via MAP: Russia’s expanding empire in Ukraine and elsewhere – The Washington Post.
MAP: Russia’s expanding empire in Ukraine and elsewhere – The Washington Post
10 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, war and peace Tags: Putin, Russia, Ukraine crisis
Environmental and Urban Economics: The Drought Causes War Hypothesis: Evidence from Syria
09 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Syria, water markets
I am an economist so permit me to make one Econ 101 point.
As drought conditions unfolded in Syria, did water prices rise? Is water metered and paid for in Syria? How do farmers and residential water customers access water?
If there had been a market signal of increased scarcity, water prices would have gone up and rational households and firms would reduce their consumption.
In the presence of such well functioning water markets, no “excess conflict” would have resulted. Capitalist markets thus can diffuse violence as increasingly scarce resources are allocated efficiently and water consumers are incentivized to invest in strategies and actions to reduce their water demand.
So, to repeat my point; if the PNAS authors are correct then it is the synergistic effect between increased drought conditions and the absence of water markets that caused the problem. If the nation had well functioning water markets, then I would strongly predict that there would be no extra violence.
via Environmental and Urban Economics: The Drought Causes War Hypothesis: Evidence from Syria.
Darwin awards: The Islamic State was backed by 46,000 accounts on Twitter in 2014
06 Mar 2015 1 Comment
in politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Darwin awards, ISIS, Middle-East politics, Twitter, war on terror
Every time they tweet they put a well-deserved target on their back.
via Defining and describing the population of ISIS supporters on Twitter | Brookings Institution.
Terrorism: Ron Paul vs. Giuliani
27 Feb 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Middle-East politics, noninterventionist foreign policy, Ron Paul
The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming – Soviet strategic airpower compared
23 Feb 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, war and peace
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Russian Bear bomber |
American B2 bomber |
Apparently there were 9/11 Pentagon plane crash conspiracy theories too
21 Feb 2015 Leave a comment
in war and peace Tags: 9/11 conspiracy theories, conspiracies theories, conspiracy theorists
Cease-fires and peace talks make it worse
21 Feb 2015 Leave a comment
in laws of war, liberalism, politics - USA, Rawls and Nozick, war and peace Tags: ceasefires, crusader foreign policies, Give war a chance, noninterventionist foreign policy, peace talks
The Russian Bear bombers that intruded into British airspace had propellers on them!! 1940s technology
20 Feb 2015 1 Comment
in war and peace Tags: British politics, European politics, obsolete military technology, Russian politics
The Russian Bear bomber is a reverse engineering job on several B-29 American bombers that ran short of fuel and had to land in Vladivostok in 1945. Obviously, the KGB was hopeless at penetrating the American strategic bombing programs. Spies and traitors were the only way they ever upgraded their aircraft and military technology. The Bear entered service with the Soviet Union in 1956 and is expected to serve the Russian Air Force until at least 2040!
HT: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/19/russian-bomber-flew-inland-cornwall-uk-airspace-witness and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2959849/Typhoon-fighter-jets-scrambled-intercept-two-Russian-Bear-bombers.html
Danish fishermen ferry Jews to safety in neutral Sweden during Nazi round-up, 1943
20 Feb 2015 Leave a comment
in laws of war, war and peace Tags: Denmark, Nazi Germany, The Holocaust
On September 28, 1943, Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz, a German diplomat, secretly informed the Danish resistance that the Nazis were planning to deport the Danish Jews.
The Danes responded quickly, organizing a nationwide effort to smuggle the Jews by sea to neutral Sweden.
With the help of the Danish people, Jews found hiding places in homes, hospitals, and churches.
Within a two-week period fishermen helped ferry 7,220 Danish Jews and 680 non-Jewish family members to safety across the narrow body of water separating Denmark from Sweden.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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