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Bennett Ramberg the American writer, foreign policy consultant and expert on nuclear weapons proliferation, terrorism and international politics, has published an article on Reuters titled ‘Responding to North Korea’ in which he states “Now that Pyongyang has conducted its third nuclear test, the international community must accept what it cannot change: North Korea is a nuclear-arming state. No sanctions, no carrots, no rhetoric, no threat, no military act is likely to change this fact. The question now is how to minimize risks. First, we need to take a deep breath before we leap to any new policy. The impulse to push the North’s nuclear toothpaste back into the tube will remain. But sanctions have repeatedly failed. For reasons known only to itself, China — the one country that can effectively pinch North Korea both economically and politically — continues to provide Pyongyang with energy and foodstuffs. Beijing’s policy will likely continue. …Then there is a China card that Japan and South Korea could manipulate. Through their pundits or politicians, either could declare that the time has come to reconsider non-proliferation vows that could prod Beijing to put the squeeze on the North or risk a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia. Even talk about the option, however, could exacerbate already simmering tensions if Tokyo were to take the lead. While we can clearly exclude some options — like a U.S. military strike on North Korea’s nuclear sites — the benefits of other solutions remain murky. Rather than rush one way or another, the best course would be for Washington and its allies — following their perfunctory declarations of dismay — to take a deep breath and carefully evaluate options rather than respond compulsively. Pyongyang still has a long way to go before it becomes a credible nuclear threat.”  Inspired by Bennett Ramberg, Reuters ow.ly/j4AKM Image source TamilNet ow.ly/j4Av1 Beijing’s policy will likely continue (April 10 2013)

 

Bennett Ramberg the American writer, foreign policy consultant and expert on nuclear weapons proliferation, terrorism and international politics, has published an article on Reuters titled ‘Responding to North Korea’ in which he states “Now that Pyongyang has conducted its third nuclear test, the international community must accept what it cannot change: North Korea is a nuclear-arming state. No sanctions, no carrots, no rhetoric, no threat, no military act is likely to change this fact. The question now is how to minimize risks. First, we need to take a deep breath before we leap to any new policy. The impulse to push the North’s nuclear toothpaste back into the tube will remain. But sanctions have repeatedly failed. For reasons known only to itself, China — the one country that can effectively pinch North Korea both economically and politically — continues to provide Pyongyang with energy and foodstuffs. Beijing’s policy will likely continue. …Then there is a China card that Japan and South Korea could manipulate. Through their pundits or politicians, either could declare that the time has come to reconsider non-proliferation vows that could prod Beijing to put the squeeze on the North or risk a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia. Even talk about the option, however, could exacerbate already simmering tensions if Tokyo were to take the lead. While we can clearly exclude some options — like a U.S. military strike on North Korea’s nuclear sites — the benefits of other solutions remain murky. Rather than rush one way or another, the best course would be for Washington and its allies — following their perfunctory declarations of dismay — to take a deep breath and carefully evaluate options rather than respond compulsively. Pyongyang still has a long way to go before it becomes a credible nuclear threat.”

 

Inspired by Bennett Ramberg, Reuters ow.ly/j4AKM Image source TamilNet ow.ly/j4Av1

Ahmet Davutoglu the 54 year old Turkish Foreign Minister, former political scientist, academic Professor and an ambassador at large has stated that “'Jihad' not to be confused with terrorism”. In an article on France 24 reports that Davutoglu told a business conference in Istanbul, the idea of jihad should not be confused with terrorism adding that the notion is often misunderstood by American "neo-cons and pro-Israelis".  There is no connection between jihad and terrorism, adding that suggestions to the contrary come from American neo-cons and Israelis. “'Jihad' is the name of fighting for our honour, if required, but above all it means fighting against one's own limitations,” Davutoglu said at a business conference entitled “Turkey in light of international developments, 2013” at the headquarters of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association. “For us, jihad is a sacred notion; let us not taint this notion by using it like neo-cons and pro-Israelis in America,” Davutoğlu said, while condemning an opposition party deputy who asked the Turkish government on its policy regarding the jihadist movement in Syria at a Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting on Feb15. Wikipedia states Davutoglu was granted a title of ambassador in 2003 by the joint decision of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Abdullah Gül. His publications include Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory, and his book Strategic Depth is a very influential book in Turkey's foreign policy orientation. He is very influential in the military, academic, and government triangle shaping Turkish foreign policy. Davutoglu was one of the leading actors on behalf of the Turkish government during the shuttle diplomacy for the settlement of 2008 Israel–Gaza conflict. He has since called for Turkey to become more than just a regional power within Europe and the Middle East and desires Ankara to have a far more influential role in world politics.  Inspired by France24 ow.ly/iuWZ0 Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/iuX5X Jihad not to be confused with terrorism (March 31 2013)

 

Ahmet Davutoglu the 54 year old Turkish Foreign Minister, former political scientist, academic Professor and an ambassador at large has stated that “’Jihad’ not to be confused with terrorism”. In an article on France 24 reports that Davutoglu told a business conference in Istanbul, the idea of jihad should not be confused with terrorism adding that the notion is often misunderstood by American “neo-cons and pro-Israelis”.  There is no connection between jihad and terrorism, adding that suggestions to the contrary come from American neo-cons and Israelis. “’Jihad’ is the name of fighting for our honour, if required, but above all it means fighting against one’s own limitations,” Davutoglu said at a business conference entitled “Turkey in light of international developments, 2013” at the headquarters of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association. “For us, jihad is a sacred notion; let us not taint this notion by using it like neo-cons and pro-Israelis in America,” Davutoğlu said, while condemning an opposition party deputy who asked the Turkish government on its policy regarding the jihadist movement in Syria at a Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting on Feb15. Wikipedia states Davutoglu was granted a title of ambassador in 2003 by the joint decision of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Abdullah Gül. His publications include Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory, and his book Strategic Depth is a very influential book in Turkey’s foreign policy orientation. He is very influential in the military, academic, and government triangle shaping Turkish foreign policy. Davutoglu was one of the leading actors on behalf of the Turkish government during the shuttle diplomacy for the settlement of 2008 Israel–Gaza conflict. He has since called for Turkey to become more than just a regional power within Europe and the Middle East and desires Ankara to have a far more influential role in world politics.

