Russia and “The Changing World”

In my previous articles I have discussed some of the key foreign challenges that Russia now faces. This subject deserves a more detailed discussion and not just because foreign policy is part and parcel of any government strategy. External challenges and the changing world around us are compelling us to make decisions that have implications for the economy, our culture, the budget and for investment. Russia is part of the greater world whether we are talking about the economy, media coverage or cultural development. We do not wish to and cannot isolate ourselves. We hope that our openness will result in a higher standard of living for Russia plus a more diverse culture and a general level of trust, something that is becoming increasingly scarce.

VIDEO: ‘CIA feeds us bad info on Iran nukes’ says IAEA ex-head

[anyplayer:url=http://rt.com/files/news/iran-nuclear-iaea-spies-289/i0a0ef8af8a538ac8d1fca034068459e6_big-interview.flv] UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has been closely cooperating with the world’s spy agencies, including on Iran, for years, former head of the agency, Hans Blix, told RT. The cooperation of the International Atomic Energy…

Threat Assessment Report: US Vision

A few days ago US Director of National Intelligence (DNI), General James Clapper, accompanied by the chief of the CIA, General David Petraeus and FBI director Robert Mueller, gave Congress their annual assessment of the…

Will the US launch “Mini-nukes” against Iran in Retaliation for Tehran’s “Non-compliance”?

At no point since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, has humanity been closer to the unthinkable, a nuclear holocaust which could potentially spread, in terms of radioactive fallout, over a large part of the Middle East. All the safeguards of the Cold War era, which categorized the nuclear bomb as “a weapon of last resort” have been scrapped. “Offensive” military actions using nuclear warheads are now described as acts of “self-defense”. The distinction between tactical nuclear weapons and the conventional battlefield arsenal has been blurred. America’s new nuclear doctrine is based on “a mix of strike capabilities”. The latter, which specifically applies to the Pentagon’s planned aerial bombing of Iran, envisages the use of nukes in combination with conventional weapons. As in the case of the first atomic bomb, which in the words of President Harry Truman “was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base”, today’s “mini-nukes” are heralded as “safe for the surrounding civilian population”.