Reflectii

IN DISORDER, THEY THRIVE: HOW
RURAL DISTRESS FUELS MILITANCY
AND BANDITRY IN THE CENTRAL SAHEL

The central Sahel — Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger — has changed dramatically since the armed insurgencies that emerged in northern Mali in 2012. The resulting deterioration in security has been worse and more far reaching than anything experienced by the region in recent times. Aggressive extremist organizations, unaccountable community-based armed groups, and criminal gangs have all proliferated, wreaking havoc on populations in the central Sahel countryside.

In-Disorder-They-Thrive-How-Rural-Distress-Fuels-Militancy-and-Banditry-in-the-Central-Sahel_0Download

Dynamics of Radicalizationand Violent Extremism in Kosovo

Summary
• Kosovo, a country with no prior history of religious militancy, has become a prime source of
foreign fighters in the Iraqi and Syrian conflict theater relative to population size.
• About three in four Kosovan adults known to have traveled to Syria and Iraq since 2012 were
between seventeen and thirty years old at the time of their departure. By mid-2016, about
37 percent had returned.
• The vast majority of these known foreign fighters have moderate formal education. In com-
parative terms, this rate appears to be superior to the reported national rate. Two-thirds live
in average or above-average economic circumstances.
• Five municipalities—four of which are near Kosovo’s Macedonian border—judging from their
disproportionately high recruitment and mobilization rate, appear particularly vulnerable to
violent extremism. More than one-third of the Kosovan male combatants originate from these
municipalities, which account for only 14 percent of the country’s population.
• Long-term and targeted radicalization, recruitment, and mobilization efforts by foreign-funded
extremist networks have been primarily active in southern Kosovo and northwestern Macedo-
nia for more than fifteen years. These networks have often been headed by local alumnae of
Middle Eastern religious institutions involved in spreading an ultra-conservative form of Islam
infused with a political agenda.
• Despite substantial improvements in the country’s sociopolitical reality and living conditions
since the 1998–1999 Kosovo War, chronic vulnerabilities have contributed to an environment
conducive to radicalization.
• Frustrated expectations, the growing role of political Islam as a core part of identity in some
social circles, and group dynamics appear to be the telling drivers of radicalization, recruit-
ment, and mobilization in Kosovo.

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Les nouvelles monnaies d’un futur monde multipolaire

« Le dollar c’est notre monnaie et votre problème. » (John Connelly, secrétaire d’État à l’Économie)

« Quand tout est troublé, que l’avenir est imprévisible et inquiétant, la « relique barbare », moquée par lord Keynes, retrouve l’attrait qu’elle a toujours eu en période de dangers. L’or redevient l’ancre de la sécurité. » (Eric le Boucher, Les Échos, janvier 2010)

South Sudan’s Fragile Peace Imperiled By Chaos Across The Border In Sudan – Analysis

The government of South Sudan has expressed deep concern over the fighting in neighboring Sudan, which it fears could spill across the border and threaten its fragile peace process.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group in Khartoum has raised concerns about the potential for a full-fledged civil war, which could affect neighboring South Sudan.

How America Is Erasing The Arab Identity – OpEd

The US House of Representatives passed legislation last month to include the Middle East and North Africa as a category in the Uniform Racial Classification Act, which requires state agencies to compile and report statistical data using racial classifications, thus effectively defining which groups are recognized and which are not.

Multilateralism At Dead End? Forthcoming Geopolitical Chessboard And Necessity For Revival Of Diplomacy – Analysis

Foreseeable crises

It was around ten years back, when more and more experts started sharing and discussing the argument that we are heading towards a global crisis of international cooperation, of dialogue, of collective action and responsibility, of confidence and trust; a global crisis of multilateralism. Sadly enough, this analysis and assessment has been confirmed by now. There is almost universal consensus that we are in a period of high geopolitical tensions, multiple insecurities, in a shift, often reversal of former global paradigms, and a perceived paralysis of previous conflict prevention and conflict resolution mechanisms. German Chancellor Scholz, in his ear-catching speech of 27 February 2022, called it a Zeitenwende, a turning point in history triggered by a war in Europe – war, a grossly illegal means of politics, which was – expressis verbis – presumed “unthinkable” in Europe. A large number of Western political leaders and media commentators echoed that assessment and the “unthinkability of war” in Europe.

Comoros Refuses to Accept Deported Migrants From French Mayotte, Closes Port

Comoros has refused to allow a boat carrying migrants to dock from the French Indian Ocean department Mayotte, where the authorities have announced a controversial operation against illegal migrants.

Comoros decided to suspended all passenger traffic at the Mutsamudu port on the island of Anjouan, where deported migrants usually land on Anjouan Island, from Monday to Wednesday, after authorities in Mayotte announced Operation Wuambushu (Take back) to remove illegal migrants who have settled in slums on the island.

The US and the War Crimes in the War on Terror

“The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”

– Thucydides, 5th Century BC.

For the past two decades, the International Criminal Court has concentrated on the war crimes and criminals who have operated in Africa. Over the past month, however, the court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner or Children’s Rights. Our own Department of Justice is even considering a federal indictment of Syrian leaders responsible for the torture and execution of an American human rights worker, Layla Shweikani. The war crimes of Syrian President Basher al-Assad are well known, but this would mark the first time that the United States has criminally charged Syrian officials with human rights abuses. There is no indication, however, that the ICC or the Department of Justice will take on the war crimes committed by the United States during its Global War on Terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in New York City and Washington.

Ethiopian Prime Minister to Negotiate With Oromo Forces

On April 25, 2023 the Ethiopian government and Oromo militants will meet at the negotiating table in Tanzania.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that two events will happen this week. First, “all regional states presidents will travel to Mekelle” to help cement the peace agreement reached in Pretoria, South Africa in November 2022. Second, the negotiation that will be held with OLF/Shene will start in Tanzania on April 25, 2023.