Comments for Raffaello Pantucci

Comment on China and Turkey Revive Silk Road by Kyrgyzstan: Climate Change, Water and Regional Security « The Center for Climate & Security

Fri, 25 May 2012 21:36:50 +0000

[...] the former Soviet state. The country is a natural stop along the old Silk Road trading route, which is in the process of being revived in modern form by China and Turkey – two key powers that essentially bookend the entire region from the east [...]

Comment on Al Qaeda’s Threats Against UK Show Britain Still a Top Target of Jihadists by Keep Calm and Carry On « Raffaello Pantucci

Keep Calm and Carry On « Raffaello Pantucci — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:29:30 +0000

[...] have mentioned this briefly in a previous post as it was already up in the e-magazine format, but my latest longer piece for HSToday is now live [...]

Comment on The Clash of Eurasian Grand Strategies by Serindia

Serindia — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:31:17 +0000

Probably, Gwadar won’t be the option of Chinese strategic investment anymore. Because, sooner or later, it will be the geo-political “soft underbelly” of Iran and Pakistan, when they will face the challenge of NATO.

Comment on China and Turkey Reprise the Silk Road by Serindia

Serindia — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:19:44 +0000

Erdogan waving the “olive branch” to Hollande is dramatic too. Does Ankara want to ally Paris to conquer Syria?

Comment on In France, a new type of Lone Wolf Threat by Fael

Fael — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:46:45 +0000

“If we make the wrong choice, then the danegr is that we’ll get hit again–that we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States. And then we’ll fall back into the pre-9/11 mindset, if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts and that we’re not really at war. I think that would be a terrible mistake for us.” Dick Cheney.The real concern is that not supporting Bush will make you directly responsible for the danegr that we’ll be hit in a devasting manner. You are the terrorist if you make the wrong decision. So sayeth Dick Cheney.

Comment on In Short Supply: The Britain-Pakistan Jihadist Trade Flow by david

david — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:25:02 +0000

A fair amount of the historical context for this article can be found on a C4 documentary on The Airliners Plot: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-plot-to-bring-down-britains-planes/4od

Hopefully this UK TV documentary can be viewed outside the UK.

Comment on In Short Supply: The Britain-Pakistan Jihadist Trade Flow by david

david — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:14:41 +0000

Raff,

Perhaps the incentives to visit Pakistan have altered? I expect some of the UK residents who left to join the fight for Kashmir were side-tracked to Afghanistan and many were were left biding their time in Pakistan. For those left in the UK learning of death or life-changing in Afghanistan, amidst a somewhat critical populace, or months plus of boredom in Pakistan (in the harsh FATA or luxury of parts of the Punjab) this can be expected to have an impact.

Some in the UK resident Kashmiri community report that the call to help in the struggle to gain independence has declined, so that starting point in the radicalisation and extremist journey may no longer be valid.

Yes there is anger over the GWOT in Afghanistan amongst many in the Muslim communities across the UK, that does not mean there is the motivation to travel to fight there.

Anecdote indicates that far more Kashmiri and Pakistani origin males with a drug habit go to Pakistan to “kick the habit”; people who are not attractive to the extremist cause.

If there is no “fresh blood” making the journey to Pakistan, one wonders whether those who are much older who fought in other conflicts will be targeted by recruiters?

Finally one other point. Were there that many who made this journey and returned? How many went and rejected the ‘call’ to fight once there?

Comment on China and Turkey Reprise the Silk Road by raffaellopantucci

raffaellopantucci — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:35:01 +0000

Very true, but the contrast in Erdogan’s previous comments on Xinjiang is really quite dramatic.

Comment on China and Turkey Reprise the Silk Road by Independent Thinker

Independent Thinker — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:29:45 +0000

There is no surprise that Turkey and China have improved their relationship. Turkey is important in two areas:
1. The most western country of China’s Greater Neighbor Zone
2. One of the three key anchors of China’s ME policies

Comment on In France, a new type of Lone Wolf Threat by raffaellopantucci

raffaellopantucci — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:17:01 +0000

That is an interesting piece, though at the same time, it strikes me that in commenting so much about the police response he fails to mention the large-scale round-up that the French authorities seem to have subsequently gone on.