the US military and political leadership have been working on it for years now. One of the reasons as to why US is looking for a military based alliance in this part of the region is because within Europe there is an ever growing weariness and waning of interest regarding the US war prone ambitions.

This would be quite in contrast to the stance by former US President Barack Obama vis a vis the Arab states with regards to its West Asia policy. In the last month of his term in office, former President Obama halted the sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia over concerns that the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) was targeting civilians in Yemen.

But now the arms package includes a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system from Lockheed Martin, similar to the one being made operational in South Korea, which costs around $1 billion. A software system, a package of satellite capabilities, as well as fighting and artillery vehicles are also reportedly part of the negotiations. More than $1 billion worth of munitions, including armor-piercing Penetrator Warheads and Paveway laser-guided bombs made by Raytheon, might also be included in the package.

The international human rights organizations have been critical of Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, which they believe has violated the rules of law as its military actions include indiscriminatory attacks against the civilian population including hospitals, markets, schools, and religious centers. Saudi Arabia’s prime target is Houthi rebels that support former President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh. It is also believed that Houthis are being allegedly backed by Iran.

It looks quite obvious that both US and KSA are making all the efforts to keep the US in, Iran down and Russia out of the region by disabling and neutralizing Iran, and simultaneously building up military strength of the US and the Arab world.

However one can also understand that it doesn’t remain about the KSA, Iran and the US anymore, but a larger spectrum of regional politics is to be taken into account. Russia and Syria for instance cannot be taken out of this scenario. Russia despite being the extra regional state has been actively involved in the regional politics by putting up a strong fight against terrorists long the borders of Syria. Not only does this arms deal raise alarms for Iran but Russia too is very much concerned about the multi-billion military cooperation. This may further fuel crisis in Syria as apparently both Iran and Russia support the Syrian regime and are fighting against US and KSA backed terrorists in Syria.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, being a close ally of the KSA and having historically good relations with Iran, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Pakistan to adopt a balanced approach towards both countries. At the same time it cannot afford to further alienate the US than it already is.

Added to all this is the fact that Russia is warming up to Pakistan, which should not be taken for granted by Pakistan. Hence for Pakistan the Middle Eastern region presents a dilemma where only a neutral policy would be the only wise step in the right direction. Otherwise the regional arrangements with sectarian undertones will not only lead Pakistan to take sides with one against the other but will also fan the sectarian elements within its own borders.

Since the arms deal is openly against Iran, it is important for Pakistan to think twice before formally being part of KSA led Islamic Military Alliance against Iran, Syria, and Yemen. In fact the Foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakria indicated that Pakistan is yet to take a final decision on the Saudi alliance. Similarly Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on the floor of National Assembly assured that Pakistan would withdraw if the Saudi alliance turns out to be sectarian in nature.

Pakistan should not let the urge to join the biggest Muslim alliance overshadow and undermine its ties with neighboring Iran. Although with the former COAS Gen (R) Raheel Shareef leading the 41 nation counter-alliance, it was speculated that Pakistan has accepted to be part of this alliance. However that is yet to be decided as is clear from the statements of Pakistan government officials. In fact in an effort to resolve serious issues between KSA and Iran, the mediatory efforts by Pakistan cannot be ignored.

There has to be a realization on the part of Pakistan that the country cannot afford to antagonize Afghanistan, India and Iran at the same time. As in case of any conflict with Iran, India can badly damage Pakistani interests at eastern borders or vice versa.

Robert Reich: Trump’s Rollback Of Civil Rights – OpEd

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Trump’s budget isn’t just about massive tax cuts for rich and major cuts in assistance for the poor. He also wants to roll back civil rights. Under his proposed budget:

1. The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice – which  has long investigated hate crimes, voter suppression, and other forms of discrimination – would lose at least 121 positions.

2. The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program – in charge of policing against discrimination by companies with federal contracts – would be eliminated altogether. That’s 600 positions. (Just last September, the office reached a $1.7 million settlement with tech giant Palantir for discriminatory hiring practices.)

3. The Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice program – which combats higher-rates of pollution in communities of color – would be eliminated.

4. The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights – charged with investigating discrimination in America’s schools – would be drastically cut. The Trump administration itself has admitted these cuts will hamper its ability to conduct investigations.

Trump has made clear his priorities: Benefit the most comfortable Americans and stick it to the most vulnerable.

Global Consequences Of The Trump Presidency – Analysis

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By Deepak Kapoor*

A large number of us in India had the perception that the US democratic system, having evolved over almost two centuries, was a better organised and almost corruption free system providing for better governance and rule of law. That perception had been laid to rest by the time Donald Trump got elected as President after a campaign involving a lot of mudslinging. However, a rapid succession of hiring and firing of top executives as well as a barrage of happenings within the administration emerging on a daily basis since the commencement of the Trump presidency is indeed alarming.

Of course, none of this would have mattered to the rest of the world if the consequences of these events were limited to the US alone. But the fact that the USA has been the undisputed leader of the world since the end of the Second World War and has been instrumental in shaping global economic and strategic policies for the past 70 years means that there are global consequences of domestic events in that country. While the Cold War may have ended, the European Union may have become broader and deeper, and China may have been rising for the last three decades, the pre-eminence of the US as the leading power in shaping global policies was never in doubt.

Trump has risen to the presidency on the premise of ‘America for Americans’. The reality of present day Americans being the immigrants of yesteryears has been conveniently cast aside because Americans today feel threatened by the influx of new immigrants. They feel that their job security and financial survival is at stake unless the outsourcing of jobs, import of cheaper labour and threat of terrorism are minimised by limiting immigration. However, migrations from overpopulated backward regions to less populated advanced countries where opportunities abound are a fact of history that would keep repeating itself at periodic intervals.

President Trump’s victory and his subsequent actions after assuming the presidency seem to indicate the US withdrawal from a leadership role towards a degree of insulation from world affairs, somewhat akin to the policy of ‘splendid isolation’ followed by it prior to World War I. Giving up membership of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), revisiting the Paris climate deal, and insistence on NATO partners spending at least two per cent of their GDP on defence are initial indicators of the Trump administration’s approach to global affairs that project a sense of withdrawal. Of course, it may be early days to form a definitive opinion but the trends do suggest it.

The institutional and bureaucratic set up in the USA, having matured over a long period, is indeed very strong. It has survived the idiosyncrasies and nuances of a series of past presidents with forceful personalities and minds of their own. Whether Trump’s actions bring an early end to his presidency or the institutional mechanisms reassert their supremacy is still in the realm of conjecture. Notwithstanding this, the possibility that the Trump presidency may veer too much towards abdication of the traditional US leadership role in global affairs exists. Therefore, it is important to look at its implications in the long run, both for the US and the world at large.

China has gradually been rising over the past few decades. While continuing to respect the established international order, it is attempting to break free of the constraints that come in the way of its expansionism. In doing so, it has shifted from a policy of greater assertiveness to aggressiveness in bolstering its claims. Its stances in the South China Sea (SCS), East China Sea (ECS), towards Taiwan, and on the boundary issue with India are all clearly indicative of this approach. Any withdrawal of the US from the Asian arena would give China a free hand in going ahead with enhancing its claims and influence worldwide. The recently concluded Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit on May 14-15 is a clear indicator of the Chinese designs. Xi Jinping’s pronouncement that China is prepared to step in and assume a leadership role wherever required further confirms it. This has major implications for the smaller nations of the Asia Pacific region which cannot match China’s aggressive designs with force.

Secondly, the currently international order is based on the policies shaped by the US and the West for the past 70 years. Both the security and economic architectures are creations of a dominant US in the period after the Second World War. Thus NATO, the Bretton Woods twins, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), etc. all reflect it. A withdrawal by the US and stepping in of China and Russia to fill that void is likely to bring in its wake massive turbulence and upheaval. How well a world in which a majority of the countries are still developing will be able to absorb such changes is a question mark. India stands to lose more than most.

Thirdly, there is a need to look at how the US itself will be impacted by its withdrawal from a global role. It is an indisputable fact that technologically the US is way ahead of the rest of the world including China. However, in order to leverage the advantages of such an edge, it needs to export the products of its superior technology worldwide. To be able to gain access to and exploit global markets, the US therefore needs to continue to be a part of global economic architecture rather than insulate itself from it. China’s thrust in the form of the BRI aims specifically to address the issue of capturing world markets for Chinese goods.

There is an important link between economic prosperity and hard military power. Economic growth is possible only if it is backed by a strong military, thus ensuring stability for further growth. A strong economic power is likely to be pushed aside if it does not possess matching military clout. A rethink in Japan over developing military capabilities in view of the growing Chinese threat to the Senkaku islands is a clear example. Thus, in the final analysis, the economic and security architectures do get inextricably linked. Any attempt to insulate itself from global security issues would hurt US economic interests in the long run.

Finally, the process of globalisation and interdependence has gone too far ahead by now. In fact, it is virtually irreversible since the benefits of globalisation far outweigh any of its perceived adverse effects. The shrewd businessman that Mr. Trump is, it appears he is gradually realising how detrimental it would be for US interests if he decides to minimise its global role.

There are many in Britain today who feel that Brexit was not perhaps the right decision. Even if Brexit finally does come about, Britain would have to pay a very heavy price for it, including possibly the breakaway of Scotland and Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom. The isolationist and ‘going it alone’ winds sweeping across Europe post the Trump victory and Brexit referendum also appear to be ebbing. Geert Wilders in The Netherlands and Marine Le Pen in France have suffered major electoral defeats, and support for the continuation of the European Union is growing by the day. In Germany, there has been a stop to the waning popularity of Angela Merkel, a strong proponent of the EU, and a relative decline in support for parties like the AfD. All in all, the sentiment seems to be predominantly in favour of globalisation.

