Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkey and Russia are inching towards an accord for the first major Turkish weapons purchase from Moscow, troubling Ankara’s allies in NATO even though the deal may not ultimately materialise. According to Turkish and Russian officials, all preparations have been made for the purchase of a …
Read More »Juncker says Europe can no longer ‘outsource’ protection
Prague, Czech Republic | AFP | Europe has to take care of its defence given the shift in US policy, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday, promoting a hefty defence fund announced by Brussels. “The protection of Europe can no longer be outsourced,” Juncker told a defence conference in …
Read More »Trump moderates tone on first foreign trip
US President Donald Trump dropped his hardline rhetoric against Muslims as took his first foreign trip making stopovers in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, Italy and Belgium. While giving a speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Trump urged various leaders attending the summit to drive extremists out of the earth saying the …
Read More »Russia seeks ‘post-West’ order as US vows loyalty to allies
Munich, Germany | AFP | Russia Saturday called for an end to what it said was an outdated world order dominated by the West after US Vice President Mike Pence pledged Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to transatlantic allies in NATO. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov offered a diametrically opposed global vision, …
Read More »COMMENT: Hoping for the best against trump
COMMENT: By Ian Buruma His election is more like an earthquake, unleashing forces no one can control Is there any reason for liberals to feel optimistic after a year of political disasters? Is there even a shred of silver lining to be found in the tatters of , Donald Trump’s …
Read More »COMMENT: Gambia, Jammeh and looming ECOWAS intervention
COMMENT: By Abdulhamid Manzil How to deal with a country divided between two polarized, mutually dissenting political groups A showdown awaits the world after January 19 when President Yahaya Jammeh of The Gambia’s term is expected to end. Regional block ECOWAS, through its plain-speaking Commission President Marcel Alain de Souza, …
Read More »ECOMOG’s Gambian gamble
THE LAST WORD: By Andrew M. Mwenda The likely dangers of the Western African states’ attempts to impose a solution on The Gambia The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has resolved to send a military force (ECOMOG) into The Gambia apparently to achieve three interrelated objectives: first to …
Read More »Why NATO overthrew Gaddafi
By Andrew M. Mwenda MI6 was spying on Libyan dissidents in Britain and passing the information to Gaddafi New revelations of the secret relationship between Libyan intelligence under Maummar Al Gaddafi and America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Britain’s MI6 are shocking but not surprising. America and Britain have always …
Read More »World is safer 10 years after 9/11: EU, NATO
The world is safer today than in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States, with global terror groups weaker than 10 years ago, senior EU and NATO officials have said. A decade after Al-Qaeda traumatised the United States, the terror network has lost its leader, Osama …
Read More »NATO-imposed regime won’t liberate Libya
It is difficult for a foreign country to dismantle the military, administrative and intelligence infrastructure of another country and establish a stable political order thereafter Last week the French parliament voted to continue their country’s involvement in NATO airstrikes in Libya to remove Muammar Gaddafi. I hold a strong scepticism …
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