According a to statement by CENTCOM, the US military command in the region, waves of land-based and carrier-borne fighter jets (including, for the first time in combat, the stealthy F-22 Raptor), armed Reaper and Predator drones and 47 cruise missiles, launched from guided missile destroyers in the Red Sea and the Gulf, pounded IS targets.
It has also unleashed a new scramble for oil, minerals and cropland that is accelerating deforestation and fuelling a new wave of land conflicts from Colombia to Chile.
The activities of US-based Herakles Capital in Cameroon provide a stark example of the dangers of the new wave of land acquisitions in Africa, and the growing opposition they face.
In recent weeks, Mr. Lugo has already faced a growing wave of land invasions that his administration believes are part of a campaign led by opposition politicians to destabilize the nascent government.
Two Vietnamese firms bankrolled by Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation – the World Bank's private lending arm – are leading a wave of land grabs in Cambodia and Laos, causing widespread evictions, illegal logging and food insecurity, according to a report.
The staggering wave of land invasions that followed was, many experts and critics say, a naked effort to intimidate opposition, and with presidential elections due early next year, the tactics have persisted and even spread.
The article it wrote last week was remarkable in several respects: in its elision of the interests of African leaders and those of their people, in its exaggeration of the role of small African companies, but above all in failing even to mention the injustice at the heart of the New Alliance – its promotion of a new wave of land grabbing.
The long-term future of forested lands in New Zealand is also coming under scrutiny as forests that were established by the NZFS in the first wave of land treatment continue to be harvested.
The current global wave of land acquisition – variously debated as land grabbing or investment in land – is promoted by the World Bank and the FAO as creating win win-situations for local populations and investors alike.
Then it was not – the Industrial Revolution spread waves of bland across the land.
