Author: M Barbu

Jihadism in Tunisia: A Receding Threat?

What’s new? As the threat of jihadist violence recedes in Tunisia, some of the counter-terrorist measures put in place in 2013 are eroding social cohesion and undermining citizens’ trust in the country’s institutions.

Why does it matter? These government measures have the potential to drive up the number of jihadist attacks, and in worsening socio-economic conditions they could exacerbate crime and urban unrest.

Lost limbs, rising anger as town is caught up in Tigray war

Shops remained shuttered, some government workers hadn’t been paid and the town’s main hospital was utterly laid to waste. But the Tigrayan fighters still claimed victory, swaggering through the streets of Hawzen with their guns.

It wouldn’t last long.

Hawzen, a rural town in the ethnic Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, is a microcosm of the challenge facing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — and a warning that the war here is unlikely to end anytime soon. When The Associated Press arrived in May, Tigrayan fighters had recently retaken Hawzen from Ethiopian government troops, laying claim once again to land that has switched control multiple times since the war began in November.

The complexity of German – Serbian historic relations

Today, Germany is a major investor in Serbia and has a significant impact on strengthening the Serbian economy. Suffice it to say that 75,000 workers work in German companies in Serbia. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has repeatedly stated in public that in a few years the number of Serbian workers in German companies in Serbia will exceed 100,000. These are data that inspire hope for the economic strengthening of Serbia, but also for the establishment of stronger cooperation between Serbia and Germany. Especially having in mind the history of German-Serbian relations.

The Imperial geopolitics is facing challenge

Developments on the world stage are stunning. Almost every day, geopolitical incidents and moves are appearing magical.

The developments are challenging the Empire’s geopolitics in regions. Months ago, the Empire gave an impression that it’ll regain ground whatever has been lost, prestige that slipped down from its crown. Immediate moves were taken, at least for public view. Those were image-rebuilding moves, and some other “things”.

Putin says US threats smack of Soviet Union’s fatal mistakes

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the United States was wrong to think that it is “powerful enough” to get away with threatening other countries, a mistake, he said, that led to the downfall of the former Soviet Union.

Putin made the comments during a press briefing late on Friday as he spoke about U.S. sanctions against Moscow, according to Russia’s news agency TASS.

Nigerian Government Accuses Twitter of Supporting Secessionists

The U.S. company deleted a message from the Nigerian president who warned protesters to remember the country’s civil war in 1967.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on Wednesday accused Twitter of having double standards and supporting the secessionists in Nigeria.

Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed took a swipe at Twitter after it deleted a tweet by Buhari who issued a warning to protesters in Nigeria.

“We have a country to rule, and we will do so to the best of our ability. Twitter’s mission in Nigeria is very suspect, they have an agenda. The mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very suspicious,” Mohammed said.

In the deleted tweet, Buhari had made a reference to the country’s 30-month civil war in 1967-1970, warning “those who wanted the government to fail” to desist from fomenting trouble.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigeria civil war. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Buhari tweeted on Tuesday night.

Twitter deleted his post on Wednesday, following criticisms from some netizens. However, Mohammed questioned the rule of Twitter.

“Twitter may have its own rules, it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President, anywhere in the world feels very bad and concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views,” he said, adding that the social networking service had overlooked the tweets of leading secessionists in Nigeria.

“When people were burning police stations and killing policemen in Nigeria during End SARS, a decentralized social movement, for Twitter, it was about the right to protest. But when a similar thing happened in the United States, it became insurrection,” Mohammed said.

Denmark’s Ex Minister Denies Responsibility in Spying Scandal

Margrethe Vestager said that while she was Interior Minister her responsibilities did not include overseeing the activities of Danish intelligence services.

On Thursday, European Commission (EC) Vice President Margrethe Vestager explained that while she was Denmark’s Interior Minister, she was not responsible for overseeing her country’s intelligence services, which allegedly collaborated with the United States to spy on other European countries.

Eritrea Goes From Pariah State to Regional Powerbroker

In early May, when Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki visited Sudan, the official objective of the trip was to strengthen bilateral ties within a regional framework. The visit nevertheless raised eyebrows. It came on the heels of Eritrea’s military participation in Ethiopia’s civil war in Tigray region, and also at a time of rising tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and a border dispute involving areas near Tigray, among other issues. Unofficially, local observers have suggested that Eritrea may seek a role in mediating between Ethiopia and Sudan.

Germany’s—and the West’s—Insufficient Reckoning With the Herero Genocide

A decade ago, while researching a book about Chinese migration to Africa, I made an extended stay in Namibia, then one of a small number of African countries I had never visited in a lifetime of writing about the continent.

To get to know the place as well as I could, I rented a car and drove with my brother, James, throughout much of the country, a land more than twice the size of Germany. The reference here is appropriate, because it was Germany, a relative latecomer to European imperialism in Africa, that colonized Namibia toward the close of the 19th century.