The Trump presidency has been mired in too many controversies in the short period since assuming office. Senior appointments have had to be replaced even before they had a chance to perform, either because of questionable conduct or because they had ‘lost Mr. Trump’s confidence’, a euphemism for not doing his bidding. There is an unprecedented inconsistency in the actions and words of the president of the most powerful nation on earth, leading to a degree of confusion and uncertainty across the globe. Tweets seem to be conveying much more than the more formal official channels of communication, even though the former is used to put across purely personal sentiments. In any case, Twitter is not the appropriate forum for a discussion on the dismissal of a senior official. The talk of impeachment of the president on various counts doing the rounds in the corridors of power in Washington may at times seem premature, but the fact that it is being discussed is disturbing.

The reverberations of President Trump’s actions are not only going to be felt within the US but would have effects worldwide. The realignment of the global economic and security architecture as a result would be inevitable. That, in turn, would cause destabilisation across the globe, especially to less developed and developing nations like India. How well these nations can insulate themselves from the effects of such upheavals would indicate the strength of their domestic systems.

*General Deepak Kapoor is a former Chief of the Army Staff.

Views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDSA or of the Government of India. Originally published by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (www.idsa.in) at http://idsa.in/idsacomments/global-consequences-of-the-trump-presidency_dkapoor_260517

‘Brexit’ And ‘Future Of Europe’ Muddle EU’s Budget Decision-Making

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By Georgi Gotev

(EurActiv) — Günther Oettinger Tuesday presented the draft EU budget for 2018, acknowledging decision-making difficulties. He said the next long-term budget should be tabled by next summer, to take into account the Brexit context and the decisions on the future of the Union.

Oettinger, who was recently appointed Commissioner for the Budget, presented his first annual budget in the European Parliament’s budget committee and took some questions from the press.

The draft budget for 2018 contains €161 billion in commitments and €145.4bn in payments. The Commission labelled it an exercise in stimulating job creation, especially for young people, and boosting growth and strategic investments. Commitments for 2018 are up 1.4% from 2017, and payments up 8.1% from 2017.

Commitments are the total volume of promises for future payments that can be made in a given year. Payments are the actual money paid in a given year from the EU budget to cover commitments. Commitments must be honoured with payments, either in the same year or, particularly in the case of multi-year projects, over the following years.

Replying to a question regarding the 8.1% increase in payments, he explained that this was not a hike for the UK before Brexit, but a result of the 2014-2020 EU structural and investment programmes reaching cruising speed in 2018, after a slow start in the first years.

The commissioner said that the draft budget had taken account of recommendations from the Parliament and the member states, by increasing the amounts allocated for the Erasmus+ programme, as well as for Horizon 2020. Also, the European Solidarity Corps, a new initiative which provides volunteering placements, traineeships and job offers for 2-12 months, is getting its own budget for the first time.

Oettinger said he believed the draft budget was realistic and capable of addressing the challenges the EU faces. He mentioned youth unemployment, the refugee crisis and terrorism among those challenges. This includes the money the EU is paying Turkey to help the country cope with the effort of hosting Syrian refugees on its soil, the Commissioner explained.

A novelty: €40 million for defence

One novelty in the draft 2018 budget was an envelope of €40 million for defence research, which in the German Commissioner’s words opened the chapter of common financing for a future defence policy.

He said that more flexibility between financial years and within a financial year, as well as between different budget headings, would be achieved when the mid-term budget review was approved. Currently the midterm review of the 2014-2020 budget is blocked by the UK.

“The UK government has told us, and we respect this, that in the UK there is a principle that during a general election campaign the government cannot take any decision of political significance,” Oettinger said. He insisted that the Commission had heard only “formal reasons” for this situation, and no objections of substance, therefore he expected unanimity to be found in the Council after 8 June, even if London abstains.

Midterm review to be adopted with 2018 budget

He also said that the expectation was that the draft budget for 2018 would be adopted together with the midterm review, which would allow the EU executive to meet its duties and tasks. But he added that in a parallel communication the Commission had informed the Parliament and the Council of “the huge disadvantages” that could arise in case of a UK veto after the 8 June elections.

EURACTIV asked Oettinger how he expected the UK to approve the €40 million for research in the defence sector, as the country opposes a coordinated EU defence strategy. The Commissioner replied that a reflection paper was in preparation, focused on introducing efficiency through further cooperation in defence. However, he said nothing regarding the UK positions.

Asked about the next multiannual EU budget, which will start in 2021 and will run for five, six or seven years, Oettinger said the Commission was under the obligation to present a draft by the end of the current year, but there were two obstacles. The first was the Brexit process, and the second the discussion about the future of Europe, which could lead in different directions: “more” or “less” Europe would each have direct implications on the budget.

He said he would hold discussions with ministers of the member countries and with the European Parliament on whether it would not be wiser to submit a budget by summer next year, which would take stock of the consequences of Brexit and of the discussions on the future of Europe.

Conditionality for disbursement of funds

Oettinger was also asked about his views on attaching extra conditionality to the disbursement of EU funds to countries in breach of EU rules.

He started by saying that this was not a subject for one financial year, but for the Multiannual Financial Framework. Then he said that in the Council, where all member states sit, not all were convinced of the economic sense of all the programmes the Commission is financing. He said that the executive was regularly coming up with country-specific recommendations, which identified weaknesses in individual member states and contained recommendations for national or regional policies.

He added that the EU executive was currently exploring whether the country-specific recommendations could be used “as a blueprint, as a compulsory document” which could allow a “certain degree of conditionality”.

He also said that in the case of some countries where the regions were responsible for spending cohesion funds, like Spain, Germany or Austria, the Commission should envisage region-specific recommendations within its country-specific recommendations.

Oettinger also mentioned the conditionality between cohesion programmes and rule of law, and said there too, the Commission would propose options.

Modi Faces Putin Test Amid ‘Turbulent’ Russia Ties – Analysis

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Earlier this month, India and Russia took stock of the bilateral relationship in a range of sectors, including civil nuclear, trade and investments.

By Harsh V. Pant

India and Russia will once again try to resuscitate a partnership which is badly in need of repair. It is often said that India and Russia share longstanding ties which are durable. The end of the Cold War has not been able to dent this relationship, but there are signs that this relationship needs some repair urgently.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Russia on 1 June for the annual India-Russia summit wherein he is expected to unveil, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ambitious vision document to outline the agenda for economic cooperation in the coming decades.

Bilateral

Earlier this month, the two nations took stock of the bilateral relationship in a range of sectors, including civil nuclear, trade and investments during the meeting of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), a key forum to address major issues concerning bilateral ties.

There is an urgent need to prioritise economic ties which have been going downhill for some time. Though the two nations have set a target for their bilateral trade of $30 billion (₹3,000 crore) by 2025, it was a measly $7.8 billion (₹780 crore) in 2015.

The two nations are yet to conclude the General Framework Agreement (GFA) for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam nuclear plant and two deadlines have been missed since last year. The pact is now likely to be signed during the 18th annual India-Russia summit next month. The much delayed International North South Transport Corridor will also be fast tracked in a fresh attempt to give a boost to regional connectivity.

It remains to be seen if this fresh attempt will be enough to alleviate political tensions in the India-Russia bilateral relationship.

There is concern in New Delhi at Moscow’s decision to side with China in ensuring that Pakistan does not get isolated globally. At the 2016 BRICS summit in Goa, Russia did not back India’s demand to name two Pakistan-based terror groups as perpetrators of terrorism against India, thereby shielding Pakistan from censure.

This shift in Russian stance is also evident in the role that it envisions for itself in Afghanistan, coming almost four decades after the 1979 Soviet invasion of the country. Russia hosted a February six-nation conference in Moscow on Afghanistan’s future with participation from India, Iran, Pakistan, China and Afghanistan. This was Russia’s second initiative after the first trilateral conference in December, including only China and Pakistan.

The December conference agreed upon “a flexible approach to remove certain (Taliban) figures from (United Nations) sanctions lists as part of efforts to foster a peaceful dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban movement.”

Concern

The three states underscored their concern “about the rising activity in the country (Afghanistan) of extremist groups, including the Afghan branch of ISIS (the Islamic State)” and underlined that the Taliban is a necessary bulwark in the global fight against the Islamic State.

Kabul and other partners like New Delhi were surprised, while the Taliban was ecstatic. “It is joyous to see that the regional countries have also understood that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is a political and military force,” noted a statement issued on the Taliban’s behalf.

“The proposal forwarded in the Moscow tripartite of delisting members of the Islamic Emirate is a positive step forward in bringing peace and security to Afghanistan.” So Moscow was more careful for the February meeting, broadening outreach by inviting India, Iran, Afghanistan and most regional stakeholders while pointedly excluding the United States and NATO.

It was left to Afghanistan to underscore American centrality in the country’s unfolding dynamic and to push for inclusion of the United States as one of its most important partners to “end war and usher in sustainable peace in Afghanistan.”

Prism

Vladimir Putin, intent on viewing South Asia through the prism of Russia’s geopolitical competition with the West, may have decided that the time was right for tilting towards Pakistan. The US-Pakistan ties may have hit their nadir and the Trump administration, expressing isolationist tendencies, remains consumed by multiple domestic crises.

The global arms market has become more difficult for Russia to navigate, with China deciding to produce its own weapons rather than procuring them from Russia.

Russia lifted an arms embargo against Pakistan in 2014 and will send four Mi-35M attack helicopters this year. Russian troops participated in this year’s Pakistan Day military parade. And the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor linking Xinjiang to the Pakistani port of Gwadar could be merged with the Russia-backed Eurasian Economic Union.

This at a time when India became one of the few countries to boycott the One Belt One Road Summit organised by China earlier this month. It is through this turbulence that Modi will be hoping to navigate India-Russia ties when he meets Putin next month. Whether he will succeed, of course, remains far from clear.

This article originally appeared in Daily Mail.

