Category: Politics

WHITE HOUSE — President Joe Biden will be traveling to Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia next week to push for Israel’s deeper integration into the region, urge Gulf countries to pump more oil to alleviate the global energy crisis and offer assurances that the U.S. is not deprioritizing the region despite its focus on the war in Ukraine and strategic competition with China.

In Israel he will meet caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Israel’s security amid a resurgent Iran, including the integration of its air defense capabilities with Gulf Arab countries.

In the West Bank, Biden will reiterate support for a two-state solution and seek to reset relations with the Palestinian Authority after the Trump administration slashed aid and closed the American consulate in Jerusalem that served as the U.S. mission to the Palestinians.

Biden will attend the GCC+3 Summit in Jeddah with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) and Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, where he will lay out his vision for U.S. engagement in the region.

He is set to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, to repair ties with Saudi Arabia – a country he once called a pariah.

Observers will be watching how Biden might balance those interests with a foreign policy doctrine that centers on the supremacy of democracies over autocracies, especially in light of the killings of journalists Jamal Khashoggi and Shireen Abu Akleh.

Here are key issues to watch:

Energy production

As the U.S. and other countries face soaring fuel prices and high inflation triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, Biden has little choice but to engage oil producing countries in the region.

However, prices have jumped so steeply that it’s highly unlikely producers can pump enough oil to sustainably lower prices, said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, the Baker Institute fellow for the Middle East.

Oil prices have remained high despite a June agreement to boost crude output by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August by the group known as OPEC+, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including Russia.

“I just don’t see that the Saudis and the UAE are willing to break out of the OPEC+ framework,” Ulrichsen told VOA. “They have their own relationship with Russia to think about.”

Market dynamics are unlikely to change any time soon, observers say, a reason why the administration has been downplaying expectations that the visit could lower gas prices and alleviate inflation, underscoring instead that the focus will be on regional security rather than energy.

Israeli integration, Iran containment

The U.S. has for decades pushed for an integrated air defense system between GCC member states and Israel – a proposal with renewed prospects given the growing cooperation between Israel and key Gulf states, especially the United Arab Emirates.

“Bilaterally we’re talking with nations across the region about air defense capabilities specifically and what we can do to assist with their defense and then, exploring the idea of being able to kind of integrate all those air defenses together,” John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, told reporters Thursday.

The increasing alignment is motivated by fear of an expansionist and resurgent Iran. U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley said earlier this week that Tehran is potentially weeks away to accumulating enough highly enriched uranium to fuel a nuclear bomb.

Talks aimed at breaking an impasse over how to salvage Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal ended last week without much progress.

Israel-Saudi thaw

With Jerusalem and Riyadh both unnerved by Iran, the Biden administration has been quietly working toward diplomatic normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Given the kingdom’s clout in the Muslim world, it would be the most significant expansion of the Trump-era Abraham Accords, whereby the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan recognized Israel, overriding the Arab world’s commitment to withhold normalization until Israel agrees to end its occupation of Palestinian territory.

During the trip, Biden will fly directly between Tel Aviv and Jeddah and back, a first for a U.S. president after Trump’s historic 2017 flight from Riyadh to Tel Aviv. There are currently no direct commercial flights between the two countries.

While normalization is unlikely to happen any time soon, observers see Biden’s flight as another signal by the Saudis that it’s inevitable.

Israeli businesspeople are already visiting the kingdom, said Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Having it be acknowledged publicly would be helpful for the Biden administration to point to as an indicator of progress, Cook told VOA.

Observers believe Saudi recognition will not be given while King Salman remains in power. However, “it is no secret that the new Saudi leadership sees great benefit in a relationship with Israel,” said Yasmine Farouk, a nonresident scholar in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to VOA, referring to the crown prince.

Yemen cease-fire

Ending the seven-year proxy war in Yemen between the Saudi-led coalition and the Tehran-backed Houthi militias has been a goal of the Biden administration. The conflict has turned the country into a breeding ground for jihadist groups like al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and led to a humanitarian disaster with over 300,000 people killed.

