Vietnam: It's Time for the U.S. to Improve Relations

This month, tensions between Vietnam and China are rising due to a territorial dispute in the resource rich South China Sea. Recently, China placed an oil rig within 120 nautical miles off the coast of Vietnam. To make matters worse, China rammed a Vietnamese vessel as it was patrolling near the newly placed rig and fired their water cannons at the vessel as well (see the video below). Protests have since sparked in cities across Vietnam over the incident. Over 15 foreign owned factories were sent ablaze in response to China's oil rig.



China and Vietnam are communist governments with both of their economies recently attempting to become more capitalistic. Yet, they are not allies. It is not always the case where communist governments are allied to each other. During the Cold War, Yugoslavia was not an ally of the Soviet of the Union.

For China, it unfortunately clear as to why it is picking on its weaker neighbor. With China's recent military buildup and expansion of their Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), they are now optimist about carrying a "big stick" and becoming the a regional superpower (and soon to be a world superpower) while attempting to gather resources within their realm. Other nations near the South China Sea such as the Philippines and Taiwan (along with Japan and South Korea further away) all have treaties with the United States with many regarding to defense of the nation's territory. Therefore, China can afford to become aggressive with Vietnam without any significant repercussions, and if it were to somehow go to the United Nation's Security Council, China could veto any action there.

It's been 39 years since the fall of Saigon and while the stigma remains for both countries over the Vietnam War, the United States and Vietnam can mutually benefit with an alliance. As the United States shifts focus toward Asia, Vietnam owns Cam Ranh Bay, a deep-water bay and perhaps the most strategically important port in Southeast Asia. The last major navy to use the port was Russia, which was over a decade ago. It's been nearly 20 years since the United States and Vietnam began normalizing relations since the war and then Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Vietnam in 2010 with Leon Panetta visiting Cam Ranh Bay in the summer of 2012.

Cam Ranh Bay is the optimal place for the United States to have military forces particularly the navy, in the hopes of containing China's aggressive expansion. While Vietnamese-U.S. relations have been slowly improving, it is time to speed up the process. Each country needs to realize they can help the other both economically and militarily. If Vietnam leased Cam Ranh Bay, both sides can finally move on from the Vietnam War and in return, the United States can protect Vietnamese sovereignty.

Now Taking Bets on the Next Dictator to go

Tonight it is reported the North Korea Dictator, Kim Jong-IL died at the age of 69. 2011 can be remembered for many things, one of them being for the amount of dictators who died. From the death of Osama Bin Laden to Muammar Gaddafi, 2011 has been a transition of power, but not necessarily for the better. I'll be writing shortly about the latest news in Egypt proving the Arab Spring to be a disaster like some predicted 9 months ago.

Kim Jong-un, the son of the Team American star dictator, will probably not make the region more "stable" than it currently is. In fact, since he is under 30, military leaders may not accept him as the next leader of North Korea which could start a whole new controversy in a nation that has 4th largest military in the world and has nuclear weapons. No one, not even China, knows what will happen within the most isolationist nation on Earth. Certainly, the United States, Japan, and South Korea are on heightened alert status and will be monitoring the situation closely. As the world changes, Asia could be next. China is certainly rising as scene with its military buildup, scaring neighboring nations such as Vietnam and Taiwan. Kim Jong-Il's death may bring less stability in a world struggling for power, yet it is great news the dictator is gone.

Over 3 evil leaders have been killed this year, as well as other controversial leaders killed/removed from power. Who will be next before 2012?  1-5 odds I'll take Fidel Castro, 3-5 odds is Hugo Chavez both because of their health. Wouldn't it be nice for two more "pals" to leave earth? 5-1 odds says Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel. 9-1 is Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. 20-1 odds has Bashar al-Assad of Syria, but his stock could rise quickly should NATO/US be allowed to intervene or if the opposition gains more ground. Finally at 100-1 is Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan.


There you have folks, another evil dictator gone in 2011, but now more uncertainty for the future of the world.


-Christian

Sources:


1) http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/images-7/kim-jong-il-team-america.jpg

United States now holds a majority of its own Debt

Got this from a tweet, it's unbelievable via http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/ponzi-scheme-the-top-holder-of-united-states-debt-is-now-the-united-states/

No, that’s not a joke. The monetization efforts by Ben Benanke and the Federal Reserve have resulted in the United States taxpayer edging out China as the largest holders of our own debt.

So how exactly can our country be indebted to itself? Easy. Our country prints more of its own currency, and then loans  that currency to itself. This would be the equivalent of you creating your own currency, printing up batches of that currency and then loaning it to yourself to pay your bills.

We, as individuals, can’t do that because it’s an absurd concept. The government, however, can do it because they’re the government and can print all the money they want. Which is why our money supply shouldn’t be controlled by the government.

Sources:

1. http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/ponzi-scheme-the-top-holder-of-united-states-debt-is-now-the-united-states/
2. http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/gono/UST%20Holdings%2011.23.jpg

India...The Next Superpower?

In a recent article by the Wall Street Journal, it mentions that India wants to increase its defense spending, especially technology from foreign companies. The article mentions that "on foreign direct investment in the defense sector, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion recommends tripling India’s FDI cap to 74% (from 26%) if India wants to attract state of the art technology in defense." it also mentions that ". India is the 10th largest defense spender in the world, having spent $30 billion in 2008 but imports the majority of its arms because its three major defense equipment manufacturers – Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Bharat Electronics Ltd., and Mazagon Dock Ltd. – cannot match the country’s defense demands...and [India's current military states] only 15% of the equipment can be described as ’state-of-the-art’ and nearly 50% is suffering from obsolescence."


I believe India is making the right choice in looking for more foreign investment into its military. This could really help the United States too because India will probably be looking into our technology which will help American jobs. In order to be a superpower, you must be able to have a strong defense (my last article mentions how China is expanding its military).

There are some negatives for India in this as well. It is clear that India is making leaps and bounds, but, it appears their own defense companies cannot keep pace with the rest of improvements India is making in the economy. The United States, China, and even other countries such as Russia, are not dependent on foreign military technology for their own defense. In my opinion, this shows that as India looks for top military technology (instead of their own) they are becoming a powerful nation in the world, but, they are not quite a superpower yet because, they are dependent on other nations for a quality military instead of using their own technology. The United States would prefer a strong India. Although we do have to work with China, America is more comfortable when we work with democracies, so America would be more comfortable with India "spreading its sphere of influence" in Asia over China, and for India to be able to do that, they have to become a superpower.

Sources:


Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/05/18/will-defense-ministry-increase-the-fdi-limit/

Image: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-IN476_idefen_D_20100518090707.jpg

Note: Article written for school project.