The Harsh Couch - 2015.12.01 The Recent Freudian Revival

#1

The world is a smaller place now - The Greek, a character in The Wire (TV series)

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://theharshcouch.com/thc/2015-12-01/
#2

thanks for the kind words

I can understand why Dr Gob might feel at a loss to explain the complex issues at play in and around “Syria” these days, but it seems to me the answer (at the risk of getting a little conspiratorial) may actually be quite a simple one:

just Google the word “Pipelineistan”

the single, underlying factor which seems to be a common thread that keeps showing up among all the various issues in the region - from the Clinton administration’s deal with the Taliban last century, all the way to present day Russians getting shot at while harassing Turkmen (currently in the process of bringing the Chinese on board to exploit the second largest gas field in the world) - is the infrastructure of transcontinental pipelines…

“Yes, once again, we’re right into New Silk Road(s) territory…”

“any political settlement of the Syria crisis must also reconcile competing gas interests…”

when is it EVER not about money??

#3

Given the gas reserves the US now has due to fracking and the massive drop in dependence on ME hydrocarbons, the pipelinestan argument is lot less believable today than in days of yore.

The Middle East just doesn’t matter as much these days. Still matters, just not that much.

Which is not to say pipelinestan is not in a lot of people’s minds nor that it’s not a motivating factor.

#4

it’s true we will very likely see Europe’s dependence on this resource infrastructure diminish greatly in the future but this was more history lesson than prophecy

sadly, it’s also true that political leaders have a tendency to grip even more tightly to ideas that have proven outdated or are likely to fail, despite mounting evidence - like the Australian govt’s decision to double down on the importance of Coal and mineral resources to Australia’s future, in the face of divestment and diminishing demand from the rest of the world…