Author: Christine Schier

With over 200 million people, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and the only one in West-Central Africa able to deploy an Army in the true sense of the term. In virtue of its economic and military power, it holds the regional balance of power. Thus, whether the government formed after the election of a new President last […]

The Transaqua project had gained renewed momentum in 2018, when it was endorsed by all member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Committee, at an international conference in Abuja organized by the Buhari government. On that occasion, the Italian government had committed to co-finance the feasibility study, but the process got bogged down due to political changes and foreign interference. […]

A Nov. 5 article titled “Israel Minister Suspended after Calling Nuking Gaza an Option” in Politico reported that “Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu was suspended indefinitely after he said in an interview that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was ‘one of the possibilities,’ the government announced on Sunday”, Nov. 5. It would be supremely irresponsible to not take this […]

The most important strategic event of last week was the four-hour summit meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi on Nov. 15 in San Francisco, which both sides reported were constructive and reduced the growing conflict opposing the two major powers (cf. below). It is assumed, although not officially confirmed, that the two leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine and […]

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has insisted time and again that he will not yield to the “heavy opposition” from around the world, but if the United States, in particular, indicates it will withdraw its until-now unconditional support, the Israelis will have to accept compromises. Thus, Netanyahu’s allies are very worried about the growing protests inside the U.S., especially among Jewish […]

The four-hour meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, that took place Nov. 15 on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, reestablished lines of communication at various levels between the two countries, which had been frayed and even broken during the period of growing tensions of the last few years. The summit had […]

With the Iowa caucuses, which mark the official beginning of the 2024 presidential campaign, less than two months away, the news for the Democrats has not been good. Poll after poll shows President Biden trailing Donald Trump, who is the likely Republican nominee, even though he faces 91 criminal charges in four upcoming trials. While the polls are close, the […]

Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled on Nov. 15 that the government’s decision of one year ago to shift non-used funds earmarked for compensation of Covid-related losses to the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) violates the constitutional clause on the “debt brake”, and is therefore illegal. This leaves the Berlin government with a financial hole of €60 billion for its over-ambitious climate-related […]

The Swedish government published last week a roadmap for the construction of new nuclear power reactors – two by 2035, and another eight by 2045– with projected government credit guarantees of 400 billion crowns (€35 billion). The roadmap is intended to enter into legal force by January 1, 2024. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba […]

Libertarian extremist Javier Milei of the Freedom Advances party (LLA) came away with a big win in Argentina’s Nov. 19 run-off presidential elections, defeating Sergio Massa of the ruling Union for the Fatherland (UxP) coalition 56%-44%. This was a rout for Massa and represented a resounding condemnation of the government of Alberto Fernandez, who failed to follow through on any […]