Biden is expected to encourage the Saudis to lift the remainder of the blockade of the Houthi-controlled northern Yemen and make the cease-fire – enacted in April and renewed until August – permanent.

Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said he is concerned about the potential of a Houthi drone or missile attack reigniting the conflict.

“The tinderbox in the Middle East today is such that it could blow up at any moment,” he told VOA. “I fear that that could happen while President Biden is in the region.”

Values vs. interests

How Biden handles the killings of journalists Jamal Khashoggi and Shireen Abu Akleh will be a test of his ability to balance commitment to American values and U.S. geopolitical and economic interests.

Many will be watching how strongly he raises issues of press freedom as well as the rights of women and minorities as he deals with some of the world’s most repressive and authoritarian leaders.

Saudi columnist Khashoggi was gruesomely killed with the approval of the Saudi crown prince. A U.S. judge presiding over a lawsuit from Khashoggi’s fiancée has given the administration until Aug. 1 to decide whether to grant immunity to the crown prince. The White House declined to say whether it would.

“I cannot comment from here on that, because it’s a legal determination,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told VOA.

Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American journalist, likely died by an Israeli bullet according to international experts with access to the investigation.

Kirby declined to confirm, when asked by VOA whether Biden plans to address their deaths while he is in the region. Kirby also sidestepped the question of whether Biden will frame his summit speech around the “battle between democracy and autocracy” theme that centers his foreign policy doctrine.

Biden is learning it isn’t that clear-cut, said James Jeffrey, chair of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center.

“That’s to his credit, but that means he’s got a lot of baggage because he hasn’t formally renounced this thing,” Jeffrey told VOA, recalling Biden’s Summit of Democracies in December.

“What has it done since then? Has anybody even mentioned it since it occurred? I rest my case.”

Source: Voice of America

SCHLOSS ELMAU (Germany)— Group of Seven leaders pledged to raise US$600 billion in private and public funds over five years to finance needed infrastructure in developing countries and counter China’s older, multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road project.

US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders relaunched the newly renamed “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment” at their annual gathering being held this year at Schloss Elmau in southern Germany.

Biden said the United States would mobilise US$200 billion in grants, federal funds and private investment over five years to support projects in low- and middle-income countries that help tackle climate change as well as improve global health, gender equity and digital infrastructure.

“I want to be clear. This isn’t aid or charity. It’s an investment that will deliver returns for everyone,” Biden said, adding that it would allow countries to “see the concrete benefits of partnering with democracies”.

Biden said hundreds of billions of additional dollars could come from multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, sovereign wealth funds and others.

Europe will mobilise €300 billion for the initiative over the same period to build up a sustainable alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative scheme, which Chinese President Xi Jinping launched in 2013, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the gathering.

The leaders of Italy, Canada and Japan also spoke about their plans, some of which have already been announced separately. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were not present, but their countries are also participating.

China’s investment scheme involves development and programmes in over 100 countries aimed at creating a modern version of the ancient Silk Road trade route from Asia to Europe.

White House officials said the plan has provided little tangible benefit for many developing countries.

Biden highlighted several flagship projects, including a US$2 billion solar development project in Angola with support from the Commerce Department, the US Export-Import Bank, US firm AfricaGlobal Schaffer, and US project developer Sun Africa.

Together with G7 members and the EU, Washington will also provide US$3.3 million in technical assistance to Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal as it develops an industrial-scale flexible multi-vaccine manufacturing facility in that country that can eventually produce COVID-19 and other vaccines, a project that also involves the EU.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will also commit up to US$50 million over five years to the World Bank’s global Childcare Incentive Fund.

Friederike Roder, vice president of the non-profit group Global Citizen, said the pledges of investment could be “a good start” toward greater engagement by G7 countries in developing nations and could underpin stronger global growth for all.

