The news that the recent attack in Sousse, Tunisia, was committed by Seifeddine Rezgui, a terrorist gunman trained and equipped in Libya, has brought the country’s security situation back into the media spotlight. David Cameron was recently asked what the case would be for strikes on Isil in Libya. His answer was predictable: of course where there is a threat to British people he would be prepared to authorise action to neutralise it. However, the focus of Cameron on Isil and its ‘ideology’ risks obscuring the greater strategic concern in Libya which drives the power of groups like Isil and others, that is criminal economies.
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With Russia and 5 NATO member states in the Arctic Council, followers of the geopolitics of the Arctic have a reason to be concerned about the ongoing Ukraine crisis. However, renewed Arctic non-military collaboration between Russia and NATO, whilst not immediately conceivable, could provide an important facilitator of improved cooperation between Russia and the West.
Recently, an article written by Klaus Dodds caught my attention. The article concerned itself with the Programme of Extraordinary Rendition conducted by the George W. Bush administration after 9/11. Having come under scrutiny in the recent US Intelligence Committee report on torture, this programme deserves full attention, not only for the immorality of its practices, but also for the implications it has for human rights, international law, and state sovereignty.
The last bank in the US to processe financial remittances to Somalia has been forced to close. It has cited an inability to meet the regulatory requirements necessary in preventing money-laundering. The potential impacts on the Somali economy are very significant. It raises uncomfortable questions about how US government agencies collaborate in aid giving, as well as challenging assumptions about the best way of providing humanitarian assistance.
The recent attacks in Paris have prompted wide ranging discussions over the domestic security policies of Francois Hollande’s government. However, it is also worth considering these in the context of French foreign policy towards global terrorism. The last time France hit the front pages for reasons of international terrorism, was surrounding the military operation to oust Islamic militants in Northern Mali in 2013. This mission was known as Operation Serval and finished in July 2014. On July 19 2014, President Francois Hollande announced a ‘new phase’ in the fight against radical Islamic terrorism in Africa, it takes the form of Operation Barkhane.
A few months ago Islamic State (IS) announced that it was to start minting its own coins. The production of gold, silver and copper coins is a move that is part of a number of state-making practices conducted by IS in Northern Iraq and Syria. Whilst much reporting has dismissed this act as dysfunctional and non-workable, is raises important questions about the role of currency as a geopolitical agent in the 21st Century. This article seeks to explain how the Islamic ‘dinar’, as it is to be known, is geopolitically productive as an object of resistance, and as an evocation of the past.
In the last 6 months, few will have failed to miss the extensive coverage of the Ebola outbreak, confirmed first in Guinea in March, then spread to neighbouring countries Sierra Leone and Liberia. Whilst other diseases, such as malaria, have been regularly killing individuals at a rate far higher than Ebola, none have so successfully focused media coverage and public discussion. The renewal of Band Aid by Bob Geldof in response to Ebola, with a new edited version of the original 1984 track, is a stunt that is symptomatic of the demand for public commitment to the Ebola crisis. However, rather than offering an innovative method of offering support to West Africa, Band Aid 30 simply highlights the ignorant, dated and selfish nature of aid giving in western popular culture.
(This article was originally posted on the Royal Holloway Geopolitics & Security blog)
British colonial history tells many remarkable tales, none more so than the story of the Great Hedge of India. This relatively unknown story, was rediscovered recently by author, Roy Moxham. He tells of a botanical and architectural structure, an impenetrable 8ft high hedge, 1500 miles long, that stretched across Central India. How is it that a wall, comparable to The Great Wall of China, has completely vanished from the story of the British Raj? And what relevance does it have to bordering today? The vicious speed at which events have unfolded in Burkina Faso over the last few weeks is a certain reason to be concerned. President Compaoré had been in power for 27 years, yet it took just two days of popular protest for him to be removed. Such a dramatic removal of a seemingly entrenched political figure draws to attention the continual political uncertainty of states in West Africa. Moreover, this has significant implications for the secretive US counter-terrorism strategy in the region.
It is often declared that all the territories of the world have been discovered and conquered. However, recent developments in the South China Sea might begin to suggest otherwise. Evidence is appearing that China is constructing a number of island territories that are acting as key actors in a fierce geopolitical struggle.
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August 2015
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