Portents Of France’s International Posture Under Emanuel Macron – Analysis

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By Gautam Sen*

France’s 35th president Emanuel Macron is likely to set different trends with regard to the country’s policy towards the European Union (EU), former colonies or the Francophone region of Africa, the United Nations (UN), major powers as well as medium and pivotal countries like India and Japan. The change, rather re-orientation, is expected to unfold fast, albeit in a flexible manner. And Macron’s approach is also likely to be marked by both continuity and change. The imperatives for the new president are economic stability and growth. The French economy has achieved the second largest gross domestic product of more than USD 2.6 trillion after Germany (excluding Britain) within the EU. And that is likely to help fulfil the strategic needs of the country and ensure the prevalence of a spirit of universalism and openness in the socio-political milieu – a theme of Macron’s presidential campaign. It is anticipated that Europe and EU as well as France`s strategic presence in Africa will continue to have primacy in the new French president’s foreign policy.

With respect to the EU, Macron’s approach may be more nuanced and likely to be complementary to that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. While Macron has evinced interest in substantive reform of the EU and strengthening the Eurozone, even suggesting the need for changes in the treaties underpinning the bloc, it is likely that he will not rush towards making changes but instead adopt an accommodative stance towards reforming them. There are shades of difference in the approaches of Macron and Merkel on what should be the desirable changes in this regard. However, both seem to agree in principle that changes are unavoidable – as discernible from the outcome of their recent summit in Berlin. While Macron has been eloquent on “a more efficient Europe, a more democratic Europe and a more political Europe”, thereby implying a more economically productive, democratically vibrant and politically integrated and institutionalized Europe, he will endeavour to take Merkel along while attempting to give content to his ideas.

Macron had earlier mentioned the need to transfer the budget surpluses of EU members to southern EU countries, keeping in view fiscal imbalances and requirements of countries in the Balkans in particular. France, under President Hollande, was not on the same page as Germany’s Merkel, on such issues. Macron and Merkel will now have to resolve these issues, and the former may be in a position to better influence the latter in the present political circumstances. As Deputy Secretary General in the office of President Hollande between 2012 and 2014, Macron was earlier involved in Franco-German discussions on deeper economic institutional changes in the core of the Eurozone to foster currency stability and need-based intervention in that domain. Action towards this end may get accelerated with a more proactive involvement from Macron in his current capacity as the French president. The deep friendship between France and Germany and their present leaders will facilitate the deepening of bilateral relations and, in turn, strengthen the core of the EU and the Eurozone. Nevertheless, the relatively high rate of unemployment (nearly 10 per cent of the employable French workforce) and the consequential subsidies and social security measures, the economy’s over- dependence on the services sector, and adverse Franco-German trade balance, will all have to be resolved in their overall interest. In all probability, these issues would have been briefly contended with during the short but crucial first state visit of Macron to Germany last week.

Furthermore, an appraisal on the basics of the Franco-German relationship and the possibility of adopting a mutually reinforcing future course of action on fundamental issues of concern to both countries and to Europe in general would have been undertaken during Macron’s Berlin visit. Macron, in the course of his presidential campaign, had advocated open borders within the EU, inter-alia stating that, there is no reason to stop Africans from coming to France if they bring useful skills. This approach is to an extent similar to that of Merkel, though the latter had gone to the extent of also advocating refuge and succour to refugees from West Asia and North Africa during the height of the refugee exodus in 2016. Macron had then applauded Merkel’s border and refugee policy by declaring that they have “saved our collective dignity”. The French president and the German chancellor may now try to work out some norms in this respect, keeping in view the present political context in Europe in the backdrop of Macron and his En Marche`s substantive electoral victory against conservative forces resistant to such phenomenon.

As regards relations with Russia, notwithstanding President Putin’s congratulatory message to Macron on the latter’s assumption of office, an overhang of mistrust is likely to persist. This is especially so given the hacking of Macron`s presidential campaign establishment by alleged Russian elements as well as observations on Russian TV maligning Macron as “addicted to cocaine and involvement in money-laundering through offshore companies”. It is anticipated that both geopolitical interest and the imperative of the integrity of the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Macron will try to more intimately align France’s policies with those of Germany on Ukraine (a NATO member) to control the Russia-aided Crimean separatists and evolve a congruent approach towards Moscow.

On NATO, President Macron and Chancellor Merkel are expected to present a joint approach to both the USA and Russia, though on different premises. Because of Franco-German convergence for the reason pertinent to Ukraine mentioned above, Putin may find Macron and Merkel more unyielding in the present scenario on Russian postures towards NATO member states in the Balkans and central Europe. As regards NATO, Macron may see no reason to accede to President Trump’s demand for re-working of the financial burden and military expenditure. France’s contribution, at 11 per cent of the NATO budget according to NATO Secretary General’s Report of 2017, and a troop contribution of more than 200,000 personnel are not inconsiderable. In any event, given renewed tensions in US-Russia relations induced by the compulsions of their respective commitments to combatants involved in the Syrian civil war, Trump may not have much scope to extract financial concessions from either Macron or Merkel in the NATO forum.

Macron has already signalled his government’s commitment to Africa during his second state visit last week to Mali, a former French colony where nearly 4000 French troops are deployed in support of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita`s government in counterinsurgency operations against Al-Qaeda affiliated rebels (initially a home-grown rebellion by Tuaregs in northern Mali). Macron’s approach towards the African community in France has been quite distinctive and more pronounced than that of his Socialist predecessor, Francois Hollande. Macron’s presidential campaign platform `En Marche` had acknowledged African Frenchmen’s contribution to France’s polity and prosperity. Macron had struck a chord in the hearts of the people of African origin including non-radical Muslims when he described the Algerian War that France waged in the late 1950s and early `60s as a “crime against humanity”. Macron’s visit to Mali was intended to reiterate a long-standing French commitment towards that country`s stability, and signal resoluteness towards defending regimes in Africa facing subversion and armed intervention by externally-supported radical Islamic elements. The French president seemed to affirm that his government will use military power to protect or support an international political architecture free from radicalism in areas of France’s strategic interest.

Macron has explicitly indicated his government`s intention to maintain France`s military commitment to Mali. He will not only endeavour to strengthen the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) set up under UN Security Council Resolution 2295, but is also expected to work towards augmenting the mission’s mandate which is expiring on June 30, 2017. Macron has already indicated that the French expeditionary force will remain as a back-up, while capacity building of the Malian Army will be undertaken by MINUSMA in concert with the French force. At present, the situation in Mali is far from stable, even with the presence of MINUSMA and French forces. 300 Malians and two French journalists were killed by Islamic extremists in 2016.

So far as investment and financial aid are concerned, Macron has emphasized that there will be an up-scaling of aid to African countries to at least 0.71 per cent of France’s gross national product. France, with its strength in automotive and aerospace industries, rail development and infrastructural matters, is expected to leverage these attributes for investment in the west, south and north African regions, which are areas of its historical interest. It is possible that France and China could find common ground in Africa. Over 200 Chinese companies are already operating in Africa in the infrastructure sector and ancillary industrial activities. It is to be seen how Macron manages to dovetail Chinese involvement in Africa with France`s strategic interests, particularly in the Francophone countries.

India may be at a disadvantage vis-à-vis China in such countries because its strength lies in the services sector where France already has a surfeit of expertise. Nevertheless, France under Macron and India should be able to build upon the already existing defence-based system production and technology transfer mechanism in place. Moreover, Paris and New Delhi would have enough scope to go in for co-production of telecommunication and military systems as well as engage in non-conventional energy initiatives in African countries. Reckoning the democratic ethos of both countries, the personal rapport that has existed between a succession of French and Indian leaders, the past track record of high level of cooperation and understanding on issues like UN reform, peacekeeping under UN aegis and cooperation on nuclear technology, there should be adequate opportunity to expand the Franco-Indian bilateral relationship under President Macron as well.

The author is a retired IDAS officer who has served in senior appointments with the Government of India and a State Government.

The views expressed are the author`s own. Originally published by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (www.idsa.in) at http://idsa.in/idsacomments/portents-of-frances-international-posture_gsen_240517

First Genome Data From Ancient Egyptian Mummies

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An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the University of Tuebingen and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, successfully recovered and analyzed ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies dating from approximately 1400 BCE to 400 CE, including the first genome-wide nuclear data from three individuals, establishing ancient Egyptian mummies as a reliable source for genetic material to study the ancient past.

The study, published in Nature Communications, found that modern Egyptians share more ancestry with Sub-Saharan Africans than ancient Egyptians did, whereas ancient Egyptians were found to be most closely related to ancient people from the Near East.

Egypt is a promising location for the study of ancient populations. It has a rich and well-documented history, and its geographic location and many interactions with populations from surrounding areas, in Africa, Asia and Europe, make it a dynamic region. Recent advances in the study of ancient DNA present an intriguing opportunity to test existing understandings of Egyptian history using ancient genetic data.

However, genetic studies of ancient Egyptian mummies are rare due to methodological and contamination issues. Although some of the first extractions of ancient DNA were from mummified remains, scientists have raised doubts as to whether genetic data, especially nuclear genome data, from mummies would be reliable, even if it could be recovered.

“The potential preservation of DNA has to be regarded with skepticism,” said Johannes Krause, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena and senior author of the study. “The hot Egyptian climate, the high humidity levels in many tombs and some of the chemicals used in mummification techniques, contribute to DNA degradation and are thought to make the long-term survival of DNA in Egyptian mummies unlikely.”

The ability of the authors of this study to extract nuclear DNA from such mummies and to show its reliability using robust authentication methods is a breakthrough that opens the door to further direct study of mummified remains.

For this study, an international team of researchers from the University of Tuebingen, the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, the University of Cambridge, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Berlin Society of Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory, looked at genetic differentiation and population continuity over a 1,300 year timespan, and compared these results to modern populations. The team sampled 151 mummified individuals from the archaeological site of Abusir el-Meleq, along the Nile River in Middle Egypt, from two anthropological collections hosted and curated at the University of Tuebingen and the Felix von Luschan Skull Collection at the Museum of Prehistory of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preussicher Kulturbesitz.

