January, 2022

• 22 January

  The Pandemic Has Done Little to Check China’s Geostrategic Ambitions

  

  Given the lack of joined up thinking by China’s geopolitical adversaries, the biggest threat to China’s growing economic and geopolitical dominance may actually be itself. For a country considered by many to have been the source of a global health pandemic resulting in over 5.3 million deaths globally, it is …

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• 22 January

  Protecting the European Security Order

  

  The US and Europe will need to work together to prevent Russian attempts to fundamentally redefine the European security order by force. In late 2021, European Council President Charles Michel declared 2022 the ‘year of European defence’. He was referring to a burst of planned activity from the EU: a …

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• 22 January

  Morocco Drives a War in Western Sahara for Its Phosphates

  

  In November 2020, the Moroccan government sent its military to the Guerguerat area, a buffer zone between the territory claimed by the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The Guerguerat border post is at the very southern edge of Western Sahara along the road that goes …

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• 22 January

  The Day After Russia Attacks

  

  What War in Ukraine Would Look Like—and How America Should Respond Despite a flurry of meetings in recent weeks, the United States, NATO, Ukraine, and Russia have not moved any closer to a diplomatic solution or a reduction of tensions on the Ukrainian-Russian border. Although Russia has not completely abandoned …

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• 22 January

  Iran’s Raisi attacks US during speech to Russian parliament

  

  The Iranian president addressed Russian lawmakers on the second day of his visit to Moscow, a “landmark” trip at a critical juncture for the revival of the Iran nuclear deal. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi defended his country’s nuclear activities as legal and renewed strong criticism against the American sanctions regime …

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• 22 January

  Prison housing Iraqi, Syrian IS inmates attacked in Syria

  

  Detention facilities under US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were hit by a major attack attempting to free the thousands within. Mosque loudspeakers urged residents of Hasakah to stay inside in the early morning hours of Jan. 21 after an attempted jailbreak at detention facilities housing thousands of Syrian and Iraqi …

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• 22 January

  Calls across political spectrum to probe Israel Police Pegasus spyware misuse

  

  Knesset members from across the political spectrum are calling for an official probe over publications that police had used the spyware Pegasus to hack phones of citizens without prior court order. Over the last few days, parties on the left and on the right called on the Knesset speaker to …

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• 22 January

  China appoints envoy for Horn of Africa

  

  China’s announcement of an envoy to the troubled Horn of Africa raised questions about the effectiveness of the Chinese role in resolving regional conflicts, especially the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis, which is still a subject of tension and disagreement between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa. China has recently announced …

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• 22 January

  Israel points finger at Iran for Houthi attack on UAE

  

  Israel is worried about the international community’s lack of reaction to the Houthi drone attack on the Emirates, surely orchestrated by Iran. “They are in shock, deep shock. They are not used to being attacked like this,” a senior Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, referring to …

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• 22 January

  EU-MENA relations: Outlook for 2022

  

  Going into 2022, many of the main issues that dominated the European Union’s (EU) relations with the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), from the ongoing talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to the conflicts in …

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