Month: September 2022

Putin Makes Civilizationalism Fashionable, Dugin Puts Flesh On Its Skeleton – Analysis

Russian President Vladimir Putin has inspired civilisationalist leaders to emerge from the woodwork and publicly define their states as civilisational rather than national entities.

These leaders speak of civilisational or ethnic worlds with borders that transcend national frontiers, not nation-states. How far they may wish to push claims that challenge the nation-state-based international order is likely to be heavily influenced by whether Mr. Putin achieves his civilisationalist goals in Ukraine.

Why the Russian Third Army Corps Won’t Do a Damn Thing to Help the Motherland

The Wisdom of Rummy

Almost 20 years ago, in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I had the opportunity to meet the late Donald Rumsfeld. Say about him what you will, but he was great with the troops and, despite being the US Secretary of Defense, spoke to us all well and treated us as equals. He came off as “one of the guys” and didn’t want any special perks. He even tried to wave off a personal security detail (PSD) as he insisted on walking a few hundred meters to a large outdoor speaking engagement. He indeed walked, PSD alert and close by, chatting with soldiers the entire time.

Jihadisme : le Mali de Goïta en plein déni

Maintenant que l’armée française s’est complètement retirée du pays, il va être difficile d’imputer à l’ancien colonisateur les revers des soldats de Bamako et l’avancée des groupes jihadistes.

Avec une poignée de mercenaires russes, la junte malienne doit désormais assumer ses responsabilités alors que les Casques bleus sont progressivement mis sur la touche et que la Cedeao est en train d’assouplir son train de sanctions économiques. La récente attaque menée contre le camp de Kati, à moins de 20 km de la capitale, n’est guère rassurante à cet égard.

Avoiding the Abyss as War Resumes in Northern Ethiopia

War rages – again – in northern Ethiopia. The resumption of conflict on 24 August between the federal military, forces from the Amhara region, which borders Tigray, and Eritrean troops, on one side, and Tigray forces, on the other, marks the breach of a roughly nine-month truce that had largely halted some of the world’s deadliest fighting. The return to blows is a setback for a struggling peace process and strenuous efforts to get food to millions of besieged Tigrayans. Although it is unclear exactly why combat restarted or whether either side planned a sustained campaign, both immediately escalated, with a Tigrayan offensive to the south into Amhara and a joint Ethiopian-Eritrean incursion into Tigray from the north. Sustained full-blown hostilities would mean prolongation of a likely unwinnable war, creating more mass suffering. Instead, the Ethiopian parties must renew the truce and overcome the obstacles that have impeded the beginning of formal talks. Concerted high-level pressure by donors, many of whom have been distracted by the Ukraine crisis, will likely be vital to any breakthrough.

Ukraine’s Azov Battalion: Neo-Nazis or Russian Propaganda?

The infamous Ukrainian right-wing extremist Azov Battalion – Полк Азов – was founded on the 5th of May 2014, in the port city of Berdyansk, in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast province in South-eastern Ukraine near the Sea of Azov. Hence, its name. Initially was set up as a voluntary militia in the turmoil of the Euromaidan protests and the subsequent political instability of the country, Asov rose to prominence. Asov-men operated against the illegal armed intrusion by Russia into Donbass and Crimea. The co-founder and the first leader of the Azov Battalion is Ukrainian Andriy Biletsky.