In total, the authors recovered mitochondrial genomes from 90 individuals, and genome-wide datasets from three individuals. They were able to use the data gathered to test previous hypotheses drawn from archaeological and historical data, and from studies of modern DNA.

“In particular, we were interested in looking at changes and continuities in the genetic makeup of the ancient inhabitants of Abusir el-Meleq,” said Alexander Peltzer, one of the lead authors of the study from the University of Tuebingen. The team wanted to determine if the investigated ancient populations were affected at the genetic level by foreign conquest and domination during the time period under study, and compared these populations to modern Egyptian comparative populations.

“We wanted to test if the conquest of Alexander the Great and other foreign powers has left a genetic imprint on the ancient Egyptian population,” explained Verena Schuenemann, group leader at the University of Tuebingen and one of the lead authors of this study.

Close genetic relationship between ancient Egyptians and ancient populations in the Near East

The study found that ancient Egyptians were most closely related to ancient populations in the Levant, and were also closely related to Neolithic populations from the Anatolian Peninsula and Europe.

“The genetics of the Abusir el-Meleq community did not undergo any major shifts during the 1,300 year timespan we studied, suggesting that the population remained genetically relatively unaffected by foreign conquest and rule,” said Wolfgang Haak, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena.

The data shows that modern Egyptians share approximately 8% more ancestry on the nuclear level with Sub-Saharan African populations than with ancient Egyptians.

“This suggests that an increase in Sub-Saharan African gene flow into Egypt occurred within the last 1,500 years,” explained Stephan Schiffels, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena. Possible causal factors may have been improved mobility down the Nile River, increased long-distance trade between Sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt, and the trans-Saharan slave trade that began approximately 1,300 years ago.

This study counters prior skepticism about the possibility of recovering reliable ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies. Despite the potential issues of degradation and contamination caused by climate and mummification methods, the authors were able to use high-throughput DNA sequencing and robust authentication methods to ensure the ancient origin and reliability of the data. The study thus shows that Egyptian mummies can be a reliable source of ancient DNA, and can greatly contribute to a more accurate and refined understanding of Egypt’s population history.


Your Sex Life Is Only As Old As You Feel

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The closer you feel to your actual age, the less likely you are to be satisfied with your sex life, a University of Waterloo study has found.

The study looked at the attitudes of sex and aging of a group of 1170 adults from their mid-40s to their mid-70s over a 10-year period.

The group, which included people of diverse sexual orientation, reported that the closer people felt to their chronological age, the lower the quality of their sex life.

“What was clear from the data is that feeling younger had a huge impact on how people felt about the quality of their sex life and how interested they were in having sex,” said Steven Mock, an associate professor in Recreation and Leisure Studies at Waterloo. “For people in mid to later life, feeling young at heart actually appears to make a difference in the bedroom.”

The research drew upon data collected in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study in the between 1995 and 2005. The MIDUS study is a national longitudinal study of health and wellbeing in the United States and measures the physical and mental health of participants over a period of decades.

“It’s important to consider all of the different psychosocial and biological factors that might influence a person’s sexuality,” “said Amy Estill, who led the research while completing her Master’s degree at Waterloo. “While feeling younger didn’t have an impact on how much sex people were having, it was quite clear that feeling older does impact the quality of the sex you’re having,”

The study was recently published in the Journal of Sex Research.

Drone Vs. Truck Deliveries: Which Create Less Carbon Pollution?

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Delivering packages with drones can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in certain circumstances as compared to truck deliveries, a new study from University of Washington transportation engineers finds.

In a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of Transportation Research Part D, researchers found that drones tend to have carbon dioxide emissions advantages over trucks when the drones don’t have to fly very far to their destinations or when a delivery route has few recipients.

Trucks — which can offer environmental benefits by carrying everything from clothes to appliances to furniture in a single trip — become a more climate-friendly alternative when a delivery route has many stops or is farther away from a central warehouse.

These heat maps show carbon dioxide emission differences between drone and truck deliveries as a drone's energy requirements (measured in watt-hours per mile) and the number of stops on a route increase. Red areas reflect conditions in which drones emit less carbon dioxide than trucks (lighter packages, fewer stops), while blue areas denote conditions in which drones emit more (heavier packages, more stops). Credit  University of Washington
These heat maps show carbon dioxide emission differences between drone and truck deliveries as a drone’s energy requirements (measured in watt-hours per mile) and the number of stops on a route increase. Red areas reflect conditions in which drones emit less carbon dioxide than trucks (lighter packages, fewer stops), while blue areas denote conditions in which drones emit more (heavier packages, more stops). Credit: University of Washington

For small, light packages — a bottle of medicine or a kid’s bathing suit — drones compete especially well. But the carbon benefits erode as the weight of a package increases, since these unmanned aerial vehicles have to use additional energy to stay aloft with a heavy load.

“Flight is so much more energy-intensive — getting yourself airborne takes a huge amount of effort. So I initially thought there was no way drones could compete with trucks on carbon dioxide emissions,” said senior author Anne Goodchild, a UW associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. “In the end, I was amazed at how energy-efficient drones are in some contexts. Trucks compete better on heavier loads, but for really light packages, drones are awesome.”

Interest in the nonmilitary use of drones has increased dramatically with successful operations outside the United States in delivering food, medicine and mail. Within the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration has recently created legal space for experimenting with drone deliveries, though it is not expected to fully authorize commercial operations for some time.

While public debate has largely focused on cost reduction, privacy implications and airspace congestion, few people have analyzed the environmental consequences that drone technology may have if fully adopted by industries, the researchers found.

The new analysis, led by former UW civil and environmental engineering graduate student Jordan Toy, compares carbon dioxide emissions and vehicle miles traveled from drone and truck deliveries in 10 different, real-world scenarios in Los Angeles. The model incorporated 330 different service zones, with the number of recipients varying from 50 to 500 in each zone.

The researchers relied on models for estimating truck data that were previously used in comparing the environmental footprint of grocery delivery services to personal shopping trips. The analysis also assumed that drones could carry only one package at a time and would return to a depot after each delivery — requiring far more back-and-forth and vehicle miles traveled than for an equivalent truck route.

The researchers estimated how much energy generation the drone deliveries would require, based on consumption for 10 different hypothetical products. Carbon dioxide emissions were calculated using an average fuel mix for the state of California.

Goodchild said it’s unlikely that drones will be used for all delivery applications but that there are some contexts in which they appear to make sense — such as shorter trips in less densely developed communities, or in controlled places like a military base or campus. One could also envision a hybrid system in which a truck hauls an entire load of packages to a centralized location, and then a fleet of drones fans out in opposite directions to reach individual homes or businesses.

“Given what we found, probably the most realistic scenario is for drones doing the last leg of the delivery,” said Goodchild, who also directs the UW Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center. “You’re probably not going to see these in downtown Seattle anytime soon. But maybe in a rural community with roads that are slow and hard for trucks to navigate and no air space or noise concerns.”

Another takeaway for Goodchild was realizing just how much progress engineers can make when they accept a challenge. Making a flying object so light that it can accommodate its own battery and actually perform useful work was an incredibly difficult problem to solve — yet that technology now exists, Goodchild said.

“We haven’t applied the same level of effort to engineering lightweight trucks — they’re excessively heavy and the on-road fleet doesn’t look much different than it did a few decades ago,” she said. “If we took the same amount of energy we’ve put into making drones light and efficient, applied that to trucks and got them on the street, we could do so much good for the transportation industry and the environment.”

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Strengthens Ties With Russia

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By Maria Dubovikova

Russia and Saudi Arabia hailed their growing partnership in oil markets and dialogue on Syria on Tuesday.

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with President Vladimir Putin one week after the US President Donald Trump’s historic visit to Riyadh.

Putin praised the deputy crown prince, who looks after the Kingdom’s defense and energy, as he welcomed him to the Kremlin. It was the second meeting between the two men over the past year.

The deputy crown prince’s visit to Russia followed some anxiety in political and diplomatic circles in Moscow since US-Russian ties continue to be strained.

Washington’s movements in the strategically important Middle East made Russia keep a close eye on what happened in Riyadh.

“Relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia are seeing one of their best stages at the moment,” the deputy crown prince said.

“The two countries have a lot of points of mutual understanding. As for the points on which we have differences, a clear mechanism exists to overcome them and we are progressing at a quick pace in this respect,” he said.

The deputy crown prince believes his visit to Moscow would help strengthen bilateral relations. “The main thing is that we manage to build a strong foundation as concerns the oil market and prices of energy resources. This offers opportunities for building a strategic future further,” he said.

Russia is seeking to extend its presence in the region. Despite its close ties with Iran, Moscow is interested in building bridges with the Arab Gulf states. The deputy crown prince’s visit to Moscow balances the Riyadh Summit, demonstrating that the Kingdom is ready to maintain open dialogue with all countries that are eager to do so.

The prince and Putin discussed stabilizing the world oil market and Syria. Putin’s and the deputy crown prince’s estimations of bilateral ties are similar.

There are 25 mutually beneficial investment projects totaling $10 billion that are under examination.
Nickolay Soukhov, senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies at Russia’s Academy of Sciences, said the visit will have a positive impact on bilateral ties.

“The fact that the Saudi deputy crown prince arrived in Moscow one week after the historic summit in Riyadh demonstrates that the Kingdom is eager to keep balance in its foreign policy and to diversify its ties,” Soukhov said.

Anton Mardasov, expert at the Russian Council on Foreign Relations and head of the Middle East conflicts department at the Institute of Innovative Development, said: “Moscow is interested in building partnerships with the Gulf monarchies, and with Saudi Arabia in particular. It was noticeable even in contacts within the framework of OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). Cooperation between the two countries is also needed on Syria. It’s likely that Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has come to Russia partly to figure out how serious Moscow is about maintaining safe zones in Syria.”

