Author: M Barbu

Redefining the African Union’s utility

As it turns 20, hard questions are being asked about the AU’s authority to resolve security challenges in Africa.

February’s African Union (AU) summit was symbolic in several ways. It was held in person in Addis Ababa after nearly two years of online meetings due to COVID-19, signalling a growing confidence in the management of the pandemic. For Ethiopian authorities, the summit was an opportunity to show the government’s control over the fragile security situation in the country.

Biden’s China ‘pivot’ complicated by Russia’s war in Ukraine

President Joe Biden set out to finally complete the “pivot to Asia,” a long-sought adjustment of U.S. foreign policy to better reflect the rise of America’s most significant military and economic competitor: China.

But Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has made that vexing move even more complicated. China’s government has vacillated between full embrace and more measured responses as Russian President Vladimir Putin prosecutes his war, making the decisions for Biden far more layered.

How Great Power Rivalries Are Putting South Asian States In Difficult Positions?

The Quad-China rivalry and ‘scramble’ for Indo-Pacific have made the region, especially South Asia, geopolitically significant within a few years. For the last two decades, the region had the least priority in the US foreign policy as it was busy with its costly Middle East policy. But after the rise of China, the region has become important to the US foreign policy to ‘contain’ China.

Ukrainian Counterattacks Compound Russia’s Military Problem

Russian warships bombarded targets near Odesa Wednesday morning, possibly as a part of a buildup to an attack on the Ukrainian port city. But some military strategists say Russian forces are struggling to hold territory they have seized and have suffered some serious reversals in fierce skirmishes elsewhere that will likely delay an assault on Odesa.

How War In Ukraine Is Reverberating Across World’s Regions – Analysis

eyond the suffering and humanitarian crisis from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the entire global economy will feel the effects of slower growth and faster inflation.

Impacts will flow through three main channels. One, higher prices for commodities like food and energy will push up inflation further, in turn eroding the value of incomes and weighing on demand. Two, neighboring economies in particular will grapple with disrupted trade, supply chains, and remittances as well as an historic surge in refugee flows. And three, reduced business confidence and higher investor uncertainty will weigh on asset prices, tightening financial conditions and potentially spurring capital

Will Erdogan draw lessons from Putin’s Ukraine mistakes?

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan watches Russian forces flounder in Ukraine, he may be rethinking his own ambitions — or concluding that Turkey is in a better spot than ever.

Turkey’s diplomatic isolation was the focus of excited punditry in recent years. But today, Ankara is running out of red carpet as a deluge of foreign dignitaries knock at its door.