Global Geopolitics

Maldives Reiterates Commitment to ‘Free, Open Indo-Pacific Region’ & Democracy

By Arul Louis
Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid has reiterated his nation's commitment to a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region and to democracy.During his meeting with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in Washington Feb 20, Shahid “underscored the importance of his government's reform efforts to (ensure) the vitality of Maldives' democracy,” the department's Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said.

Munich Security Conference – Old Question Marks in the Shadow of the Anthropocene

By Dan Smith
This year’s Munich Security Conference (the MSC), held on 15-17 February raised many questions but didn’t have the answer. It was not a happy and certainly not a self-confident gathering. Yet a couple of moments suggested the first new blooms of new ways to think about security might soon poke through the soil.

International Aid Feeds Hope and Fuels Confrontation in Venezuela

By Humberto Márquez
The international food and medical aid awaiting entry into Venezuela from neighboring Colombia, Brazil and Curacao is at the crux of the struggle for power between President Nicolás Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognised as "legitimate president" by 50 governments.

How Devastating is Climate Change for World Peace & Security?

By Thalif Deen
When the Security Council, the most powerful body at the United Nations, met last month to discuss the growing new threats to world peace and security, the discussion veered away from international terrorism, nuclear Armageddon and the rash of ongoing military conflicts in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

As Treaties Collapse, Can We Still Prevent a Nuclear Arms Race?

By Christine Muttonen, Jacqueline Cabasso & Alyn Ware
The United States last week officially announced it is walking away from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, an agreement made between the USA and the Soviet Union in 1987 to eliminate a whole class of nuclear weapons that had been deployed in Europe and had put the continent on a trip-wire to nuclear war.

Venezuela
 
Alea Jacta Est!

By Idriss Jazairy
The count down towards a tragic outcome in Venezuela has started. All outside powers express what they say is a shared concern for its peace-loving people that has the misfortune of sitting on what is maybe the largest oil reserves in the world.  The problem is that geopolitics lead groups of foreign countries to express different, not to say opposed recipes as to how democracy can be restored and happiness pursued in Venezuela and want to make their own views prevail in this divided country.

The Marrakech Compact on Migration: Myths & Realities

By Paul Tacon
When 164 UN member states adopted the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (the Marrakech Compact on Migration) on 10 December last year, I read on social media that they had decided to give up control over migration to the UN.

In Venezuela, Two Presidents Vie for Power

By Humberto Márquez
Venezuela entered a new and astonishing arena of political confrontation, with two presidents, Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó, leading the forces vying for power, while Venezuelans once again are taking to the streets to demonstrate their weariness at the crisis, which has left them exhausted.

Why Are so Many Humanitarian Crises Under-reported?

By Martin Scott
According to a recent poll of aid agencies by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the most under-reported crisis of 2018 was the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Preventing a New Euro-Missile Race

By Daryl G. Kimball
Next month, it is very likely the Trump administration will take the next step toward fulfilling the president’s threat to “terminate” one of the most far-reaching and most successful nuclear arms reduction agreements: the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which led to the verifiable elimination of 2,692 Soviet and U.S. missiles based in Europe.

Renew Nuclear Arms Control, Don’t Destroy It

By Andrew Lichterman and John Burroughs
A hard-earned lesson of the Cold War is that arms control reduces the risk of nuclear war by limiting dangerous deployments and, even more important, by creating channels of communication and understanding. But President Donald Trump and his National Security Advisor John Bolton appear to have forgotten, or never learned, that lesson.

Migrant’s Compact Mischaracterized for Political Reasons

By Alice Thomas
The fact that a handful of countries have indicated their intention not to come to Marrakesh to endorse the compact signifies how the issue of migration has been politicized and become a political flashpoint.

US Blasts Migrant’s Compact – Even as 150+ Countries Embrace it

By Thalif Deen
As UN delegates met in Morocco to adopt a global compact to protect the rights and safety of refugees and migrants (GCM), the Trump administration launched a blistering attack condemning it as a violation of national sovereignty.

A UN Conference Undermined by 11th Hour Withdrawals

By Thalif Deen
When the long-awaited UN conference focusing on the rights and safety of migrants and refugees takes off in Morocco, it will be a rare, if not an unprecedented meeting, for one reason: the withdrawal of at least seven member states almost at the 59th minute of the eleventh hour.

Is Africa Ready for Nuclear Energy?

By Laura Gil
Years back, nuclear energy was a fancy option limited to the industrialized world. In due course, nuclear could be an energy source for much of Africa, where only South Africa currently has a nuclear power plant.

Will Member States Help Offset US Funding Cuts to UN?

By Thalif Deen
The speculation that the Trump administration plans to reduce its mandatory assessed financial contributions to the UN’s regular budget was implicitly confirmed when the US president told delegates last September that Washington “is working to shift more of our funding, from assessed contributions to voluntary contributions, so that we can target American resources to the programs with the best record of success.”

African Nations Show Rare Transparency in Military Spending

By Thalif Deen
When the United Nations began publishing annual reports on arms expenditures, starting in 1981, not all 193 member states voluntarily participated in the exercise in transparency-- primarily because most governments are secretive about their defense spending and their weapons purchases.

Inside a Wagon in the Forest of Compiègne

By Manuel Manonelles
What is the link between the current civil war in Syria, the austerity policy imposed by Germany during the last economic crisis or the Arab-Israeli conflict? Its origin, which lies in the world that was born a hundred years ago, inside a wagon in the middle of the Forest of Compiègne, northeast of Paris.

Brazilians Decide on a Shift to the Right at Any Cost

By Mario Osava
Voters in Brazil ignored threats to democracy and opted for radical political change, with a shift to the extreme right, with ties to the military, as is always the case in this South American country.

Women’s Climate Leadership More Vital Than Ever In Light Of Climate Change Report

By Osprey Orielle Lake and Emily Arasim
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which arrived thunderously in October, concludes that we have only 12 years remaining to transform our energy systems and ways of living to limit the worst effects of climate change.

Trump and Bolsonaro: Alarming Similarities

By Brent Millikan
Observing recent political developments in the United States and Brazil, there are clearly similarities between the phenomena of 'Trumpism' and 'Bolsonarism' that do not seem to be a mere coincidence.
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