Conflict-Ridden, Mineral-Rich DRC Holds Presidential Vote |
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Félix Tshisekedi is facing off (NYT) against some eighteen challengers in today’s presidential and legislative elections. Reports of incomplete voting lists and long lines at the polls have prompted concerns that candidates could challenge the credibility of the vote. Tshisekedi’s own election in 2018 was marred (Economist) by allegations by opposition candidate Martin Fayulu that official results were doctored. Official results could take several days.
Amid an ongoing conflict in the country’s east that has displaced around 7 million people, at least 1.5 million Congolese are not expected to vote. The polls opened after the UN Security Council agreed yesterday to start withdrawing (AP) its peacekeeping force in the area and transferring responsibilities to the country’s government by year’s end. The results are being closely watched by DRC’s neighbors and worldwide, in part because the country is rich in both cobalt, a critical mineral for the energy transition, and tropical rain forests.
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“[The DRC] is so big and so central that its problems cannot be contained: a civil war from 1998 to 2003 sucked in eight other African countries and cost between 1m and 5m lives, depending on which highly speculative estimate you believe,” the Economist writes. “If the country were ever to stop fighting and start developing, it could be a fulcrum for trade and a huge source of hydroelectric power for the continent. So the question of whether Congolese people can freely choose their rulers has consequences.”
“Paradoxically, any Congolese leader will struggle to address the country’s most urgent domestic problems but will have significant leverage to deploy in navigating the international landscape because major powers need Congo’s resources,” CFR expert Michelle Gavin writes in this In Brief.
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New Zealand Eyeing Opportunities With AUKUS, New PM Says |
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand was “interested in exploring” (Nikkei) cooperation with the AUKUS alliance of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States regarding new technologies. AUKUS includes cooperation on nuclear submarines, but Luxon said that New Zealand’s historic position against nuclear weapons was “nonnegotiable.”
This In Brief by Lauren Kahn explains how AUKUS could shape Indo-Pacific security.
U.S./Japan: A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers voiced concerns yesterday over a Japanese company’s planned purchase of the United States Steel Corporation on grounds it could hurt the U.S. industrial base and called for regulators to block it for national security reasons. A trade expert told CNN that such a ruling was highly unlikely due to historical precedent and current U.S.-Japan cooperation against China.
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Main Bangladesh Opposition Party Calls for Boycott of January Election |
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party called for (Dhaka Tribune) voters to boycott the country’s January 7 election beginning today and refrain from paying taxes and utility bills in protest of what they called an unfair vote.
Armenia/Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan sees no major obstacles (Reuters) to peace with neighboring Armenia and contends that disputes over their shared border could be decided separately, a senior Azeri government official said yesterday. In September, Azeri troops recaptured the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh from ethnic Armenian separatists.
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Middle East and North Africa |
Senior Hamas Official Travels to Egypt for Hostage Talks |
Palestinian militant group Hamas’s top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Cairo (NYT) today to discuss a possible truce in Hamas’s war with Israel and the potential release of more hostages taken during the group’s October 7 attack. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Israel was ready for another pause in fighting and an increase in humanitarian aid in exchange for a hostage release.
Middle East: More than one hundred container ships that usually transit the Red Sea are taking alternative routes (Bloomberg) around Africa or by air or rail amid an upsurge in attacks from Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen, Swiss logistics firm Kuehne+Nagel said. The rerouting reflects the cost of conflict in a waterway that carries 12 percent of global trade.
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Liberia President Reverses Country’s Vote Against Gaza Cease-Fire |
President George Weah had not approved (BBC) the foreign ministry’s vote against a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip in a UN General Assembly tally on December 12, the country’s information ministry said yesterday. Liberia was the only African country to oppose a truce. |
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EU Countries Reach Deal on Migration Policy After Three Years of Talks |
Designed in part to assuage concerns of right-wing parties within European Union (EU) countries, the prospective deal would give authorities (NYT) greater power to detain and deport undocumented migrants and better distribute the responsibilities of different European countries to host migrants. While some final details are yet to be negotiated, several migrants rights groups warned (The Guardian) that the deal endangers protections for asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants in the EU.
For Think Global Health, CFR’s Abi McGowan details the dangerous path that migrants take to reach European shores.
U.S./Denmark: Copenhagen will allow U.S. troops (Reuters) to be permanently stationed on Danish soil as part of a new ten-year defense agreement that will be signed later this week, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. The deal comes after the United States signed similar agreements with Finland and Sweden earlier this month.
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China, Nicaragua Upgrade Ties |
A China-Nicaragua free trade deal will enter into effect (Reuters) on January 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on the two-year anniversary of the two countries resuming diplomatic ties. Xi said China would strengthen its political cooperation with Nicaragua as well, state media reported. Washington has imposed economic sanctions on Managua, citing a range of abuses by the Daniel Ortega government.
This Backgrounder by CFR’s Diana Roy unpacks China’s growing influence in Latin America. Argentina: Some social and labor groups have planned a protest in response to recent economic shock measures implemented by new President Javier Milei. Milei’s government has said (AP) that people who block streets could stop receiving social welfare benefits.
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Colorado Supreme Court Bars Trump From Primary Ballot on Count of Insurrection |
The 4–3 ruling cited the Fourteenth Amendment (WaPo) of the U.S. Constitution, which bars people from holding office if they have engaged in insurrection. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign spokesperson called the decision “completely flawed” and said the campaign would appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Colorado’s is the first such ruling of its kind, and comes as some other state courts are considering similar cases.
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