Africa

The vast Sahel region, stretching across Africa from Senegal to Sudan, has long been the continent’s powder keg. National governments have been able to secure peace here and as a result millions of citizens in Mali, Niger, Burkina-Faso and the other Sahel nations have been forced from their homes and flee en masse to Europe’s Mediterranean coast or risk being recruited…

Spearheaded by Paris and Canada, Europeans recognized the futility of their activities in Mali within the ill-fated anti-terrorist Operation Barkhane that lasted for 9 years since 2014, and on February 17 decided to begin a coordinated military withdrawal from this African country. French president Emmanuel Macron said that after pulling…

Against the backdrop of its failing policies in Africa in recent years and barely clutching the presidency of the European Union on rotation basis, France is attempting to “reset” its relations with Africa by strengthening EU ties with the African Union. To this end, in December 2021, while presenting his EU presidency program, France’s president called relations with Africa…

It is well known that countries of the African continent are mostly poor and need the support of major world powers who in exchange for access to the African nations’ rich natural resources. The US and the PRC are considered the main players vying for influence in Africa these days: media mention them particularly often in relation to international African issues. Other actors…

African leaders are expected to head to Addis Ababa to attend the two-day African Union (AU) summit, scheduled to convene on February 5 and 6. The meeting will address a long list of conflicts — including militant and terrorist activities, management of natural resources, and internal disputes — that are stirring instability across the continent. Much attention is likely to be paid to developments…

While the world waits for Boris Johnson to be sacked and Emanuel Macron to be consumed by self-inflicted love bites, it is distracting itself with the events in Sudan. Not because anyone cares about the country or its people, but because it is a useful flag-waving exercise. Military coup! Democracy violated! Turmoil in Africa…

Africa is a vast continent, rich in resources of every kind – in addition to its famous diamond mines and hydrocarbon deposits, it has 50% of the world’s gold reserves, and 90% of its reserves of platinum, cobalt, chrome and other minerals required by modern manufacturing industries. And the continent’s vast and largely very poor population represents a promising market and…

In a January briefing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, on the eve of his talks with Russian head of state Vladimir Putin, said Russia was allegedly becoming a “destabilizing force”. In making this assessment of Russia’s policies, Macron was certainly following instructions from Washington to actively deploy anti-Russian rhetoric…

I ran across an article in International Viewpoint entitled “Russia in Africa: mercenaries and predatoriness.” The rarely used word “predatoriness” made me chuckle because of the irony, not the creative vocabulary of author Paul Marial. Before we continue, consulting Webster’s seems appropriate: “predatoriness – noun…

Founded after the end of the Second World War, the United Nations Organization set itself a primary goal of defending peace and justice in all countries. In furtherance of this goal the UN has sent troops to armed conflicts of all kinds, mounting some 70 peacekeeping missions since 1945. Known as Blue Helmets, some 100,000 military personnel, together with 95,000 civilian staff…

There has recently been an increasing amount of media coverage about the marked deterioration of relations between Algeria and Morocco, and even about purported preparations for mutual hostilities between the two states. It is noted that Algeria accuses Morocco of aggression, recalls Western Sahara, which it recognizes as…

Armed with drones and active diplomacy, Turkey is slowly – but surely – charting a path for a major role for itself in Africa. While Russia has historically dominated African arms market with 49 percent of market share, Turkey’s ambitious foray includes geo-political interests, especially with regards to how it sees itself as a natural player in the region as a ‘neo-Ottoman’ state…