Global Beat: Trump Unveils Afghanistan Strategy, and More
August 25, 2017
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Global Beat is your weekly stop for news from around the world. Join us every Friday morning for important stories you should know about.
This week, President Trump announces his long awaited strategy for resolving the war in Afghanistan without specifying details; two shipments from North Korea destined for the Syrian government agency responsible for chemical weapons are intercepted; the U.S. embassy in Moscow will halt all non-immigrant visas from Russia; and more.
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Americas
Venezuela’s political crisis deepened this week after a new pro-government body stripped the opposition-held parliament of its legislative powers. Attorney General Luisa Ortega accused President Nicolás Maduro of links to a corruption scandal. Maduro is now seeking an international arrest warrant for Ortega, accusing him of being involved in “serious crimes.” Ortega fled the country last week. Meanwhile, the U.S. government added more names to its individual sanctions list in Venezuela, including Maduro himself.
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- U.S. State Department warns citizens about traveling to parts of Mexico as violence surges – Los Angeles Times
Central & South Asia
On Monday, President Trump put forth his long awaited strategy for resolving the nearly 16-year-long conflict in Afghanistan. Although the president declined to specify the number of committed troops or his strategy for success, he did declare that the days of “nation building” were over. In his speech, President Trump made an appeal to India for more help in Afghanistan, a statement which set off alarm bells in Pakistan. Pakistan, a historic enemy of India, warned that the new approach risked straining an already tumultuous relationship. Pakistan came under fire during the speech for being the recipient of billions of dollars of U.S. aid while still “housing the very terrorists that we are fighting,” Trump said.
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- 87,000 Myanmar nationals have entered Bangladesh since October 2016 – The Daily Star
China & East Asia
According to a report provided to the UN Security Council in early August, two shipments from North Korea destined for the Syrian government agency responsible for chemical weapons have been intercepted in the past six months. Observers said the shipments represented attempts to bolster outlawed weapons programs in both countries and deepen a decades-long alliance in defiance of rigid international sanctions. Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria, one of whom informed the Security Council that it had “reason to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with Syria.” KOMID is the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, which the Security Council blacklisted in 2009 and described as Pyongyang’s key arms dealer and exporter of equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.
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Europe & Russia
According to the U.S. embassy in Moscow, from August 23 until September 1 the United States will halt all non-immigrant visas from Russia. Consulates in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg will stay frozen for as long as staffing levels are reduced, even after September 1. The move comes in response to the Russian government-imposed cap on its staff levels, according to a fact sheet on the U.S. embassy’s website. Meanwhile, Russia named Anatoly Antonov, a former defense official subject to European sanctions over his role in the conflict in Ukraine, as the next ambassador to Washington. Antonov will replace Sergey Kislyak, whose contacts with members of President Trump’s campaign team made him a central figure in the row over Russian influence in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
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- France wants to involve psychiatrists in preventing attacks – Associated Press
Middle East & North Africa
Iran and Saudi Arabia will exchange diplomatic visits soon, indicating a possible thaw in relations between the regional rivals since they severed diplomatic ties last year. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Iranian Students’ News Agency that “the visas have been issued for both sides to make this trip. We are waiting for the final steps to be completed so diplomats from the two countries can inspect their embassies and consulates.” Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are at their worst in years, with each accusing the other of subverting regional security and supporting opposite sides of the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran in January 2016 after a prominent Saudi Shi’ite cleric was executed, prompting Riyadh to close the embassy.
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Southeast Asia & Oceania
The USS John S. McCain docked at Singapore’s naval base with significant damage to its hull on Monday following an early-morning collision with an oil tanker. Ten sailors were missing, and on Tuesday the Navy said divers had found the remains of some sailors in flooded compartments of the warship. The collision came less than two weeks after the guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef, a contested atoll that China has built into a de facto military base. The patrol was meant to challenge Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea and underline U.S. naval dominance of the Pacific Ocean. The Chinese state news media, which accused the Pentagon this month of provoking regional conflict by sending the John S. McCain near Mischief Reef, seized on the collision to step up its criticism of American forays in the South China Sea. The U.S. Navy relieved Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin of his duties “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command” following the incident.
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- New Chinese activity in disputed South China Sea challenges Sino-Philippine friendship – Voice of America
Sub-Saharan Africa
Angola elected its first new president in almost four decades this week, after former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos stepped down after 38 years in power. Succeeding dos Santos is Joao Lourenco, a ruling party loyalist and a former general who endured several years out of favor after he angled for the top job in the 1990s, when dos Santos hinted that he might step down. The move turned out to be a political maneuver to bring those in the party with political ambitions out of the woodwork. The Angola election commission reported that the historic vote was peaceful. Oil-rich Angola is beset by poverty, corruption, and human rights concerns, though some analysts believe new leadership could open the way to more accountability.
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