G7 countries on average provide only 0.32 per cent of their gross national income, less than half of the 0.7 per cent promised, in development assistance, she said.

“But without developing countries, there will be no sustainable recovery of the world economy,” she said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PARIS— The depressing state of the world is leading people to switch off from the news, the Reuters Institute reported on Wednesday.

The combined impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and cost-of-living crisis have led to declining interest in the news, a survey by the British research group found.

Across 46 countries surveyed and 93,000 participants, it found the share who said they actively avoided the news had increased from 29 to 38 percent since 2017.

The numbers doubled in some countries, including Brazil (54 percent) and Britain (46).

Young people in particular found the news to be a downer, but the chief reason for avoiding the news was its repetitiveness, especially around Covid and politics.

“I actively avoid things that trigger my anxiety and things that can have a negative impact on my day,” a 27-year-old British respondent told the researchers.

“I will try to avoid reading news about things like deaths and disasters.”

Others said the news led to arguments they would rather avoid, or a feeling of powerlessness, while many young people said they found it hard to understand.

Lead author Nic Newman said the findings were “particularly challenging for the news industry”.

“Subjects that journalists consider most important, such as political crises, international conflicts and global pandemics, seem to be precisely the ones that are turning some people away,” he was quoted as saying.

Most of the study was completed before the invasion of Ukraine in February, but subsequent surveys in five countries found these issues had only deepened in its aftermath.

Trust in the media fell in half the countries surveyed, and rose in just seven, the report said, reversing gains made during the pandemic.

Overall, trust was at 42 percent, down from 44 percent when the media had a small positive bump from the pandemic.

The United States showed the lowest level of trust at 26 percent, tied with Slovakia.

The problem is being compounded by young people increasingly detached from legacy media, with 15 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds saying they use TikTok as a primary source of news.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

At the invitation of the Government of the Central African Republic, the Strategic Review Meeting of the Political Process in the Central African Republic was held on 4 June 2022 in Bangui, under the high patronage of His Excellency, Professor Faustin Archange TOUADERA, President of the Central African Republic, under the auspices of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic, Her Excellency Sylvie Valérie BAÏPO-TEMON, of Angola, His Excellency Ambassador Téte ANTÓNIO, and of Rwanda, His Excellency Vincent BIRUTA, with the effective presence of the Minister of State and Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Mr. Obed NAMSIO, the Minister of State in Charge of Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Repatriation (DDRR) and the follow-up of the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in CAR (APPR-RCA), Mr. Jean WILLYBIRO-SAKO, the Minister of Interior and Public Security, Mr. Michel Nicaise NASSIN, and the Minister in Charge of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Local Development, Mr. Bruno YAPANDE.

The Joint Strategic Review meeting was attended by the Minister of External Relations of Angola, His Excellency Ambassador Téte ANTÓNIO, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda, His Excellency Mr. Vincent BIRUTA, in their capacity as representatives of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the Government of CAR, the guarantors of the APPR, namely the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), as well as the facilitators of the Agreement, including the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Ambassadors, Heads of Diplomatic Missions and their representatives (Angola, Cameroun, Chad, China, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, France, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa), Representatives of regional and multilateral organizations (African Union, Development Bank of the Central African States, Economic Commission of Central African States, European Union, European Union Advisory Mission in CAR, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, Sant’ Egidio, World Bank) also took part in the meeting.

The objective of the joint strategic review meeting, which is subsequent to the follow-up meeting on the implementation of the Joint Roadmap for Peace held in Bangui on 14 January, 2022, was to assess and inform through an inclusive platform all partners in the peace and development process in CAR, including countries in the region, the ICGLR, ECCAS, the AU and MINUSCA in their capacities as guarantors and facilitators of the Peace Agreement in CAR, of the progress made in the implementation of the Luanda Joint Roadmap of 16 September 2021, identify challenges on the basis of sectoral reports presented by Ministers of the Government of Central Africa and mobilize the partners vital appropriate support to overcome them.

