Author: M Barbu

Another Foreign Policy Mistake: Current view towards Africa

Why the Reactionary US Policy in Africa is a Mistake

The December 2022 African Leaders Summit in Washington, which brought together leaders and senior officials from 49 African states, and CEOs and leaders of over 300 private American and African companies to discuss US-Africa relations and to catalyze investment into critical sectors was supposed to be a turning point for the US policy in the continent. Indeed, consequent statements from the White House indicated a shift away from the traditional security-oriented approach to the 54 African states, and a refocus on a more cooperative approach, as well as a comprehensive policy on anti-corruption measures, democracy building, strengthening of the civil society, and economic development. Indeed, the Biden administration, unveiling a new policy, promised engagement with the various African state, rather than a limited focus on a few select partnerships, and seemed interested in diplomatic, political, and investment-based focus on a range of topics from peacebuilding to health to education. Indeed, on the surface, some of the dynamic leading up to these promised changes appeared to be positive. The appointment of the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa showed apparent interest in mediating prolonged conflicts, playing a role in addressing or preventing refugee crises, and otherwise delving into the strategic issues proliferating in the region. President Biden announced an Africa tour scheduled for later in 2023.

Saudi-Egypt tension rises

Speculation is growing about a crisis between Saudi Arabia and Egypt manifested in relations between senior figures in both countries. Tension has come to the surface during the serious economic crisis in Egypt since Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago.

Syria: The War Has Not Ended

Another claimant to victory [for ending the war in Syria] was Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who managed to milk the European Union cow to the tune of $5 billion while seizing control of enough Syrian oilfields and mines to ensure a steady revenue stream in what amounts to international robbery.

Memorialistica hagiografică a domnului Virgil Măgureanu

(Note de lectură la Lavinia Betea, Virgil Măgureanu, „Ce s-a întâmplat de fapt / Un dialog despre perioada postdecembristă”,Editura RAO, București 2022). Sunt, de peste patru decenii, un observator atent , consecvent, uneori critic, dar sincer pasionat, al operei și manifestărilor publice ale domnului Virgil Măgureanu.

On the Third World Colonialism

Bryan Pfaffenberger and his stock are continuing the Western traditions of confusing or at the least misunderstanding the life in South Asia, its various nations and cultures, as also the values, and make much ado about the ‘Fourth World Colonialism’.1 We are to encounter many apparitions which the myth-making of the Western scholarship has unleashed in the conceptual forms of the ‘Aryan’, ‘Dravidian’, ‘Hindu’, ‘Hindustan’, ‘Indian Nationhood’ and the like, and the communalisation of the subcontinent’s politics on the basis of these fantasies.

Can Europe Survive This Moment?

A new-old ghost is hovering over Europe—war. The most violent continent in the world in terms of the number of deaths caused by warfare during the last 100 years (not to go back any further and include the deaths suffered by Europe during religious wars and the deaths inflicted by Europeans on peoples subjected to colonialism) is heading for a new war.

Who believes the Nord Stream sabotage denial?

The exposure has been denied by the Empire. But does anyone believe the denial? Not today, none. People across the world have come across such denials many times, and each time all the denials turned out as lies.

Libye: un premier pas franchi sur la question des mercenaires et des combattants étrangers

Après deux jours de réunion au Caire, le comité militaire libyen s’est mis d’accord, mercredi 8 février, sur un mécanisme d’échange d’informations et de coordination au sujet des mercenaires et des combattants étrangers présents sur le sol libyen. C’est la première fois que ce comité militaire, composé de cinq hauts-gradés des différents camps opposés en Libye, se réunit sous l’égide du Sénégalais Abdoulaye Bathily, nommé émissaire des Nations unies dans le pays l’été dernier. Des représentants du Niger, du Tchad et du Soudan ont été associés à la réunion et ont exprimé leur volonté de collaborer à ces efforts.