Fighting Oil with Oil in Venezuela

Facing off against such an administration, Venezuela is alone but for Cuba after the ‘Left’ presidencies of Lagos in Chile, Kirchner in Argentina, and Lula in Brazil have all cut their deals with the US. If the Bolívarian revolution is to advance in such an atmosphere of American hegemony, Chávez has apparently recognized the sagacity of fighting oil with oil.

China: The Dragon in Central Asia – PART 1: The hunt for friends, and oil

Despite its geographic proximity, China for the past century played only a marginal role in Central Asia. Economically, politically and culturally, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were firmly in Russia’s orbit. But independence in 1991 brought changes, among them the opening of the “Bamboo Curtain” to the East.

US military on the scent of oil

The Pentagon hopes that its plan, the Global Posture Review, when fully implemented, will allow for rapid, tailored responses to contingencies that could arise from any one of a number of “vital national-security interests”. However, two of these circumstances are paramount: countering any new outbreaks in the “global war on terror” and reliable access to energy resources.