Serbia: Opposition Splits Over Anti-Vucic Inauguration Protest

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By Maja Zivanovic

As Aleksandar Vucic prepares to be sworn in as Serbia’s new president, the country’s opposition has announced a pair of protests.

Serbia’s opposition announced two separate anti-government protests on Wednesday in Belgrade as Serbia’s president-elect, Aleksandar Vucic, prepared to assume his presidential post.

Protests are being organised in front of the Serbian parliament and will have the support of the majority of opposition parties and leaders. While the “Against Dictatorship” protest will take place at 10am, poll runner Sasa Jankovic announced his later in the day, at 6pm.

“I call all citizens, all organisations, all unions and political parties, all for which freedom and democracy are above all, to go out on Wednesday at 6pm on peaceful protests and say ‘no’ to the official introduction of the dictatorship in Serbia through the false coronation ceremony of Aleksandar Vucic,” Sasa Jankovic said in press release on Monday.

Jankovic’s team spokesperson Zeljko Veljkovic told BIRN that members of the movement will “show solidarity” the 10am protest.

Former Ombudsman and runner-up in the April 2 presidential elections, Sasa Jankovic, officially launched his own opposition Movement of Free Citizens on May 25. He announced that the movement would participate in all future polls.

The same day that Jankovic called his protest, an informal movement with the name “Against the Dictatorship” which organised massive anti-Vucic protests after his victory in the elections, announced new protests on Wednesday scheduled for 10am.

“It [the protest] won’t be the only one, as nothing will [be] solve[d] with one protest. We’ll not stop until our voice is heard loudly enough, in the whole of Serbia, until we break the media silence. Come and support … fight for the future,” said the movement in its post on Facebook.

The opposition Democratic Party, which backed up Sasa Jankovic’s presidential bid, immediately expressed its support for the protest.

“The Democratic Party supports calls for protests made by ‘Against the Dictatorship’ because every voice against dictatorship and for the normal country has and will have our support,” the Democrats said in a press release on Monday.

Meanwhille, the Democrats announced on Tuesday they will support Jankovic’s protest as well.

“Against the Dictatorship” received support from another opposition political movement “Enough is Enough”.

Head of the movement Sasa Radulovic made calls for people to attend the “Against the Dictatorship” protest on Twitter, appealing to all citizen who believe in the rule of law, independent institutions and media freedom.

Head of the party “Left Serbia” Borko Stefanovic, on the other hand, called the protest on Wednesday at 6pm, adding on Twitter that he “noticed some scheduled protest on Wednesday on different time”.

“Embarrassing. No communication. Faking,” wrote Stefanovic.

So as to avoid being termed part of the disunited opposition, the opposition far-right party Dveri called for citizent to attend the anti-Vucic protest, but without clarifying at which time.

“Protest against Vucic’s lies and dictatorship – always and at every place. Inside and outside. Both young and old. Both political and non-political. For victory,” tweeted the head of Dveri, Bosko Obradovic.

The opposition Liberal Democratic Party on the other hand condemned Sasa Jankovic for announcing his protest, adding that no one should be using energy created by students for political activity.

Serbian opposition parties already tried to unite before April 2 presidential elections, with joint support for Sasa Jankovic, but after few unsuccessful meetings decided to give up on the idea.

NATO Official Says Georgia Close And Valued Partner

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(Civil.Ge) — NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller traveled to Georgia on May 29 to attend the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Session held in Tbilisi on May 26-29.

In the margins of the Session, Gottemoeller held meetings with President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze and Parliamentary Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze.

In her speech at the Assembly, Deputy Secretary General Gottemoeller said that Montenegro’s coming membership of NATO was “a clear sign that the door to membership of NATO remains open to those who share our values, who meet the Alliance’s high standards and who wish to contribute to the collective security of allies,” adding that she was glad “to stress this point here in Tbilisi.”

Gottemoeller called Georgia one of NATO’s closest and most valued partners, and one of the largest troop contributions to NATO’s Afghanistan mission. Georgia “helps us to form a deep understanding of the security situation here in the Black Sea region,” she added.

The Deputy Secretary General also underlined that NATO supports Georgia through the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, which has two objectives – to bolster Georgia’s self-defense capabilities and to prepare it for NATO membership.

Speaking on the right of nations to choose their security arrangements, Gottemoeller stated that “whether a country wishes to join NATO or not is entirely up to them.” “NATO takes no position on what security arrangements the country should make, it does firmly hold that countries must choose for themselves their security arrangements. That is their right and it will remain their right,” she added.

At Gottemoeller’s meeting with President Giorgi Margvelashvili, the President asked the Deputy Secretary General for NATO’s expert assistance on the constitutional reform process, specifically with respect to the reform of the national security system. Georgia’s NATO integration was also discussed at the meeting.

At the meeting with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the sides highlighted Georgia’s progress in implementing the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, as well as the importance of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Declaration in support of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration. Kvirikashvili and Gottemoeller spoke on the state of affairs in Georgia’s occupied territories as well.

Following the meeting with Mikheil Janelidze, the Foreign Minister and the NATO Deputy Secretary General signed the exchange of letters between the Government of Georgia and the Alliance on the atatus of NATO forces and NATO personnel in Georgia.

During her visit to Georgia, Gottemoeller also visited the NATO-Georgian Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC), where she was hosted by Defense Minister Levan Izoria and Chief of General Staff Vladimer Chachibaia.

Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Faces Premature Retirement

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The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will be permanently shut down around the end of September 2019 if there are no policy reforms, US utility Exelon announced today. The company had warned last week the plant was at risk of early retirement.

Exelon announced on 24 May that its Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant and its Quad Cities plant in Illinois had failed to clear the latest PJM regional capacity auction. The TMI plant has not cleared the past three PJM auctions and has not been profitable in five years, it noted. While the continued operation of Quad Cities is ensured by newly-introduced legislation in Illinois, the TMI plant is “at risk of early retirement”, Exelon said.

The utility announced today that it had decided to retire the plant, “absent needed policy reforms” in Pennsylvania.

Exelon said it is taking the first steps to shut down the plant, including informing key stakeholders. This, it said, includes sending regional transmission organisation PJM a deactivation notice and making permanent shutdown notifications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) within 30 days. It will also immediately take one-time charges of $65-$110 million for 2017 and accelerate some $1.0-$1.1 billion in depreciation and amortisation between now and the announced shutdown date. Exelon is also terminating capital investment programs required for the long-term operation of TMI and cancelling 2019 fuel purchases and outage planning.

Pennsylvania is home to nine nuclear power reactors that produce 93% of its carbon-free electricity, avoiding 37 million tonnes of carbon emissions. However, nuclear power is not included in Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS). Sixteen other clean power sources – including solar, wind and hydro – are supported by this state energy policy.

“Amending the AEPS is one of many potential solutions to preserve Pennsylvania’s nuclear plants. Other options include establishing a zero emissions credit program, similar to the approach being implemented in Illinois and New York,” Exelon said. “Absent policy reforms, the loss of Pennsylvania’s nuclear plants would increase air pollution, compromise the resiliency of the electric grid, raise energy prices for consumers, eliminate thousands of good-paying local jobs and weaken the state’s economy.”

Exelon president and CEO Chris Crane said: “Today is a difficult day, not just for the 675 talented men and women who have dedicated themselves to operating Three Mile Island safely and reliable every day, but also for their families, the communities and customers who depend on this plant to produce clean energy and support local jobs.

“Like New York and Illinois before it, the Commonwealth [of Pennsylvania] has an opportunity to take a leadership role in implementing a policy solution to preserve its nuclear energy facilities and the clean, reliable energy and good-paying jobs they provide.”

Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island plant – which is built on an island in the Susquehanna River – began commercial operation in September 1974. It is a pressurized water reactor designed by Babcock and Wilcox. The unit is capable of generating 837 MWe (net), enough electricity to power over 800,000 average American homes. TMI 2 – owned by First Energy – was damaged during an accident in 1979 and never reopened.

In June 2016, Exelon announced it would move forward with the early retirements of two nuclear power plants in Illinois – Clinton and Quad Cities – due to a lack of progress on that state’s energy policy. Earlier last year, Exelon announced that Clinton would close in June this year and Quad Cities next year, if the state did not pass legislation supporting their continued operation. However, in December, the state introduced energy legislation that will ensure the continued operation of the plants.

Last August, the New York Public Service Commission formally approved a Clean Energy Standard recognising the zero-carbon contribution of nuclear power plants and ensuring the continued operation of four that had been at risk of premature closure. This included the James A Fitzpatrick plant, which Exelon then agreed to buy from Entergy.

The short-term nature of deregulated electricity markets have left other US nuclear power plants at risk of premature closure for economic reasons, despite their long-term future and their potential contribution to achieving greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Iran: Politics Color Ramadan Prayer Dispute

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(RFE/RL) — A debate over the potential return of one of Iran’s greatest classical singers for a prayer recitation has provided a fresh test of the hard-line domination of state TV nearly a decade after unrest that roiled the country’s establishment.

The performance of Rabbana by Mohammad Reza Shajarian was a Ramadan fixture for three decades before it was eliminated from programming after comments by Shajarian that were sympathetic to reformist critics of Iran’s 2009 presidential election.

President Hassan Rohani, who was reelected to a second four-year term earlier this month, has vowed to seek greater openness for Iranians in the face of hard-line control of state media through the country’s powerful, unelected leadership.

The 76-year-old Shajarian’s version of the prayer used to air on state TV and radio at sunset during the Islamic month of Ramadan, signaling that it was time to break the daily fast and begin the iftar:

But Shajarian expressed support for the opposition before the disputed reelection of then-President Mahmud Ahmadinejadi eight years ago and criticized the crackdown that followed. Hundreds were rounded up or jailed and several former opposition leaders remain under house arrest.

Last week, the government-controlled Iran daily reported that Culture Minister Reza Salehi Amiri had called on state television to air Shajarian’s Rabbana during this year’s Ramadan, which began on May 27.