In this regard, the convergence of views between the Government of the Central African Republic, partners in the sub-region and strategic partners regarding the APPR, which remains the only framework for peace, with the Joint Roadmap being the vehicle for revitalizing its implementation is worth highlighting.

The opening ceremony was presided over by His Excellency the President of the Central African Republic, Professor Faustin Archange TOUADERA, who, in his speech, reiterated his political will and the determination of his Government to mobilize all efforts to revitalize the APPR through the Joint Roadmap, with the support of all CAR international partners. He underscored the need to harmonize these efforts with those of the APPR guarantors and facilitators, including MINUSCA, as per United Nations Security Council Resolution 2605 (2021), as well as Angola and Rwanda, as mandated by the ICGLR.

In this regard, the President encouraged complementarity and synergy in the political processes undertaken within the framework of the APPR and the Joint Roadmap, which must interact with each other in order to maintain a platform for pooling efforts and resources. In furtherance of this, the meeting decided to pursue efforts on harmonizing the political steps taken under the APPR and the Joint Roadmap.

The President of the Republic placed particular emphasis on efforts to ensure national ownership of the peace process, including measures taken to ensure effective contribution of all relevant Ministries and national institutions, at the instigation of His Excellency, Professor Faustin Archange TOUADERA, President of the Central African Republic, and the effective coordination of the Prime Minister and Head of the Government, Mr. Felix MOLOUA.

The meeting undertook a review of all components of the political process and related areas, including:

The status of agreements with leaders of armed groups in light of security developments in CAR. Review of the status of implementation of the cease-fire declaration and the Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Repatriation (DDRR). Review of progress and challenges in the Security Sector Reform (SSR) and border control strategies. The status of the political process in relation to the Restoration of State Authority and the Republican Dialogue. The meeting took note of the assessment by the Minister of State in Charge of DDRR and the follow-up to the APPR-RCA of challenges and progress, as well as the prospects for political agreements with armed groups, DDRR, Security Sector Reform and border control, and the political process, including the Restoration of State Authority and follow-up of the recommendations of the Republican Dialogue. To this end, a decision was taken to provide technical support to the Government of CAR Ministries involved in the assessment of current capacities considering progress, challenges and prospects in order to remobilize partners for appropriate support that meets the expectations of the Central African Government.

The meeting noted with concern and regretted the lack of compliance by the parties as well as cross-border threats to peace and stability in CAR. It agreed to hold, under the aegis of the Central African Government, of technical sub-meetings to initiate a reflection in consultation with partners to come up with solutions that would guarantee the credibility and integrity of the cease-fire.

The meeting unanimously commended the Central African Republic for the initiative and ownership of the political process review, and recommended its organization on a quarterly basis at both the political and strategic, as well as technical levels for an inclusive review of the political process in order to assess progress and identify challenges in the implementation of all the components of the Joint Roadmap and the APPR, with a view to aligning resources and adequate support in accordance with an agreed timeline.

To this end, the meeting unanimously decided to hold, without delay, a first technical meeting in order to define inclusive working groups that bring together expertise and partnership to assess the state of progress and challenges as well as the needs for multifaceted assistance to reach the objectives assigned by the Government of Central Africa to the parties by the APPR and the Joint Road Map with coordinated and recognizable support from all international partners.

At the end of the meeting, participants expressed gratitude to His Excellency Professor Faustin Archange TOUADERA, President of the Central African Republic, for his unwavering commitment to peace, stability and reconciliation in the Central African Republic, and to His Excellency Mr. João LOURENÇO, President of the Republic of Angola and current Chairperson of the ICGLR, and His Excellency Mr. Paul KAGAME, President of the Republic of Rwanda, for their availability and commitment in the search for a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict in the Central African Republic.

