Spring Break in Mexico 2013: Security Risks and Travel Tips

Nothing in the behavior of Mexican cartels indicates that they would consciously keep tourists out of the line of fire or away from the gruesome displays of their murder victims. Violence related to the cartels is spreading, and while tourists may not be directly targeted, they can be caught in the crossfire or otherwise find themselves in situations where their security is compromised. Transnational criminal organizations, it should be remembered, are more than just drug traffickers: They participate in extortion, robbery, rape and carjackings. And where cartels are violently targeting each other, local gangs can take advantage of law enforcement's resulting distraction to commit crimes of their own.

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Egypt: A Conservative Perspective

Here is a selection from several sources (I've met all but one) that can solve a need for perspective from a conservative point of view:

SULTAN KNISH: The Fall of the Strongmen

STRATFOR: The Egyptian Unrest: A Special Report

THE NEVILLE AWARDS: State of the Union - Obama Fiddles While the Middle East Burns

GATEWAY PUNDIT/Ari David: Egypt Is The New Iran

War?

Tensions in the Middle East are moving well beyond the normal point, and given everything that is happening, events are moving to a point where someone is likely to take military action.

A Mystery in the Middle East

George Friedman, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert in security and intelligence issues relating to national security, information warfare and computer security. He is founder, chairman and Chief Intelligence Officer of STRATFOR, (Strategic Forecasting Inc.) a private intelligence company that provides customized intelligence services for its clients and provides an internationally acclaimed Web site, www.stratfor.com, that analyzes and forecasts trends in world affairs. Friedman’s column, Intelligence Brief, is syndicated by Tribune Media Services.