But Javad Larijani, who represents the hard-line judiciary on the national council that supervises state broadcasting, responded by saying that airing the prayer would represent a violation of “Islamic norms of recitation.”

Larijani suggested that because “defending [Shajarian] has become a political dispute,” the prayer broadcast would be overshadowed, adding, “This is contrary to the Islamic principles of recitation.”

Larijani’s stance was sharply criticized by Hamid Reza Nourbakhsh, the head of the Iranian musicians’ advocacy group House of Music, who suggested that Larijani lacked the religious authority to comment on the topic.

“I’d like to ask from which position of expertise is Larijani [commenting on] Maestro Shajarian’s Rabbana?” Nourbakhsh asked. “Is he a recitation expert? A Koran expert? Or a commentator?”

President Rohani, a political veteran whose rise has helped bring reformists and relative moderates back out of the political wilderness, responded by posting Shajarian’s version of Rabbana on his Instagram page, which has 1.6 million followers:

Rohani criticized the ban on the singer in a presidential debate ahead of the May 19 election that gave him a second term.

“How can we think of elevating science and culture when we refuse to air a Ramadan prayer and Rabbana that people enjoy?” Rohani asked.

Criticism of Shajarian’s ban has increased following reports that he is battling kidney cancer.

Shajarian’s Rabanna was earlier this month registered on Iran’s national-heritage list as compiled by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization.


Developed Glove That Interacts With Virtual Reality Environments

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Engineers at UC San Diego are using soft robotics technology to make light, flexible gloves that allow users to feel tactile feedback when they interact with virtual reality environments. The researchers used the gloves to realistically simulate the tactile feeling of playing a virtual piano keyboard.

Engineers recently presented their research, which is still at the prototype stage, at the Electronic Imaging, Engineering Reality for Virtual Reality conference in Burlingame, Calif.

Currently, VR user interfaces consist of remote-like devices that vibrate when a user touches a virtual surface or object. “They’re not realistic,” said Jurgen Schulze, a researcher at the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego and one of the paper’s senior authors.

“You can’t touch anything, or feel resistance when you’re pushing a button. By contrast, we are trying to make the user feel like they’re in the actual environment from a tactile point of view.”

Other research teams and industry have worked on gloves as VR interfaces. But these are bulky and made from heavy materials, such as metal. The glove the engineers developed has a soft exoskeleton equipped with soft robotic muscles that make it much lighter and easier to use.

“This is a first prototype but it is surprisingly effective,” said Michael Tolley, a mechanical engineering professor at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego and also a senior author.

The system involves three main components: a Leap Motion sensor that detects the position and movement of the user’s hands; a custom fluidic control board that controls the gloves’ movements; and soft robotic components in the glove that individually inflate or deflate to mimic the forces that the user would encounter in the VR environment. The system interacts with a computer that displays a virtual piano keyboard with a river and trees in the background.

One key element in the gloves’ design is a type of soft robotic component called a Mckibben muscle, essentially latex chambers covered with braided fibers. The muscles respond like springs to apply force when the user moves their fingers. The board controls the muscles by inflating and deflating them.

Researchers 3D-printed a mold to make the gloves’ soft exoskeleton. This will make the devices easier to manufacture and suitable for mass production, they said. Researchers used silicone rubber for the exoskeleton, with Velcro straps embedded at the joints.

Engineers conducted an informal pilot study of 15 users, including two VR interface experts. All tried the demo which allowed them to play the piano in VR. They all agreed that the gloves increased the immersive experience. They described it as “mesmerizing” and “amazing.”

The engineers are working on making the glove cheaper, less bulky and more portable. They also would like to bypass the Leap Motion device altogether to make system more compact.

“Our final goal is to create a device that provides a richer experience in VR,” Tolley said. “But you could imagine it being used for surgery and video games, among other applications.”

Portland Archbishop Calls For Prayer, Action Following Train Stabbing

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Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, urged his followers on Facebook to practice Christ-like actions after a stabbing attack on a commuter train Friday left two people dead.

“I ask the faithful in western Oregon and all people to join me in taking some spiritual and practical actions in working towards peace and respect for those who make up this wonderful and diverse community,” Archbishop Sample wrote on Sunday.

Jeremy Joseph Christian, a 35-year-old convicted felon, shouted ethnic and religious slurs at two young women on the train, one of whom was described as wearing a Muslim head-covering, according to a statement from the Portland Police Department.

Archbishop Alexander K. Sample. Photo Credit: Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon
Archbishop Alexander K. Sample. Photo Credit: Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon

When three men attempted to intervene, Christian reportedly stabbed them before leaving the train. Ricky John Best, 53, died at the scene, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, died in hospital. Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, remains in hospital in Portland with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to the police statement. Best was a member of Christ the King parish in Milwaukie, Oregon, according to the Archdiocese of Portland’s Catholic Sentinel. Christian is currently being held without bail on two counts of aggravated murder and charges of attempted murder, intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon.

Archbishop Sample urged the faithful, first and foremost, to pray for the victims and their families, for those who may feel unsafe in the city, and for those whose hearts have hardened to the love of God, turning to violence and hatred.

He also suggested they work with local citizens, government officials and faith-based agencies, such as Catholic Charities, to work to welcome all people to the Portland community.

“It is only through these Christ-like actions that we can truly make a real and tangible change to this continuing and growing disregard for the dignity of every human person,” the archbishop wrote.

Resolving South China Sea Dispute Critical For World Peace – Analysis

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The South China Sea (SCS) has emerged as a major flashpoint in the Asia Pacific region. There are several claimants to this disputed maritime territory. Several smaller nations of the ASEAN grouping claim to some parts of the SCS which are in their exclusive economic zones. On the other hand, China claims its sovereignty over this maritime space almost in its entirety. It even rejected the ruling in July 2016 of the international tribunal which ruled that China’s claims lack any historical validity. It has declared the SCS as one of its core interests, along with Tibet and Taiwan. Over the years, China is engaged in various activities such as island building, making new fishing zone, with the aim to take control of this ocean space to the exclusion of other claimants.

When the Hague tribunal invalidated most of its claim over the SCS in a case brought by the Philippines, China was enraged. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte who had taken office a month before the ruling, downplayed the ruling with a view to improve his country’s relations with China. Despite Duterte’s attempt to mollycoddle ties with China, China protested when Philippines’s defence and military chiefs visited to a disputed island in the SCS. The Philippine government maintained that it owns the territory where Filipino troops and villagers have lived for decades.

In order to achieve its objectives, China has tried to create disunity amongst the ASEAN states. At other times, it has used economic diplomacy to get a certain member state of the grouping into its fold. For example, China took maximum advantage of the Philippines when controversial Duterte took power and willingly tried to reach out to Beijing. According to a recent report, China had even installed rocket launchers on the disputed Fiery Cross Reef in the SCS, though China claims that the facilities would be limited to defensive requirements.

China’s militarisation drive

Resolving the dispute over contending territorial claims on the SCS by several countries at the soonest is paramount in the interest of securing peace and stability in the region. But China unilaterally continues to militarize the disputed territories without any consideration for the sensitivities of smaller nations who have their own legitimate claims. There are evidences that China has nearly completed structures intended to house surface-to-air missile systems on its three largest outposts in the disputed territory as part of a steady pattern of its militarization. Such structures have come up at Fiery Cross Reef, Mischief Reef and SubiReef, all man-made islands dredged by China and are now home to military-grade airfields. China started construction of these buildings in September 2016 and thus far built eight buildings on each of three outposts.

Whether or not the Chinese move is in response to America’s attempt to check Chinese assertiveness in the SCS is not important; what is a matter of concern is that it is a systematic part of a well-defined strategy of militarization by China to strengthen its stronghold in this oceanic space. China sent HQ-9 SAMs with a range of up to 200 km to its outpost on Woody Islands in the Paracel chain in the strategic waterway. The deployment of SAM batteries is aimed to extend its defence capabilities throughout its so-called nine-dash line claim to the waters and therefore project power. Dishonouring the pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping made in 2015 not to “militarize” the islands, Beijing has gone ahead to add anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on the man-made islets. Xi Jinping never defined his policy of not to militarize, arguing now that these deployments are necessary to defend the islands.

Beijing has several advantages from these structures on the islands. The “shelters would conceal launchers from view, thwarting overhead surveillance and preventing adversaries from knowing how many launchers (if any) are present at any given time”. Beijing claims these measures are in accordance with the nation’s security requirements and are the legitimate right of a sovereign state.

As expected, such Chinese activities raise alarm in other Asian capitals which have similar claims on the disputed territories. While none of the claimants are in a position to confront China militarily, they look at Washington and other stakeholders who do not have direct involvement in the dispute but respect global rules to come to their rescue to prevail upon Beijing from pursuing such an aggressive approach. In any given circumstance, there can be no better substitute than pursuing assiduously dialogue as the only desirable option to address the issue. At the same time, military preparedness to confront China if the situation so warrants cannot be abandoned either. It is therefore of paramount importance that a Code of Conduct (COC) should be the key to resolving disputes in accordance with international law.

The US has responded in flexing its own military muscle to end a clear message to China not to mess up things by precipitating the dispute. It sent its Carrier’s Strike Group 1, which includes the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, into the SCS, the first such “routine operation” in the waterway under the Trump administration. China reacted by observing that “the constant reinforcement of military deployment in the SCS by some countries outside the region goes against the endeavor of regional countries to seek peace and security, and it is not in the interests of the regional countries.”

Though the carrier strike group did not refer to its operations in the SCS as “freedom of navigation” patrols, it was a clear demonstration of its intention to limit Beijing’s excessive maritime claims. Beijing sees the US move as the greater military threat to peace in the waterway. It perceives the US deployment as a direct military threat. The nationalistic Global Times warned in an editorial that “If the U.S. military insists on showing that it is capable of taming the China Dragon, they are bound to see all kinds of advanced Chinese weapons as well as other military deployments on the islands.”

