Arab League Ends Syria’s Twelve-Year Suspension |
Members of the Arab League voted to readmit Syria (NYT) yesterday, lifting the suspension they handed President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 over his deadly crackdown on anti-government protests. That unrest escalated into a brutal civil war that has killed more than half a million people. In tacit acknowledgement that Assad won the war, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) encouraged countries in the region to officially begin reengaging with Syria.
Some Arab League countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait, had previously resisted attempts to normalize relations (FT) with Syria and called for Assad to be held accountable for alleged war crimes, but they reportedly voted in favor of readmitting Syria into the organization. Qatar remains a holdout and did not attend the vote, the Associated Press reported. Thirteen of the twenty-two Arab League member states were present.
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“The tide of the war has turned towards Assad after intervention from both Iranian proxies and Russia in the conflict, rendering the armed opposition to a northern enclave in Idlib. This, along with the refugee crisis, drug smuggling and rise of extremist organizations in Syria, prompted countries in the region to start reaching out to Damascus,” Al-Monitor writes.
“Deciding that regional isolation had only driven Syria into the arms of Iran, the Gulf monarchies now hope to peel Mr. al-Assad away from Tehran by engaging with him,” the New York Times’ Vivian Yee writes.
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U.S., China Hold First High-Level Bilateral Meeting in Weeks |
At today’s meeting in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang asked U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns (Bloomberg) to serve as a “bridge” between the two countries, China’s foreign ministry said. High-level exchanges between Washington and Beijing have ebbed in recent months following the U.S. downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon.
This timeline traces U.S.-China relations. Japan/South Korea: President Kishida Fumio became the first Japanese leader to visit South Korea (Nikkei) in twelve years, highlighting the warming ties between the two nations. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol visited Tokyo in March. For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR’s Scott A. Snyder discusses the strategy behind South Korea’s diplomatic realignment. |
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Afghan, Pakistani Governments Agree to Cooperate on Trade, Security |
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Middle East and North Africa |
China, UAE Sign Three Memorandums on Low-Carbon Nuclear Power |
The countries agreed to cooperate (Reuters) on nuclear energy operations, high temperature gas-cooled reactors, and nuclear fuel supply and investment. The UAE has said China will be a critical partner in its plans to transition to clean energy. |
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One Hundred People Killed in Darfur, Hundreds of Miles From Sudan’s Capital Clashes |
A Sudanese doctors’ union said at least one hundred people in the Darfur region died in clashes last month (AP) following the outbreak of fighting between military factions in Khartoum, a sign that the violence in Sudan’s capital could be spreading elsewhere in the country.
For Foreign Affairs, Alex de Waal looks at Sudan’s descent into chaos.
DRC: Rescuers recovered nearly four hundred bodies (BBC) following flash flooding and landslides in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week. Authorities previously estimated that two hundred people had died.
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Wagner Group Chief Says Bakhmut Fighters Have Been Promised More Ammunition |
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of the Russian mercenary group, previously threatened (NYT) to withdraw his fighters from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut over a lack of supplies. Separately, Ukraine said it shot down thirty-five drones (Bloomberg) that attacked Kyiv overnight.
Slovakia: Caretaker Prime Minister Eduard Heger resigned (FT) yesterday and will be replaced by the central bank’s deputy governor, Ľudovít Ódor. The shake-up comes ahead of elections on September 30 and follows a series of ministerial resignations in the last week.
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Right-Wing Party to Form Largest Bloc in Chile’s New Constitutional Assembly |
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Police to Detain Driver Who Crashed Into Crowd Near Migrant Shelter |
A man driving an SUV ran over and killed eight people (AP) waiting for a bus near a migrant shelter in Brownsville, Texas, yesterday. Most of the victims were Venezuelan men, the shelter director said. |
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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