Reflectii

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.

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May 3, 2023
9:00 am – 10:00 am

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 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.

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.

American Power’s Staying Power

In the 1990s and the early years of this century, the United States’ global dominance could scarcely be questioned. No matter which metric of power one looked at, it showed a dramatic American lead. Never since the birth of the modern state system in the mid-seventeenth century had any country been so far ahead in the military, economic, and technological realms simultaneously. Allied with the United States, meanwhile, were the vast majority of the world’s richest countries, and they were tied together by a set of international institutions that Washington had played the lead role in constructing. The United States could conduct its foreign policy under fewer external constraints than any leading state in modern history. And as dissatisfied as China, Russia, and other aspiring powers were with their status in the system, they realized they could do nothing to overturn it.

Instead, an independent foreign policy is desperately needed—and gaining support.

Recently, the United States has been followed by a number of European countries in supporting a cold war policy toward Russia and China. This has created increasing problems in Europe—bringing a major war to the continent, creating serious economic difficulties, and intensifying a decline in living standards.

Western sanctions against Russia have accelerated the move away from the U.S. dollar worldwide, Stephen Jen, the CEO of London-based asset management company Eurizon, warned on Tuesday.

The dollar’s share in global reserves fell ten times faster last year than over the past two decades, Jen said, as cited by Bloomberg. The process began as some countries started to look for alternatives after seeing Russia’s assets frozen abroad and the country cut off from the global financial messaging system known as SWIFT, according to Jen.

So far, Germany has been the blind spot in discussions over the Nord Stream sabotage. The economic disadvantages to the world’s fourth-largest economy from blasting the pipeline are too great. Of course, no one will seriously assume that the traffic-light coalition in Berlin stands behind the attack.

Vijay Prashad is above all a militant. His intellectual work is an attempt to understand and respond to some of the great challenges of our time. Of Indian origin, this Marxist historian has displayed an intense vital activity that has taken him to numerous countries, always in defense of the cause of humanity.He currently works as executive director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, a task that alternates with his work as a teacher and researcher at various universities, as well as with a prolific work in which we can highlight texts such as The Darker Nations, The Poorer Nations and the most recent The Withdrawal, together with Noam Chomsky.Close to Cuba and Casa de las América, he has a frank and open character, a great conversationalist and a wide culture. I had the pleasure of meeting him personally on a flight back to Havana and from those talks, the idea for this interview arose, which we finally managed to carry out virtually.