Dans l’est de la RDC, la rébellion du M23 pousse toujours plus de civils sur les routes

Au moins 160 000 personnes ont fui les combats dans le Nord-Kivu. Une tentative de médiation entre Kinshasa et Kigali doit se tenir, le 6 juillet, à Luanda.

Les coups de feu l’ont réveillé en pleine nuit. Dans son village de Buhumba, situé dans la province du Nord-Kivu, l’armée congolaise faisait face, fin mai, aux insurgés du Mouvement du 23-Mars (M23). « Au matin, les soldats avaient disparu. Il ne restait plus que les rebelles. Je suis parti immédiatement », raconte Harerimana, debout au milieu de nattes étalées sur le sol en guise de lit.

Selling Weapons, Selling War

Why does war persist?

War was always madness, always immoral, always the cause of unspeakable suffering, economic waste and widespread destruction, and always a source of poverty, hate, barbarism and endless cycles of revenge and counter-revenge. It has always been a crime for soldiers to kill people, just as it is a crime for murderers in civil society to kill people. No flag ha ever been wide enough to cover up atrocities.

The Second-Coming Of The BRICS

When the inaugural BRIC summit took place in 2009, it was a moment of relative triumph for its members. While the West dealt with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — enjoyed temporary shelter from the turmoil. When South Africa joined the bloc in 2010, the BRICS agenda expanded beyond economic cooperation and now includes a wide array of global governance issues, including security.

A Vital Humanitarian Mandate for Syria’s North West

What is at stake in the Security Council?

The UN Security Council is set to vote soon on the renewal of a mandate that allows UN agencies to deliver aid to rebel-held Idlib in north-western Syria via a border crossing with Türkiye without asking for approval from the government in Damascus. The UN calculates that nearly two and a half million people rely on this lifeline for food and other essential supplies. Yet the arrangement is contentious. Since 2019, Russia, the Syrian regime’s ally, has aimed to curtail the mandate, arguing that the UN should work with Damascus on aid deliveries out of respect for Syria’s sovereignty.

Why is the US determined to build a security alliance against Iran?

The pieces are aligning ahead of Biden’s trip to the Middle East next week — almost too neatly. But will it create or shatter stability?

Next week President Biden is headed to Saudi Arabia — which he once promised to treat like a “pariah” — reportedly intent on discussing broad security guarantees with the Kingdom, including an air defense umbrella. Unfortunately, the administration’s proposal will deepen U.S. entanglement in the Middle East and further strain Iran nuclear negotiations.

A US security alliance in the Middle East is unjustified

There is no legitimate case for Washington making new security commitments and assuming additional costs on behalf of Saudi Arabia and Israel.

There is increasing talk about the United States getting more deeply committed to anti-Iran security arrangements on the side of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, and Israel.

Can outside actors stop the atrocities in Africa’s Sahel?

We know that counterterrorism programs are not helping, but some of the non-military plans long abandoned by the US could work.

Mass atrocities now occur regularly in the Sahel. The names of towns, villages, and districts in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger become infamous one after the next: Moura, Seytenga, and Bankass. The perpetrators are often jihadists — namely, an al-Qaida affiliate called the Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims (known by its Arabic acronym JNIM) and its rival, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, or ISGS.