Security & Defense

The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), created on September 16, 2023, brings together Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso under a mutual defense agreement. The signing of the charter relating to this alliance, which bears the name Liptako-Gourma, was followed by meetings and plans for initiatives that will push the new structure further towards statutes for the alliance, transforming it into a confederation. As an intermediate measure, the three states have already envisaged the creation of ...

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Interview with Sara Mokaddem, Manager of the Monitoring and Strategic Analysis Unit at the Policy Center for the New South, conducted by our columnist Helmut Sorge.   Oil tankers, mega cruise ships, and giant container vessels that once moved through secure waterways—the lifelines of global trade—are now menaced by missile and drone attacks, carried out by Houthi forces in Yemen. Meanwhile, pirates are active off the shores of Somalia, and Singapore or Hong Kong flagged vessels, a ...

L’Alliance des États du Sahel (AES), créée le 16 septembre 2023, rassemble dans un accord de défense mutuelle le Mali, le Niger et le Burkina Faso. La signature de la charte afférente à cette alliance qui porte le nom du Liptako-Gourma a été suivie de rencontre et de projets d’initiatives qui poussent plus loin la nouvelle structure vers des statuts de l’alliance pour la transformer en confédération. Comme mesure intermédiaire, les trois États ont d’ores et déjà envisa ...

A Series of Disruptions The freighter, on its way from the United Arab Emirates to Bulgaria, loaded with 21000 metric tons of fertilizer, was hit by two Houthi missiles on February 18, 2024, at a point 93 miles east of Aden. The Houthi—not an army but rebels—are firing on ships in solidarity with the tortured people in Gaza, and their leaders, Hamas. Like Hamas, the Houthi are armed by Tehran. The European Union has started a mission to send frigates into the Red Sea, providing pr ...

With the advent of social media more than a decade ago, and now with the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, international security has become increasingly complex in terms of its cross-sectoral and transnational nature. Multilateralism as the only response to international security concerns is an outdated lens; multi-stakeholderism is the new fresh lens. -- At the Atlantic Dialogues Conference in Morocco in December 2022, one of the focus areas was on multilateral so ...

The destruction of a vibrant and historic nation, sprinkled with color and culture, turned into a footnote of geopolitics. The more than 377,000 war victims disappeared from global headlines. The official fighting ended in Yemen on March 29, 2022. A ceasefire was declared by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and the rebellious Houthis. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, praised “the wave of reconciliation” that swept across the region. The main foreign supporter of Yemen’s Houthi—Iran— ...

الحرب بطبيعتها ليست عملية حسابية. فمن حيث الاستراتيجية العسكرية، لا تعتبر عملية الجمع دائما إضافة، ولا عملية الطرح تنقيصا. فعملية الضرب لا ُتضخِّم كما أن القسمة لا ُتقلل. وإذا كانت الوسائل هي بالتأكيد ميزة في الحرب، فإن نتيجة الصراعات (النصر أو الهزيمة) لا تعتمد فقط على هذه الوسائل، ذلك ان الحرب تكشف عن صمود المجتمع وليس عن قوة الجيش فقط. فالحرب ُتظهر ارتباط القوة العسكرية بصلابة الجبهة الداخلية المرتبطة بدورها إلى حد كبير بالتماسك الاجتماعي. و ليس لهذا الأخير وحدة قياس، ف ...

On November 13, 1974 (YouTube, Nov 14), Yassir Arafat appeared in front of the United Nations General Assembly. He reminded his audience and the world that, “today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” Almost half a century has passed since then, and Arafat as well, and there is still no olive branch for the Palestinians, only the gun. Before the current Israel-Gaza war, noted the respected Foreign Affairs ...