Author: M Barbu

Bab el-Mandeb, Gaza, et la géopolitique de la guerre

En 2008, lors d’une visite à Paris, Shimon Perez avait rallié la France à son projet qui devait relier la mer Rouge à la mer Morte. Les médias français avaient surtout retenu son initiative de «Vallée de la paix», ou vallée d’Arava, territoire situé aux confins de la Cisjordanie, de la Jordanie et d’Israël, dont il prétendait faire un exemple de développement partagé avec l’idée que «l’économie peut être le bulldozer de la paix»1. Une idée tellement enthousiasmante qu’elle a fini par laisser croire aux colonisateurs et à leurs associés qu’il suffit de quelques poignées de dollars, pour que les Palestiniens abandonnent leur terre aux sionistes et jettent les clés de leurs foyers transmises de génération en génération. C’est aussi bien le cas des administrations occidentales que des administrateurs «de pays frères qualifiés de pays modérés et/ou normalisateurs», pour lesquels les miettes distribuées avec parcimonie sont des investissements pour encore plus de profits.

Green capitalism is a con

If religion was the opium of the masses in the days of Karl Marx, then today’s drug is the cult of green capitalism. The West has been fooled into thinking that a combination of futuristic green technologies and green growth will save humanity from the climate crisis. As long as we eat our broccoli stalks and refuse plastic bags, we can continue to turn a blind eye to the truth: that the root cause of climate change is capitalism, and that our current way of life will not only lead to ecological collapse, but in doing so exploit the labour and land of the impoverished Global South.

Mapping Disinformation in Africa

Russia has pioneered a model of disinformation to gain political influence in Africa that is now being replicated by other actors across the continent.

Disinformation is the intentional dissemination of false information with the intent of advancing a political objective. Africa has been the increasingly frequent target of such campaigns. In recent years, dozens of carefully designed campaigns have pumped millions of intentionally false and misleading posts into Africa’s online social spaces. The ensuing confusion in deciphering fact from fiction has had a corrosive effect on social trust, critical thinking, and citizens’ ability to engage in politics fairly—the lifeblood of a functioning democracy.

Mossad chief’s warning, Middle East terror, Qatar intrigue, Taiwan jitters and more

Israeli Spy’s Warning: Tamir Pardo, a former director of Mossad, warned Israelis that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extremist” government threatens to destroy the strategic relationship with the United States. In a column on the website of Israel’s Keshet 12 TV channel, Pardo writes, “The great risk for the State of Israel is that, for the first time, Israel may run into a head-on collision with a supreme American national security interest. This irresponsible conduct of the Israeli government and its leader could lead to an existential threat to the Jewish state and also to the Jews of the Diaspora.” Pardo, who has been a strong critic of Netanyahu after he ran the Mossad from 2011 to 2016, says there are clear signs of this looming strategic divorce, and Israelis should take them to heart. “Woe to us if, one morning, the Pentagon and the State Department came out with a statement to Congress and the White House in which it was said that Israel ceased to be an asset to the United States and became a strategic burden!”

IntelBrief: Major Powers Struggle to Deter Houthi Shipping Attacks

The United States and its allies face a shortage of viable options to stop escalating Houthi attacks on commercial shipping and other targets.

Houthi attacks have caused several large commercial shipping firms to avoid Red Sea routes, putting pressure on the United States and its allies to respond to the rebel movement more forcefully.

A new U.S.-led coalition maritime mission, Operation Prosperity Guardian, might help better counter Houthi attacks but still may not deter the group’s aggression.

IntelBrief: Mideast Crisis Puts Anti-ISIS Mission at Risk

Iran-backed groups in Iraq have contributed to Hamas’ battle against Israel by attacking U.S. forces that continue to lead a broad coalition effort to defeat the Islamic State organization (ISIS).

U.S. retaliatory attacks on Iraqi militia facilities and leaders are increasing pressure on the Baghdad government to drive out U.S. troops.

Qatar – the backdoor to terror weaponization

It is no secret that Qatar is currently the third largest importer of weapons and ammunition world-wide. Qatar has endless resources and can afford to buy as many weapons as she wants. The thing is, that there are three major reasons, why this should not happen, at least not is this volume. First and foremost, Qatar is a very small country, with only 2.5-3 million population, Qatar should not be found amongst the top ten weapons importers. Surely, the fact that Qatari forces are mainly African mercenaries should be a contributing fact. Secondly, Qatar’s security is fully covered by the US, who keeps her regional air base in this little Emirate just to make sure it will survive, so why do they need to invest billions in weaponry. Third, and quite interesting, Qatar has been viewed as a hub of terror organizations, funding them and providing them with shelter and top-level connections. This includes El-Qaida, al-Nusra Front, Hamas and ISIS, and strong ideological ties with the Taliban. With all that in mind, it is more than intriguing, that many weapons suppliers stand in line to sell to Al-Thani and his armed forces, whatever they wish for.

Qatar – solution or problem!?

Qatar seems to be the “go-to guy” for almost anything important going on in the last few months, especially over the last weeks. The influence of the Emir Tamim Bin Hadad Al-Thani has grown completely out of proportion, and for a good reason: Qatar invests heavily in the Western world, in the democratic strongholds of Europe, in industry as well as media. On the other hand, Qatar invests massively in Salafi institutions and entities, terror organizations and fundamentalistic clerics and opinionmakers. Qatar is not only holding the stick at both ends, it owns the stick. In a time of crisis, there seems to be no-one else you can trust, or can you!?