Shalom everyone.
I'm surprised nobody has come by to comment on my last post, which seemed outlandish (but accurate) even to me. There are some improbable international arrangements in the works, that bear little or no resemblance to traditional alliances; and the world seems headed for a 1:1 confrontation in the Middle East. Note that I have just posted trends, based on evolving shared interests. Rather than simply sit here in amazement, I'll continue to post things as they come up.
One thing I've been noticing, since the breakout of Obama and the NSA's "Great Betrayal" of ALL our so-called "friends", is an emerging impotence and disunity of NATO. Mind you, this is a temporary arrangement, which will last only so long as Obama is in office. I expect NATO to come back with a vengeance during a succeeding administration, probably for the last days, Zechariah 14 campaign against Israel. BEFORE that happens, we are looking at a probable Middle East war, ranging over the entire area, patterned after Ezekiel 38-39.
With NATO impotent, the various member states are scurrying over to regional alliances. The Ukraine, for instance, which heavily supported the US in Iraq in the days of US President George W. Bush, is cozying up to the Russians. Ditto for Turkey, an American ally since the early days of the Cold War. That doesn't mean these countries are technically "leaving" their alliance with the US, since Obama himself has been cozying up to the Russians and Iranians. These others are doing what they're doing out of desperation, because they know they can no longer count on America for help in time of need. Obama, on the other hand, is doing this out of pure madness.
While many are moving towards the Russian camp, there is a subterranean rift of mistrust between the Russians and Chinese, who though allied up until now by a mutual fear of a powerful US, realize that they have no political, economic, religious or historical affinity with their enormous neighbor to the north. In the Middle East, for instance, China's main petroleum supplier is Saudi Arabia; whereas the Russians are exporters of natural gas that the Chinese have become less and less dependent on (They will soon get all they need from Central Asia and elsewhere). With the Saudis and Pakistanis (long-term Chinese allies) lining up against Russian-backed Iran, I expect a more open rupture to open up in near future. Remember that even though Chinese-American relations are going downhill fast, America is lining up more and more with the Russians; so there is no love lost here.
India was a solid Russian ally during the Cold War -- if for no other reason, than that (I believe) our Ambassador to India in the 1960s, Ellsworth Bunker, told us that India would be more trouble to us as a friend, with its endemic poverty and corruption, than as an enemy. After the fall of the Soviet Union, India began to draw closer to us, especially during the George W. Bush years. Obama has reversed that trend. For a while, India was getting very close to Israel, joining them in joint ventures to produce, for example, a nuclear submarine. In the past couple of years, though, India-Israeli relations have apparently been cooling, while Indian-Russian and Indian-Iranian ties have been strengthening.
On Europe's "soft underbelly", in countries that have been suffering lately from burdensome debt and biting austerity, the trend is toward the Israelis and Saudis. While north European states such as Germany are dependent on Russia for natural gas, the south looks to the eastern Mediterranean as their source of supply in just a few years -- particularly to Israel, and it's Leviathan gas field, and to related fields in Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus, not coincidentally, have been actively working with Israel militarily in recent years (and drawing further away from Turkey in particular); and other countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Italy, have done likewise.
Here's the latest concerning Italy, which I will leave you with before getting about on my rounds:
Israel and Italy hold joint government session, sign 10 agreements
DEBKAfile December 2, 2013, 6:23 PM (GMT+02:00)
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Israel and Italy hold joint government session, sign 10 agreements
PM Netanyahu meets with Italian PM Mario Monti
25 Oct 2012
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti...
"The two governments also signed the following agreements:
"1) A cooperation agreement in the field of high-tech industries..."
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PM Netanyahu meets with Italian PM Mario Monti
You can bet that natural gas was also discussed. Italy has held many joint exercises with Israel in recent years, including one begun just last week -- along with the Greeks and, for what little it's worth, the Americans.
