Burundi-Rwanda rivalry: RED-Tabara rebel attacks add to regional tensions: The RED-Tabara armed group, based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has renewed attacks in Burundi since late 2023. The group – which is an abbreviation of the French Résistance pour un État de Droit au Burundi (Resistance for Rule of Law in Burundi) – …
30 ans après le génocide : les générations plus âgées du Rwanda craignent un retour des tensions ethniques: Cela fait 30 ans qu’un génocide a ravagé la société rwandaise, faisant près d’un million de morts parmi les Tutsis et les Hutus non extrémistes. Chaque année, au début du mois d’avril, le pays entre dans une …
Ukraine war: Russia’s hard line at European security meeting ratchets up tensions another notch: After many months of diplomatic wrangling, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was granted another lease of life at the annual ministerial council meeting last week in a messy compromise between Russia and the west. But rather than …
How HBO’s The Gilded Age reflects wider tensions within 19th-century New York and American society: “The opera is where society puts itself on display,” claims Bertha Russell, one of the main protagonists in season two of HBO’s The Gilded Age. New York, where the show is set, was at the centre of the era of …
Russia’s decision to ditch cold war arms limitation treaty raises tensions with Nato: Russia has pulled out of an important cold war-era treaty which limited categories of conventional military equipment that Nato and the then-Warsaw Pact could deploy. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was intended to use the warming of …
King Charles in Kenya: despite past tensions, the visit is a sign of a strong relationship with Britain: King Charles’ visit to Kenya this week is the British monarch’s first to a Commonwealth nation since his coronation in September 2022. The visit comes during the country’s 60th anniversary of independence from Britain. By choosing Kenya, …
How the Israel-Hamas war could affect the world economy and worsen global trade tensions: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Global geopolitical tensions often play a pivotal role in shaping people’s perceptions of economic growth. Research shows concern about such issues can cause people and businesses to become more cautious about spending and investing, which can ultimately lead to economic …
War crimes trial of Hashim Thaçi, the ‘George Washington of Kosovo’, will do little to reduce tensions in the Balkans: Hashim Thaçi, the former president of Kosovo and a founding member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), has been described as “one of the key figures” in the country’s recent history. He was elected as …
Ukraine war: tensions rise in Crimea as Russia prepares for a likely spring offensive: To paraphrase the words of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, everything began with Crimea, and everything will end there as well. When Russia first occupied Crimea in 2014, it was a major win for Putin, who successfully called the west’s bluff …
US-China tensions: how Africa can avoid being caught in a new Cold War: Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and then U.S Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands in Beijing on December 4, 2013. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images China’s foreign ministry published a 4,000-word analysis entitled US Hegemony and its Perils on 20 February. It’s an indictment …
Tensions politiques au Sénégal : s’achemine-t-on vers une impasse?: Le chef de l'opposition sénégalaise, Ousmane Sonko (non visible), se rend au tribunal de Dakar, au Sénégal, le 3 mars 2021, sous l'œil d'un groupe de gendarmes. Photo Seyllou. AFP via Getty Image. “Gatsa-Gatsa” (“oeil pour œil”, en langue wolof). C’est l’expression qu’Ousmane Sonko, leader de …
Philippines sides with US amid rising regional tensions between Beijing and Washington: The US-China rivalry in east Asia has taken an interesting turn after the recent visit of US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, to the Philippines. Austin’s trip ended in an expanded deal, the enhanced defense cooperation agreement (EDCA). This gives the US access to …
How the UK government’s veto of Scotland’s gender recognition bill brought tensions in the union to the surface: From calls for a second Scottish independence referendum and speculation about “indy-curiousity” in Wales, to the collapse of the power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland, the state of the UK union has been the subject of much political …
Kosovo: ethnic tensions have created a political ‘volcano’ that could erupt anytime: After US state department counsellor Derek Chollet recently visited Kosovo in a bid to calm tensions flaring in the north of the country, he said Washington’s priority was to prevent “violence metastasising” (spreading) between Serbs and Albanians. “The last thing any of us …
US-China talks: Biden and Xi attempt to play down superpower tensions but Ukraine and Taiwan loom large: Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Joe Biden of the United States have held their first face-to-face meeting since 2017. The pair met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, to discuss their joint obligation …
G20: tensions likely to emerge as world leaders gather for Bali summit: The leaders of the world’s biggest economies assemble in Bali this week for the annual G20 summit. They do so facing multiple interconnected global crises. Russia’s war in Ukraine, economic slowdown in China, heightened Sino-American tensions over Taiwan, precipitous worldwide increases in costs …
Methane: war and international tensions make cutting potent greenhouse gas emissions harder: Corlaffra/Shutterstock US president Joe Biden has announced new oil and gas industry regulations, which his administration claims will plunge emissions of the greenhouse gas methane 87% below 2005 levels. This is part of an update to the Global Methane Pledge, a US-EU initiative …
China-US tensions: how global trade began splitting into two blocs: Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has elicited a strong response from China: three days of simulated attack on Taiwan with further drills announced, plus a withdrawal from critical ongoing conversations with the US on climate change and the military. This strong reaction was predictable. …