NATO’s former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Retired Four-star General Wesley Clark, stated that Putin’s goal was to obtain Ukraine, the Baltic states, and control over Eastern Europe during an interview with CNN last April 3.
As Ukraine continues to liberate areas north of Kyiv, global audiences are being confronted by shocking photo and video evidence of crimes against humanity. Weeks spent under Russian occupation have transformed the once sleepy suburbs of the Ukrainian capital into a vast killing field. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Putin’s invasion force has committed war crimes that echo the worst excesses of the totalitarian twentieth century.
Tunisia’s president further cemented his hold on power this week as US lawmakers urged the Biden administration to scrutinize its security aid to the country.
The Biden administration has proposed cutting US military aid to Tunisia by nearly half as the North African country’s leadership continues on the path toward authoritarianism.
Shocking pictures from the Ukrainian town of Bucha and accusations of Russian war crimes are building pressure for more sanctions against Moscow. A key potential target: Russian oil and natural gas, and the $850 million that European importers pay for those supplies every day.
Moscow faced global revulsion and accusations of war crimes Monday after the Russian pullout from the outskirts of Kyiv revealed streets, buildings and yards strewn with corpses of what appeared to be civilians, many of them evidently killed at close range.
Below is a visualization and description of some of the most significant incidents of political violence in Nigeria from March 26 to April 1, 2022. This update also represents violence related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. These incidents will be included in the Nigeria Security Tracker.
How an Old Map Distorts a New Reality
In early December 2021, the Ethiopian government pulled off a dramatic reversal in its yearlong civil war with rebels from the Tigray region. Armed with a new arsenal of drones and other forms of military support from Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ethiopian forces were able to push back an offensive by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, which itself was supported by Somali fighters, who were in turn backed by Qatar.
Last week, United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned that Russia may have committed war crimes in Ukraine, pointing to credible evidence that it had used cluster munitions in populated areas as well as other indiscriminate attacks. Her warning took on even more resonance over the weekend, when reports emerged of Russian forces having committed summary executions of civilian men in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
“For China… the Ukrainian crisis provided a unique opportunity to increase its access to Russia’s natural resources, particularly gas, gain contracts for infrastructure projects and new markets for Chinese technology, and turn Russia into a junior partner in the relationship between the two countries.” — Report by the European Council on Foreign Relations, February 2015.
The goal is “strategic autonomy” — the ability for the EU to act independently of, and as a counterweight to, the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — in matters of defense and security.
The key component of the Strategic Compass is the development of a so-called EU Rapid Deployment Capacity (RDC), a military force able to intervene in “non-permissive environments” anywhere in the world.