Category: Geopolitics

Geopolitics

Ukrainian special operations abroad are part of its broader war effort against Russia

Colin Henderson

Malians demonstrate in support of Russia on the 60th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Mali, in Bamako, Mali, in September 2020. Russian mercenaries have played a key role in the fighting in several African countries, prompting attacks by Ukrainian-backed rebels. (AP Photo) Published: August 14, 2024 1.01pm EDT  James Horncastle, Simon Fraser University Mali recently severed relations with Ukraine as Ukrainian-backed Tuareg rebels killed at least 84 Russian soldiersin a well-executed ambush.  It’s unclear whether Ukrainian Special Operations Forces were directly involved in the assault, although pastinstances of Ukrainian forces operating in Africa make it likely. Ukraine’s rationale for backing the Tuareg rebels is … Continue reading Ukrainian special operations abroad are part of its broader war effort against Russia

Geopolitics

The Forty-Year War

Colin Henderson

How America Lost the Middle East By Lisa Anderson May/June 2023Published on April 18, 2023 In March 2023, China’s announcement that it had brokered renewed diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran threw into sharp relief the United States’ rapidly diminishing role in the Middle East. Shortly after President Joe Biden came to office, the United States completed its inept withdrawal from Afghanistan, a country that Washington had spent 20 years trying and failing to bring into the Western fold. Then the president, who as a candidate had cast Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” because of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s alleged … Continue reading The Forty-Year War

Geopolitics

A Drunken Evening, a Rented Yacht: The Real Story of the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage

Colin Henderson

A Drunken Evening, a Rented Yacht: The Real Story of the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage Private businessmen funded the shoestring operation, which was overseen by a top general; President Zelensky approved the plan, then tried unsuccessfully to call it off Bojan PancevskiAug. 14, 2024 at 9:00 pm ET In May of 2022, a handful of senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen had gathered to toast their country’s remarkable success in halting the Russian invasion. Buoyed by alcohol and patriotic fervor, somebody suggested a radical next step: destroying Nord Stream. After all, the twin natural-gas pipelines that carried Russian gas to … Continue reading A Drunken Evening, a Rented Yacht: The Real Story of the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage

Geopolitics

Behind Ukraine’s Russia Invasion: Secrecy, Speed and Electronic Jamming

Colin Henderson

Ukrainians embarrass Putin by becoming first foreign military force to occupy Russian territory since World War II By Isabel Coles, Michael R. Gordon and Ievgeniia Sivorka | Photographs by Svet Jacqueline for WSJ Aug. 16, 2024 at 11:00 pm ET PYSARIVKA, Ukraine—Six days after Ukrainian forces swept through the Russian border town of Sudzha in a lightning advance, a Ukrainian platoon carrying out a mopping-up operation stumbled upon a dozen Russian soldiers hiding in a butter factory. The speed and scale of this month’s Ukrainian advance—the first time a foreign military force has occupied Russian soil since World War II—left pockets of surprised and disoriented Russian soldiers … Continue reading Behind Ukraine’s Russia Invasion: Secrecy, Speed and Electronic Jamming

Geopolitics

Monocle – DEFENCE | UKRAINE 

Colin Henderson

UK tanks confirmed to have been deployed in Ukraine’s Russia offensive This week, it was confirmed that Ukraine had deployed the UK’s Challenger 2 battle tanks during its offensive in Russia. London’s delivery of 14 tanks to Ukraine in 2023 prompted similar military aid from Berlin and Washington. The vehicles are reportedly in use in the Kursk region. The UK’s Ministry of Defence asserts that Ukraine has a “clear right” to use these weapons for its self-defence, including on Russian soil. Heavy metal: Ukrainian soldiers operate a tank near the border with Russia  Despite such statements of support, however, the … Continue reading Monocle – DEFENCE | UKRAINE 

Geopolitics, US

Monocle – Diplomacy | Leila Molana Allen 

Colin Henderson

As the Sudan peace talks falter, the US must find a way to win back the trust of the Global South This week’s US-led Sudan peace talks in Geneva appeared to have lost all momentum before they even began. With so many failed agreements already, mediators had a mountain to climb. Then it became clear that neither side of the conflict was going to show up. The Sudanese Armed Forces had said from the start that they would not attend; their adversaries, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), had sent a delegation but it refused to enter the negotiating room. Nowhere … Continue reading Monocle – Diplomacy | Leila Molana Allen 

Geopolitics, Risk

Israeli Settlers Storm West Bank Village, Drawing Rare Rebukes From Israeli Officials

Colin Henderson

The Palestinian Authority said one person was shot dead; the Israeli military said it was investigating and condemned the attack, as did the Israeli prime minister. By Ephrat Livni Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have surged in the West Bank, but a riot on Thursday in the village of Jit stood out for drawing rapid and unusual rebukes from Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose coalition government includes West Bank settlers in top positions. “Dozens of Israeli civilians, some of them masked, entered the town of Jit and set fire to vehicles and structures in the area, hurled rocks … Continue reading Israeli Settlers Storm West Bank Village, Drawing Rare Rebukes From Israeli Officials

Geopolitics

Straits Times: ‘I’ve been misunderstood many times,’ says former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani as he releases memoir

Colin Henderson

I was delighted to be featured on Lunch with Sumiko, which is one of the best-read columns in Singapore. When Sumiko invited me to lunch, I chose a coffee shop next to my childhood home, where my father would get caught in drunken fights. Sumiko’s story brings out some of my colourful childhood stories and provides a good preview of my memoirs, Living the Asian Century, which has just been released. I hope her column will also encourage you to read my memoirs. Lunch with Sumiko ‘I’ve been misunderstood many times,’ says former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani as he releases memoir … Continue reading Straits Times: ‘I’ve been misunderstood many times,’ says former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani as he releases memoir

Geopolitics, Risk

A Catastrophic Civil War in Sudan

Colin Henderson

How an unexpected conflict is crushing Africa’s third-largest country. Aug. 15, 2024, 6:23 a.m. ET You’re reading The Morning newsletter.  Make sense of the day’s news and ideas. David Leonhardt and Times journalists guide you through what’s happening — and why it matters. By Declan Walsh I’m The Times’s chief Africa correspondent, based in Nairobi, Kenya. After more than a year of civil war, the toll in Sudan is heartbreaking: thousands killed, millions scattered and cities besieged or destroyed across a vast nation three times as large as France. Much of the capital lies in rubble. This month, international officials declared that part … Continue reading A Catastrophic Civil War in Sudan

Geopolitics, sociology

The Dwindling Strategic Flame: Reviving Creative Defense Planning

Colin Henderson

Phillip Dolitsky August 14, 2024 “Strategy is the future of present decisions”- Garry Kasparov “Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.”- Savielly Tartakower Strategy and defense planning belong to the realm of the unknown. There is nothing as certain as the uncertainty of the future and yet all polities depend on their safety and survival by striving to meet the challenge of uncertainty. All nations must attempt, in the words of the late British strategist Colin Gray, “to get the biggest issues right enough” … Continue reading The Dwindling Strategic Flame: Reviving Creative Defense Planning