Britain

Global warming is changing the Earth's climate so fast that influential scientists fear it is already outrunning our ability to prevent the planet from overheating.

John Holdren, US President Barack Obama's chief scientific adviser, is only the latest to suggest radical geo-engineering measures may have to be considered to keep the Earth habitable.

"It's got to be looked at. We don't have the luxury of taking any approach off the table," he said. He recently compared the crisis with being "in a car with bad brakes driving towards a cliff in the fog".

Rarely has the old saying that our enemy's enemies are our friends been more apt. In the past three years, since the attacks on New York and the declaration of the war on terrorism, the so-called civilised world has reached new heights of duplicity in its approach to human rights. It has shed consistency in favour of exigency. Ultimately, we shall all pay the price.

By Frank W Moore, IDDS Research Analyst
INTRODUCTION

In the past decade China's growing military capability hasattracted a great deal of attention, but details about the currentand likely near-future state of China's military power have beenin short supply. While it is true that China is modernizing itsforces and increasing defense spending, the prospective improvementsin overall military capability need to be set against the verylow-technology starting point of China's armed forces.