May be one of the most inconceivable outcomes of the year is a total sum of expenditures on the most expensive one-time campaign in the History, the war on terror, publicized for the first time. The cost of the Afghan-Iraqi safari for Ben Laden exceeded US$ 1.5 trillion. By the way, the cost of the Vietnamese Campaign totaled US$ 536 billion. And the point is not that the today’s universal Antichrist is thrice more evil than the yesterday’s communist. Just, they used to fight there where the war is paid better.

Quite possible that the death toll of the Iraqi campaign is already 15 thousand (versus official 3875), inclusive of suicides and others who failed to overcome the post-war syndrome. By the way, the insurance market is only the fourth after the energy, drug and weapon ones. And it is the most “patient” market so far - US$ 200 thousand for a plastic bag. By the way, the statements of the Ben-Evil himself periodically placed in Internet seem less and less believable in details and features. Even his Kalashnikov vanished somewhere. Is there any lack of accessories in the Hollywood?

It seems that one man decides for everybody what is good and what is bad. It is good for him that the Middle East remains a traditional energy focus of the Globe. The current war is a form of a long-term control over the strategic energy transit. Moreover, in 2007, in spite of US 91.5 per barrel, the crude production in the Gulf Area reached pre-Saddam 46.7% of the world production. Unlike Santa Claus Ben Laden had no chance to be born in Lapland.

The world market demand vector is shifting eastwards. Lo and behold! Here is a surprise with a historical preface. The Big Far East War started in the 30-s of the XX century with a Japanese ultimatum to China. Sharklike cruisers protruded through the hieroglyphic diplomacy of the note. In November 2007, for the first time in the newer history a Chinese warship visited Japan. Simultaneously, Beijing denied clearance to a US aircraft carrier to be a guest to Hong Kong. The Pacific is becoming equilibrium of the Atlantics. With its own world peaks or icebergs.

By the way, we also have our own ice-free access to them. Japan on the one hand and China on the other hand for the first time raised an issue of end-to-end energy system Central Asia – Siberia – Far East that is actually isolated from the Arab – Gulf space. A potential of total supplies exceeds the capacity of our Eurotransit Route 2.5-fold. And it is mainly due to this transit route the domestic stabilization fund increased in 2007 by US$ 150 billion. China, Japan and South Korea are ready to pay each – the same money. But without any competition bustle. Alack! The domestic Foreign Ministry used to look at the Smolensk Road. Meanwhile, the NATO bulldozer is coolly and steadily approaching it.

Brainwashed with the ideas of our European origin, we like zombies hang back and grizzle there where it is necessary to maintain our historical strategic energy linkage that by the way does not restrain our double-head-eagle ambitions. Maintain it with those who respect us, who agree with the Trans-Baltic Pipeline and who do not demolish our monuments. Otherwise the West will help us as usual with the arms race. Moreover, a worldwide weapon market, the third one in capacity, also for the first time in the history reached five hundred billion Dollars.

What negotiations are we speaking about if the NATO potential is equal to 70% of the world military expenditures and 80% of R&D expenditures? Transition to the fifth generation of weapons for all three spheres expected already in 2008 – 2010 makes the logic of all preceding CFE/ABM/INF Treaties senseless – other weapons offer other capabilities. Herefrom – other objectives. We cannot evade the logic of the XXI century, but watching our caricature-like contention with NATO with Dmitry Rogozin playing any role in this process, a key question arises: “Didn’t the power go gaga?”

If it didn’t, would it be better to turn towards the main evil that impends not from the West but from the South? It is strange that records of Afghan drag trafficking did evoke neither universal nor Great Patriotic anxiety. By 2007, the amount of heavy drugs cultivated here has increased from the NY “ground zero” 17-fold and reached 85% of the world production. Every 7-th gram of heroin either travels through Russia or settles here.

Narcotization of the “before-Urals” areas is compatible with chinization of the “behind-Urals” areas. Alack! The efforts to solve these two problems simultaneously by canalizing the migration wave (400 thousand in stead of 4 million applicants) from Central Asia to the Far East will remain Merry Christmas wishes, task of new president or again “crawler” of news market-2008…