FONOPs

President Donald Trump has resolved to challenge Beijing and restore order in the SCS. The US Navy is soon to restart Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) to challenge claims by China to exclusive access in the sea. The temporary suspension of the “freedom of navigation” patrol was because of transition of administration in Washington. The SCS remains a priority for the Trump administration.

Since Trump too office on 20 January, the US Navy did not conduct any FONOPs near areas claimed by China in the SCS. In such operations, the US ships or planes go near “disputed” Chinese features to test the claims to exclusive access. Washington is aware that it needs to demonstrate its commitment to its allies in such critical situations. Beijing is always paranoid with the US military presence, saying that it is only stirring regional tensions. The Trump administration is unlikely to loosen its grip as China continues to build massive military complex in the middle of the SCS.

Need for the COC

This waterway has enormous strategic significance for many countries. Besides home to rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of oil, gas and other natural resources beneath the ocean floor, an estimated $5 trillion in global trade annually passes through the SCS. Besides China, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan also have claims. Issues involved in the dispute are freedom of navigation, maritime security, rules of law, global norms governing international trade and the COC. In a major development, China and Southeast Asian countries agreed on 18 May to a draft framework on the rough outline of a legally binding COC designed to prevent clashes in the strategic maritime territory.

Fifteen years ago, China and the members of the ASEAN grouping had committed to draft the COC but were unable to do so because of differences. Having committed to the draft, there are concerns within the ASEAN about whether China is expected to be sincere, or whether ASEAN has enough leverage to get Beijing to commit to a set of rules. Though mid-2017 was the timeline set by China and the leaders of the ASEAN, the draft framework was agreed upon before that date, though details of the contents are not yet revealed.

A joint press statement issued at the end of the one-day meeting of representatives of China and 10 members of the ASEAN at Guiyang in Guizhou province stated that all parties “uphold using the framework of regional rules to manage and control disputes, to deepen practical maritime cooperation, to promote consultation on the code and jointly maintain the peace and stability of the SCS”. Now the draft framework shall be submitted to the Southeast Asian foreign ministers meeting in Manila in August for its consideration.

The COC is a document that is expected to address reducing the risk of clashes in one of the world’s heaviest waterways. Liu Zhenmin, Deputy Foreign Minister of China observed: “The draft framework contains only the elements and is not the final rules, but the conclusion of the framework is a milestone in the process and is significant. It will provide a good foundation for the next round of consultations”. Till its final approval, the draft document shall remain as an internal document and confidential. Therefore, its details shall remain unknown for some time.

With China on board, in theory the ASEAN nations could expect to tame China and see it behaves responsibly but it would remain an open question whether Beijing will be willing to halt its activities of constructing artificial islands and loosen its pursuit of effectively controlling the disputed territory. Given China’s obstinate stance on the SCS, the ASEAN states are unlikely to be able to have much leverage to ask Beijing to respect the rules.

The Philippines chairs this year’s ASEAN meetings and started first bilateral consultations with Beijing over the SCS issue. Neither revealed what transpired in the meeting, preferring to keep it confidential for the time being. No date was also given for the adoption of a full COC.

It looks a positive sign that the Philippines chose a pro-active stance after initially cozying with Beijing. In April 2017, the Philippines hosted the 30th ASEAN summit. It highlighted a watered-down communiqué that evaded reference to China’s maritime encroachment in the SCS. Analysts express disappointment that ASEAN states have rather been soft on China’s aggressive activities in the sea. They fear that Beijing might be emboldened to step up its incursion in the area and this in turn could undermine ASEAN’s centrality. The non-issuance of a joint statement in the June 2016 meeting of ASEAN leaders and China at Kunming is cited as the result of the kind of pressure China applied on the ASEAN leaders.

Since the time of The Hague ruling, dialogue and consultations with China by the ASEAN grouping have restored some of the confidence, if not “turned a new page” on dealing with the SCS issue. With the Philippine fishermen regaining access to Scarborough Shoal after years of being blocked by Chinese ships, tensions between the Philippines and China eased to some extent. But distrusts have not disappeared.

It took 15 years to reach at a draft on the COC, which is yet to be finalized, leading to expansion of differences as China toughened its aggressive stance. In the absence of such an agreement, the parties followed a separate document called the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC), which among other provisions, commits the parties to “exploring ways for building trust and confidence… on the basis of equality and mutual respect”. When the member states and China signed the DOC in November 2002 in Cambodia after several years of prolonged negotiations, it was hailed as a milestone document. Though it did not fulfill its mission to build greater trust between the claimant states and prevent the dispute from escalating, it played the role of imposing moral constraints on relevant parties. It was seen as a compromise between the two positions of doing nothing and having a legally-binding agreement. It served as a reference point when problems and tensions emerged and the grounds for negotiations of a formal COC.

The Philippines is going to host another second leaders-level meeting in November together with ASEAN’s dialogue partners such as Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US. It is to be seen if some sort of consensus is reached and a new direction found to resolve to the contentious SCS issue. Though the draft for the COC has been kept confidential, but it will not be complete without having a mechanism for resolving disputes in the SCS, lack of legitimacy and commitment to demilitarization of disputed islands by China. The formal and binding COC should be discussed and concluded when Manila hosts the ASEAN foreign ministers in August 2017 by adoption and implementation in letter and spirit of all parties.

Vietnam’s stance

Vietnam does not want a fight with China and favors a solution to the dispute under international law but would not hesitate to repulse if Beijing resorts to unilateral actions that is against Vietnam’s national interests. Historically, it has stood its ground by first defeating the French and then the US. But it does not want to suffer from the shadow of history as it wants peace, which is why the Obama administration decided to lift the arms embargo that was in place for a long time.

Vietnam rejects as Beijing seeks to change the status quo in the SCS. It opposes that China is building artificial islands on the Gaven Reefs, a part of the disputed Spratly Islands and located in the middle of the SCS between Vietnam and the Philippines. Unfortunately, no initiative by any of China’s neighbors thus far has succeeded in persuading Beijing to change tack. This leaves Vietnam with no other option than to enhance its military capability by deepening defence ties with friendly countries such as Japan and India. While it seeks a solution to the dispute in accordance with international law and the UN Charter, it sticks to its policy to build alliances with countries but not to fight with another one. It has suffered a lot during the battles of the Cold War and does not want a repeat of the same. That is an understandable position.

China’s aggressive intent

Despite the efforts by the countries in Asia having claims in the SCS to make peace with China and US warning to China not to precipitate things, China remains undeterred. In the latest Chinese move, two Chinese J-10 warplanes intercepted a US Navy P-3 that was operating in international airspace in late May 2017. The Pentagon was concerned by this “unsafe and unprofessional” encounter, though operations were able to continue unimpeded. Around the same time in late May 2017, a US destroyer sailed in disputed SCS waters near a reef claimed by Beijing in the first “freedom of navigation” exercise under Trump.

16th Asia Security Summit

The maneuvers came ahead of a major regional security summit, the 16th, in Singapore from 2-4 June 2017. The IISS-Shangri-La Dialogue is Asia’s premier defence summit, a unique meeting of ministers and delegates from over 50 countries. This year, the keynote speech will be given by Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister of Australia.

Launched in 2002, the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore has built confidence and fostered practical security cooperation by facilitating easy communication and fruitful contact among the region’s most important defence and security policy makers.

The Dialogue’s agenda is intentionally wide-ranging, reflecting the many defence and security challenges facing a large and diverse region. Over the years ministers have used the Dialogue to propose and advance initiatives on important security issues. These include maritime security in the Malacca Strait, the implications of regional states’ submarine capabilities, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, regional security architecture, humanitarian and disaster relief, and the idea of a ‘no first use of force’ agreement in the SCS.

The summit has been a useful venue for bilateral, trilateral and multilateral meetings with security partners. While the precise content of these private meetings has usually remained confidential, they have sometimes resulted in public joint statements on defence and security cooperation in the region. Basically it should focus on maritime security challenges, including the militarization of the SCS and discuss how Asian major powers like Japan, India and China could contribute to regional security.

*Professor (Dr.) Panda is currently Indian Council for Cultural Relations India Chair Visiting Professor at Reitaku University, Japan. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not represent either of the ICCR or the Government of India.  E-mail: rajaram.panda@gmail.com

Uzbekistan An Oasis In Central Asia – OpEd

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A sovereign country in the heart of Asia — located in a historical and geographical region of Mawarannahr or beyond the river as it is translated from Arabic. The ancient countries such Sogdiana, Bactria, Khorezm, Turkic Khaganate already existed even before Islam came in the region, in the early of 8th century.

A long period of such events brought Uzbekistan as a land that is rich in history and in colorful culture and tradition.

H.E. Shavkat Jamolov (51), Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Indonesia understands very good the emotions of the Indonesian people. The smiling diplomat has been encouraging his big efforts to strengthen the bilateral relations with Indonesia since he came for the first time for his post in Jakarta about nine years ago.

H.E. Shavkat Jamolov (51), Ambassador of Uzbekistan
H.E. Shavkat Jamolov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan

Although a smile is often observed on his face as to express Eastern hospitality, his Western influenced background mostly appears through his thoughts and I saw this clearly when I interviewed him in early May 2017. There are some concrete items in the mutual relations that have been significant in Social & Politics, Education and also Culture with the Indonesian government and among private Institutions.

Uzbekistan, a painting of an entire beauty that exists in Central Asia will take you to an unforgetable journey and Tashkent is a window where we can trace the largest, industrial, scientific and cultural centre in the region. Those who desire to experience the way the Uzbek people lived in the past, can have their vivid imagination by exploring the land of Amir Timur.

There are no architectural monuments of 9 to 10th century decorated with inscriptions like the ones preserved in Tashkent. At Hazrati Imam Complex, we can find the first Holy Qur’an written in Kuffi Alphabeth. Tashkent is the capital of Independent Republic of Uzbekistan, it was declared as the Center of Islamic Culture in 2007 following the major forum of the Organization of Islamic Culture & Civilization.