 

Inspired by France24 ow.ly/iuWZ0 Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/iuX5X

John Owen Brennan the 57 year old American chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama whose responsibilities include overseeing plans to protect the country from terrorism and respond to natural disasters has been nominated to fill the position of CIA Director on the resignation of General Petraeus resulting from his affair with his biographer. In an article published in Wired titled ‘If You Thought Obama’s Drone Godfather Was Powerful, Wait ‘Til He’s at the CIA’ Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman states “If confirmed by the Senate to lead the CIA, John Brennan … will be clothed in immense power. He’s already an architect of the CIA’s accelerated counterterrorism campaign, the one that launches drone strikes at suspected terrorists around the world. From his perch at the White House, Brennan has been a major advocate for the CIA, perhaps more effectively than the men running Langley, thanks to his close relationship with Obama. …By putting Brennan at the CIA and former Senator Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon, Obama’s national security predilections come into focus: aggressive but secretive wars with minimal troop and logistics footprints, matched with winding down the long slog in Afghanistan. …Brennan suddenly looks like the most powerful member of Obama’s national security team. Hagel looks like he may face a tough confirmation fight, and in any event is new to the Pentagon, a management challenge like no other. …“Brennan is The Guy now,” Zegart notes. “There’s no more important asset, coming into the head of the agency, than having that kind of trust of the president. Brennan is possibly unique in that respect: I can’t remember an incoming CIA director with that kind of relationship with the president.”” Inspired by Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, Wired ow.ly/gGS16 Image source White House ow.ly/gGROp Will be clothed in immense power (January 14 2013)

John Owen Brennan the 57 year old American chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama whose responsibilities include overseeing plans to protect the country from terrorism and respond to natural disasters has been nominated to fill the position of CIA Director on the resignation of General Petraeus resulting from his affair with his biographer. In an article published in Wired titled ‘If You Thought Obama’s Drone Godfather Was Powerful, Wait ‘Til He’s at the CIA’ Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman states “If confirmed by the Senate to lead the CIA, John Brennan … will be clothed in immense power. He’s already an architect of the CIA’s accelerated counterterrorism campaign, the one that launches drone strikes at suspected terrorists around the world. From his perch at the White House, Brennan has been a major advocate for the CIA, perhaps more effectively than the men running Langley, thanks to his close relationship with Obama. …By putting Brennan at the CIA and former Senator Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon, Obama’s national security predilections come into focus: aggressive but secretive wars with minimal troop and logistics footprints, matched with winding down the long slog in Afghanistan. …Brennan suddenly looks like the most powerful member of Obama’s national security team. Hagel looks like he may face a tough confirmation fight, and in any event is new to the Pentagon, a management challenge like no other. …“Brennan is The Guy now,” Zegart notes. “There’s no more important asset, coming into the head of the agency, than having that kind of trust of the president. Brennan is possibly unique in that respect: I can’t remember an incoming CIA director with that kind of relationship with the president.””

 

Inspired by Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, Wired ow.ly/gGS16 Image source White House ow.ly/gGROp

Viktor Bout the 43 year old former officer of the Soviet Air Force dubbed the ‘Merchant of Death’ has been extradited from Thailand to the USA to face charges of arms dealing and terrorism that carry potential 25 years to life imprisonment sentences. Evidence against Bout was gathered during a sting operation during which an arsenal of weapons including surface to air missiles, armor piercing rocket launchers, AK47s, ammunition and landmines where offered for sale to agents purporting to be Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces a designated foreign terrorist organization and the world’s largest supplier of cocaine. Bout built his arms business in the early part of the 1990s as the former Soviet Union disintegrated.

Political Arts | Ian Bunn Visual Artist

My digital art work is essentially politics and art. It’s about iconic people, places and events of our day.  Recorded visually through daily compilations of manipulated digital images, posted online and disseminated via online media and social networks. The works are diaristic in nature that metaphorically record a spectator’s experience of the contemporary digital age.  The resulting work intentionally has a painterly aesthetic acknowledging my historical painting practice.

Adapting Pop Art’s notion of mass media imagery into a context of the contemporary digital age, the work draws on a myriad points of reference. Utilizing fractured images to provide an allusion to the digital noise pounding away daily into our sub consciousness.  The work is essentially popular culture arts, diverging from the traditional Pop Art notion of a pronounced repetition of a consumer icon, instead this work focuses on the deluge of contemporary digital content. The compilation of the fragmented imagery is vividly distractive, not unlike cable surfing or a jaunt through Times Square.

This digital photo manipulation art work is premised on the basis that Pop art in its beginnings, freeze-framed what consumers of popular culture experienced into iconic visual abstractions. With the advent of the techno age, visual information circulates in such quantities, so rapidly and exponentially, that to comprehend a fraction of it all becomes a kind of production process in itself.  Hence this work considers fragmented elements of Popular Culture through an artistic and conceptual exploration of specific people and events of the day.

www.ianbunn.com

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