Month: August 2022

Biden Signals Policy Reset, but African Leaders Must Meet Washington Halfway

In both spirit and language, the newly launched Biden administration’s Africa strategy illustrates the shift in the diplomatic mood in the four years since National Security Advisor John Bolton announced the Trump administration’s Africa policy. Consistent with the temper of the time, Trump’s Africa strategy emphasized three principles: prosperity, security, and stability. If there was one overriding military objective to be achieved, it was “countering the threat from radical Islamic terrorism and violent conflict.”

China and Russia—With Help from Biden—Attack the Dollar

Russia and China have launched another attempt to develop a “new global reserve currency.” In other words, they are again attacking the dollar.

There is only one country that can dethrone the dollar, and it is not a BRICS nation. It is the United States. President Joe Biden is China’s and Russia’s biggest ally in “dedollarizing” the world.

Erdogan, Putin, and the Complicated History Between Turkey and Russia

Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan have had a love-hate relationship over the decades, but their ties are undeniably strong.

The Russian and Turkish presidents have also become known for their antagonistic relationship, particularly when it comes to geopolitics. While both leaders have been accused of clamping down on civil liberties at home, they’ve also positioned themselves as world leaders who can stand up to Western liberal democracies. The tension between these two men is not new, however.

What a US military base in Poland may signal for NATO

The United States is planning a permanent military base in Poland, its first in Eastern Europe. This comes as President Joe Biden has told U.S. troops temporarily deployed to Poland earlier this year that they were “in the midst of a fight between democracies and oligarchs.”

The Al-Qaeda Chief’s Death and Its Implications

What do we know about Zawahiri’s death?

On 2 August, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. had killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul on the morning of 31 July. The U.S. said it had discovered that Zawahiri had returned to the Afghan capital with his family in the spring of 2022, after more than two decades in hiding (as early as 1998, he was wanted for his alleged role in al-Qaeda’s bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that year). Much of this time, he was widely thought to be sheltering somewhere near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. U.S. officials said the CIA had been watching the safe house in an upmarket district of Kabul, where the al-Qaeda leader was staying for several months, before proceeding with a precision drone strike. The Taliban have not explicitly acknowledged Zawahiri’s death beyond stating that they had no information about his arrival and stay in the capital.

Three Tech Lessons To Take From the Russia-Ukraine War

The world continues to watch Ukrainians defend the sovereignty of their motherland against the Russian aggressors to the death.

Although Russian offensives have a wide range of arsenals at their disposal, it’s clear as day how they have poorly assumed the abilities of the Ukrainian force, as well as its general population’s reception and protests—not to mention the strong support Ukraine has been receiving from the West.

On Controversial Ship’s Visit To Sri Lanka, China Says It Is ‘Senseless’ To Invoke ‘Security Concerns’ – Analysis

China says that Sri Lanka has the “sovereign” right to decide on the visit of the tracking ship Yuan Wang 5 without interference from third parties

The Chinese Foreign Ministry told the media in Beijing on Monday, that it is “senseless” to invoke “security concerns” to “pressure” Sri Lanka to deny entry to Chinese ships that are carrying out legitimate tasks.