As a flash back to our memory of the Silk Road period, you will be having a strange feeling when arriving in Karvon Saray or Karavan Saray in Navoy province where most merchants from all over the continents came together to do barter of their merchandise. The famous gathering place will turn your mind towards a deep emotional circumstance of the past when standing on the soil of the 11th century. The bricks that were used by the people to build the inns, are still there in some parts. Take a deep breath.

Continue the road to Bukhara and stop by at a traditional restaurant in the resting area where we can have halal lunch with good service such as fresh Salad, humus, and a tasty local Plov which tourists can share with 3 or 4 other people.

Bukhara is a memorable ancient city where the glory of architectural of Madrasah and Mosque sculptured beautifully in a mozaik form and decorated with amazing garden during the Turkic dynasty in 7-8th century and the Samanids dynasty in 9-10th century.

The residents of Bukhara must be proud to be living in this magnificent city where the first Madrasah in the Islamic world was built in 877, just 7 years after the death of the Great Imam Al-Bukhari. Bukhara is the natal place of Imam Al-Bukhari and Ibnu Sina or well-known as Avicena in Western Encyclopedia.

Going further to pay visit to the Mausoleum of Chashma Yi Ayub a.s. we must pass the open hall facing to the traditional Bazaar. A young man kindly interrupted my way while promoting his Uzbek love songs CD for a 50.000 Som. A wooden plaque is hung with a text containing a legendary story of Ayyub a.s. when he arrived in Bukhara. Meeting with locals in Pistaskkanon Street near by the Mausoleum is always an interesting part to do, especially when you can find a few cheerful children playing in the streets. A little girl with curly blond hair was still in her pinky pajamas smiled shyly and looked like she was hoping of something to happen in front of her white little house decorated with an old Mulbery and Pomegranate tree. A little farewell with a few Soms to buy cookies that she liked, made this little fellow giving her genuine smile to me again. Suddenly, I was trapped by a friendly encounter that gave me the idea of writing new poems.

Poyi Kalon Ensemble is the next destination to visit. A huge Mosque for Jumah prayer stands firmly and when entering the colour to see what is inside of the complex, I was struck in front of the round construction, it is believed that this round construction was a well where many people were killed and thrown inside. A sorrow feeling stressed the ambiance.

Poyi Kalon has been well-known even before the construction of Bibi Khanum mosque in Samarkand in 1399-1404. Bukhara is the city of Rugs. Splendid home made carpets, fine sajadah mostly made by fine cotton and silk thread will be worth to have in your collection.

Nothing can be compared with the great architectural monument of the oriental architecture and Registan Square in Samarkand is really a Gem to its international admirers. Looking from the three sides, the Square is surrounded by the grand Madrasah and portals of which are facing the center of the space and the three erections have their own unique decor. Registan Square is preserved by the territory of the city under the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2001.

My heart was captivated by a beautiful masterpiece of the Central Asian Arts & Culture, the tomb of Timurlenk where is resting the respectful man of Uzbekistan, buried in 1405 and followed by his grandson, Ulugbek in 1449 in Samarkand.

A slight shadow of a tall big man in a long robe appeared just a minute after my du’a was sent to the Greatest man who was the founder of the country.

Samarkand is the last place for the greatest Imam Al-Bukhari. He was asked to leave Bukhara by the Royal family after he rejected to come to the Palace and provide his teaching. Al-Bukhari had his own reason that knowledge never comes to people, but the people are the ones who must find and fight for it.

His Mausoleum is as a spiritual, memorial and educational complex built around the grave in Hartang village, after Indonesia’s first President, Soekarno requested to Krushchev to find the grave of Imam Al-Bukhari and make an appropriate grave for this great Imam that is fully respected in Indonesia and in other parts of the Islamic world as his agreement to visit the Soviet Union at that time. Uzbekistan was one of the ex Soviet Union countries. After this agreement had been made, Soekarno came to visit Moscow and a big appreciation was expressed to him by the Uzbek people. Indonesia is always in the heart of Uzbek people.

It was by the late President Islam Karimov who ordered in 1998 to build an integrated memorial complex including Mausoleum, Mosque, Library & Madrasah for Imam Al-Bukhari. The complex has been operating as a Training Center, Institute of Islamic Studies, and Islamic Heritage hub of The Central Asia. Sunnis consider the collection Hadith of Al-Bukhari as the most authoritative set that is preserved to this day.

Uzbekistan, a genuine fairy land would like to strengthen its close relations with Indonesia through a series of cooperation agreements among their governments. Mutual bilateral relations may be strengthened in good understanding. Uzbekistan has splendor Holy Sites to visit after the new 14 tourist destination places are expected to be launched by its government. As the biggest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia can be a very good market for religious tourism and increase the presence of international pilgrims in the Holy sites.

A young farmer at his early 30, walking adjacent to his donkey while bringing his produce and stuff in that old open chariot near by the Cotton Plantation after passing Navoy and stopped for a minute whilst smiling friendly with his timid face. He focused on his action to the digicam that I had directed to him. It became a modern picture of Hoja Nazaruddin from that 1001 nights story that is still alive in the hearts and on the daily life of Uzbek people, therefore a good lesson has been taught while it is easy to understand. Uzbekistan is the future destination of Pilgrims and religious scholars; Uzbekistan awaits you with a warm hospitality of its people, Shahslik and Plov diplomacy as well as to experience Uzbek Alpine Snow in the cable car in Chimgan which is also attractive.

*Nia Amira, is a distinguished author, journalist and linguist from Indonesia. She writes on cultural, international affairs, multicultarism and religious studies. Her articles have appeared in over thirty newspapers that are published in Europe, Asia and United States.

How Israeli Moves In Jerusalem Are Scotching Trump’s ‘Ultimate Deal’ – OpEd

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By Jonathan Cook*

A decision by Donald Trump this Thursday could prove fateful for the immediate future of Jerusalem, the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the region.

He must decide whether to renew a presidential waiver, signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, that expires on June 1. The six-month waiver delays implementing a law passed by Congress in 1995 that requires the US to recognise occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate its embassy there from Tel Aviv.

It is a law every president for the past 22 years has baulked at. It would pre-empt the Oslo accords and negate Washington’s assumed role as “honest broker”. Carrying out Congress’s wish would deny the Palestinians East Jerusalem, the only credible capital of a future Palestinian state.

But equally significantly, the law would recognize Israel’s efforts to claim sovereignty over the Old City’s holy places, especially the incendiary site of Al Aqsa mosque. That could provoke a conflagration both locally, among Palestinians, and more generally in the Middle East.

Trump’s key advisers are reported to be bitterly divided. Some, such as secretary of state Rex Tillerson, warn that, if the president fails to approve the deferral, his claims to be crafting the “ultimate deal” to bring peace to the region will be doomed from the outset.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies, including in the US Congress, are doing their best to pressure Trump in the opposite direction.

On Sunday, Netanyahu staged a provocative stunt, holding his weekly cabinet meeting in a tunnel under Al Aqsa mosque compound to announce measures to bring millions more Jewish visitors to the occupied Old City, including a new cable car to the edge of the mosque.

It was Netanyahu’s decision to open the Western Wall Tunnel in 1996, when he first became prime minister, that brought the Oslo process into almost terminal crisis at an early stage. Three days of clashes killed more than 100 Palestinians and 17 Israeli soldiers.

Next Tuesday, meanwhile, the US Congress and Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem are due to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Israel’s illegal occupation of the city in a ceremony conducted via video link.

The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that either Trump or vice-president Mike Pence are due to participate, in what could be interpreted as the first tacit recognition by the White House of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

That would be a continuation of Trump’s break with official US policy towards Jerusalem during his visit to the region last week. He became the first sitting president to visit the Jewish prayer plaza at the Western Wall, below Al Aqsa. It was unclear whether his advisers had explained that where he stood had been a Palestinian neighborhood 50 years ago, before it was ethnically cleansed.

Trump stuffed a note into the wall, in what observers hoped was a plea for divine help in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But the Western Wall visit was more probably an effort to placate his core supporters. Christian evangelicals paid for dozens of billboards across Jerusalem reminding Trump that he won the election only because of their votes – and that they expect the US embassy to be moved to Jerusalem.

The day after Trump’s departure, Netanyahu exploited the president’s attendance at the wall to further damage prospects for peacemaking. He made a provocative speech to mark “Jerusalem Day”, Israel’s annual show of strength in East Jerusalem.

He claimed that Trump had disproved the “lies” promoted by the United Nations cultural body, Unesco, when it voted this month to re-state that Jerusalem is occupied.

In truth, it was Netanyahu who indulged in gross mendacity, claiming that East Jerusalem had been “desolate” and “neglected” before its occupation. Israel had “redeemed” the city, he said, while Al Aqsa mosque would “always remain under Israeli sovereignty”.

His supporters tried to give that claim concrete expression by staging the largest-ever march through the Old City on Jerusalem Day. Palestinians were forced into hiding or fled early as police allowed 60,000 Jewish ultra-nationalists to besiege the heart of East Jerusalem.

In a sign of the power balance in Israel, a small group of 50 left-wing Jews – many from the US – linked arms to try to block the march at the Old City’s entrance. Footage showed police brutally arresting them, grabbing them in chokeholds and breaking one woman’s arm.

Jerusalem is the most intractable of the final-status issues set out in the Oslo process. Those expecting miracles of Trump are going to be disappointed. His commitment to pressuring Netanyahu is weak, while the Israeli prime minister’s commitment to making concessions is non-existent.

Whether Trump signs the waiver or not on Thursday, all indications are that the US president – faced with domestic pressures and an intransigent Israeli government – is going nowhere with his “ultimate deal”.

The only real question to be decided on Thursday is whether Trump prefers to take the fast or protracted route to failure.

(A version of this article first appeared in the National, Abu Dhabi.)

*Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are “Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East” (Pluto Press) and “Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair” (Zed Books). He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Visit his website: www.jonathan-cook.net.

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