Participants also renewed their gratitude to the African Union, ECCAS, MINUSCA, neighboring countries and all partners as well as the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region for their support in operationalizing the Joint Roadmap for the revitalization of the APPR.

Source: African Union

African countries are being encouraged to use both soft and hard power to counter the growing threat posed by Islamic State on the continent. The U.S. government is giving more than $100 million to African states to overcome terrorism. Top U.S. security officials say African leadership and voices are needed to ensure security assistance is targeted to where it’s needed most.

Last week, security leaders from the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS pledged to support African security agencies in dealing with the terrorist activities of the Islamic State.

The coalition, which has 85 members, met in Morocco to discuss ways of dislodging fighters allied to ISIS from Mali, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and several other African countries.

Terror activities by these militants have increased in recent years, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions — creating a humanitarian crisis.

Chris Landberg. the State Department’s acting principal deputy coordinator for counterterrorism, says some African governments will receive millions of dollars to improve their efforts in fighting terrorism.

“So, we are increased in this every year, and we’re looking to use it to improve capabilities of our partnered civilian, law enforcement, and judiciary with the goals of disrupting and apprehending, prosecuting, and convicting terrorists across the continent,” he said.

Akinola Olojo, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, says the ISIS affiliates in Africa are different from each other and will require tailored strategies to defeat them.

“While we recognize that there seems to be a similarity at a certain level, in a different way we see that even the actors involved or the insecurity actors involved as well as the way they relate with communities, the way they sort of act against the state takes different expressions. And we need to understand these nuances in order to have approaches that adequately match what is manifesting in the different contexts,” he said.

The deputy Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Doug Hoyt said countering the militants’ messaging is critical.

“So, the coalition itself will probably continue to launch platforms against what we see as the vulnerable youth certainly in the Sahara — in the Sahel and trans-Sahara region. So, what we’re emphasizing with communications is it’s not top-down, it’s bottom-up. So we start at the local level and we work with member governments and we tailor this messaging in language and customs and traditions and what’s going on here, and we very much want the African members out front on that,” he said.

The U.N. Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, an instrument meant to enhance the international effort to counter terrorism, calls for nations to address the conditions terror groups use to spread terrorism. It also aims at building the states’ capacity to prevent and combat terrorism while adopting measures to respect human rights and the rule of law.

Olojo says African security agencies were encouraged to use different ways to tackle terrorism apart from the usual military response.

“Hard responses have a role to play, of course, but then going beyond this to address governance gaps, addressing ideologies pushed by these affiliates, addressing issues of human rights violations,” he said. “Engaging communities more deeply or more effectively, having a dialogue on several levels within communities. All these components are things that are highlighted at this meeting and then we see how they fit into a broader approach.”

U.S. officials say the lessons used to weaken ISIS in Iraq and Syria can be apply in Africa but will need individuals present on the continent to get results.

Source: Voice of America

Gaborone, Botswana: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will on 13th May, 2022 hold a Joint Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture in Lilongwe, Republic of Malawi.

The objective of the meeting is to follow up on the decisions of SADC Summit, Council of Ministers and the Sectoral Committee of Ministers responsible for Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture. The meeting will specifically review the food security situation following challenges experienced by the region with regards to excess rains that caused flooding in some parts, cyclones and drought in others; outbreaks of transboundary animal and plant pests and diseases; and developments in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

The meeting will review the implementation of the Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) and its related programmes including food security, livestock, crops and fisheries and aquaculture; as well as review programmes of work of the SADC Plant Genetics Resources Centre (SPGRC) and Centre for Coordination of Agriculture Research and Development in Southern Africa (CCARDESA).

Ministers will also deliberate on programmes of regional dimension in support of the implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030 and the SADC Vision 2050 particularly programmes for the development of Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors.

The Joint Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture, will be preceded by the meeting of the SADC Senior Officials responsible for Agriculture and Food Security, Fisheries and Aquaculture to be held from 10 – 12 May 2022.

Source: Southern African Development Community