The middle class in all developed economies is disappearing through a constant process of erosion of its capacity to climb the social ladder. This is happening in the middle of massive so-called stimulus plans, large entitlement programs, endless deficit spending, and “social” programs.
The Pentagon will provide Ukraine with $200 million in weapons and ammunition to help sustain Kyiv’s counteroffensive as troops on the front lines face significant hurdles against a well-entrenched Russian defense, according to two US officials.
Niger’s junta accused France on Wednesday of violating its airspace as part of a broader plan to destabilize the country, ratcheting up rhetoric in a way that left little hope for a swift diplomatic resolution of the crisis there.
Les contradictions commerciales entre Washington et l’UE s’aggravent. La France va annuler l’accord de vente aux Américains d’une entreprise qui fabrique des pièces pour les réacteurs nucléaires. Il s’agit apparemment d’une réponse aux mesures «discriminatoires» prises par les États-Unis à l’égard de l’Europe.
As the world focuses on Niger and the junta’s standoff with West African states refusing to accept yet another coup d’état in their region, crises further east continue to deteriorate and merit more attention. On August 4, the Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency in Amhara, as clashes between the Amhara nationalist Fano militia and national defense forces escalated. The Ethiopian government’s April announcement that all regional security forces must integrate into the national military or police forces was always an easier-said-than-done exercise. The wartime coalition that Prime Minister Abiy assembled to fight Tigrayan forces has fallen apart, and peace has not delivered the rewards some were clearly expecting, making the prospect of giving up their leverage decidedly unappealing. With the terms of the Tigray peace still not fully implemented and heavy fighting in the city of Gondar, security remains elusive for many Ethiopians.
The Russian State Duma voted to raise the maximum age for conscription from 27 to 30, providing more available manpower for Russia’s war effort. The move will enable the Kremlin to replenish its forces participating in the invasion of Ukraine without initiating another mobilization.
Ongoing fighting in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp may be part of a plan to weaken Fatah and undermine normalization with Israel.
In the past week, fighting erupted in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh near Sidon between Islamist factions and Fatah, after one of Fatah’s military commanders, Abou Ashraf al-Amroushi, was assassinated on July 30. While the fighting was hardly an anomaly, the fact that the head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, Majed Faraj, had visited Lebanon only days before fueled speculation that his visit might have triggered the fighting. Tensions between Hamas, which maintains good relations with Palestinian Islamists, and Fatah have surged in the West Bank and might have impacted the events in Ain al-Hilweh.
Comme tous les mois, nous vous proposons un entretien pour vous présenter les sujets traités par Pierre-Antoine Plaquevent dans la Lettre Confidentielle.
Au programme de notre nouveau numéro : Les secrets du Biderberg contre la France et l’Europe.
Once upon a time, the term ‘globalisation’ dominated public discourse, presenting itself as the sole available alternative and panacea to all the world’s predicaments. It was viewed as a policy paradigm promising peace, prosperity, economic growth, and human development.
Davit Ratiani glanced up as the Russian military aircraft buzzed across the skies of Georgia, clenching his fist in such anger that his nails tore into his skin.
‘”I will never forget the feeling of powerless that came over me at that moment,’” Ya Shashviashvili remembers her husband later telling her in one of the few moments he divulged any details of his experience during Georgia’s short, devastating war with Russia in 2008.