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Leading Indicators: Off-the-Radar News Roundup
Judah Grunstein
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10 Mar 2010
- Indian officials reported that India was close to finalizing a deal with Russia for the construction of two more reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, to go along with the two Russian-built reactors already due to be completed later this year. The deal could be among those signed during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to India tomorrow. India also expressed interest in participating as a donor country to a Russian nuclear fuel bank project.
- Deteriorating relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have led to closed border crossings and increased violence along the two countries' border in the Fergana Valley.
- Brazil announced a list of 102 U.S. products that will be targeted with raised tariffs in retaliation for U.S. subsidies to American cotton growers. The Brazilian minister of development at the same time insisted that Brazil would prefer resolving the issue through negotiations. The announcement coincided with a previously scheduled visit to Brazil by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
- The U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan denied that a training center for Kyrgyz security forces to be built with U.S. funds represents a U.S. effort to establish a military base in the south of the country. The news here is not the denial, which is unverifiable, but the need to issue it.
- The Russian Defense Ministry denied reports that it was planning to purchase Italian-made armored vehicles. Again, the news here is not the denial, but the need to issue it. This bears noting, in conjunction with the controversial purchase of the French-built Mistral-class naval vessel: The idea that Western arms sales to Russia will strengthen Russian capacity misses the point, because the Russian military will fill these needs one way or the other. The fact that Russia even considers buying these weapons systems abroad, or feels obligated to deny reports to that effect, is testament to the sclerotic weakness of the Russian arms industry, and is essentially good news, strategically speaking.
- U.N. officials announced on Monday that Turkey will send up to 160 riot police to Haiti, complementing the 52-member police team already participating in MINUSTAH.
- The U.S. Air Force tanker contract controversy continues to be poorly received in Europe. Britain's business secretary and former EU trade commissioner, Lord Mandelson, has reportedly written to the White House with concerns over the signals sent by the handling of the contract, and the European Commission pointed out that the EU-U.S. trade imbalance in arms sales heavily favors U.S. contractors -- for now. During the 2008 election campaign, there was some anxiety in Europe and elsewhere that President Barack Obama would prove to be a trade protectionist. I dismissed them at the time, but it would be hard to argue he's a free trader these days.
Researched by Kari Lipschutz.