Blinken Wraps up Mideast Tour as Oil Tanker Seizure Underscores Regional Tensions |
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the outlook (NYT) for the eventual postwar Gaza Strip with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo today, finalizing a tour through the region that also aimed to prevent the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas from spreading. Even so, in the latest sign of soaring regional tensions, Iran said today that it had seized (AP) an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. The tanker has been involved in a yearlong dispute between Tehran and Washington that included the U.S. seizure of one million barrels of the ship’s oil.
The International Court of Justice also began hearing (FT) a case against Israel today, in which South Africa alleges that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. Israel says the case “lacks both a factual and a legal basis,” while several Western countries, led by the United States, said South Africa’s case is unfounded (Reuters). The case could extend for years, though South Africa is requesting an immediate order for emergency measures.
|
|
|
“The [tanker seizure] will raise concerns that Tehran could threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint, which lies just north of where the tanker was seized,” the Financial Times’ Najmeh Bozorgmehr, Andrew England, David Sheppard, and Robert Wright write. “Iranian forces have previously seized tankers during periods of heightened tension with the US and other western states.”
“Nowhere in South Africa’s application is there any recognition that there is a war taking place. This is not a genocide like Rwanda or of the Rohingya or the Yazidis in recent times, where these were just authoritarian regimes that went after populations that were not attacking them,” CFR expert David J. Scheffer tells Puck News. “These were just slaughters. But this is a war. There is an act of self-defense by Israel.”
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict. |
| |
IEA: China Led World’s Renewable Energy Growth in 2023 |
China commissioned (AFP) as much solar energy capacity last year as the rest of the world did in 2022, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today. The world added 50 percent more renewable energy capacity in 2023 than the previous year, though it is still not on pace to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, a goal set at the COP28 UN climate conference last month.
In this article, CFR expert Zongyuan Zoe Liu looks at whether COP28 boosted renewable energy plans.
Papua New Guinea: The government declared (NYT) a two-week state of emergency today in response to violent protests that began yesterday due to defense officers and public servants objecting to what they said was an unexpected pay cut.
|
|
|
China, Maldives Upgrade Ties |
The countries agreed to (Reuters) a “comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership” yesterday during Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s first state visit to Beijing since taking office in November. Muizzu campaigned on a platform questioning India’s influence and military presence in the Maldives; China-India relations have been hostile since 2020.
Myanmar: Longtime Lao diplomat Alounkeo Kittikhoun met with (The Diplomat) the head of Myanmar’s military junta yesterday after recently being appointed as envoy for Myanmar from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN laid out a plan for a political transition in Myanmar following the junta’s 2021 takeover, but the junta has done little to enact it.
|
|
|
Middle East and North Africa |
Iran Reportedly Arrests Thirty-Five People in Probe of Attacks at Soleimani Memorial |
Authorities arrested the people (Reuters) in a probe concerning explosions at a January 3 ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the killing of commander Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported today. |
| |
CFR Senior Fellow Benn Steil’s vivid new biography of Henry Wallace, who nearly became FDR’s successor instead of Truman, shows how close the United States came to disastrous disadvantage in the early Cold War. |
| |
|
Al-Shabaab Captures Passengers of Downed UN Helicopter in Somalia |
After a UN helicopter made an emergency landing yesterday in an area of central Somalia controlled by the Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab, members of the group captured several of the helicopter’s passengers and killed one of them, unnamed Somali officials told the New York Times. A UN spokesperson confirmed the capture but did not comment further, saying response efforts were underway.
This Backgrounder by Mohammed Aly Sergie, Claire Klobucista, and CFR’s Jonathan Masters looks at Al-Shabaab.
Nigeria: The country’s central bank replaced the directors (Bloomberg) of three other banks over regulatory violations that risk Nigeria’s financial stability, it announced today. The government had threatened to take over two of the banks in December when a probe found that they were acquired by a former central bank governor using “ill-gotten wealth” and “without evidence of payment.”
|
|
|
Zelenksyy: Cease-Fire Would Only Benefit Moscow |
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that Ukraine is steadfast (Reuters) that “there will be no pauses” to the war, as they would benefit Russia. At a meeting yesterday of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies regarding Ukraine, member states agreed to provide (Reuters) “billions of euros of further capabilities” to Kyiv in 2024.
Greece: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government is preparing draft legislation (Bloomberg) allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children that he will present in the coming days, Mitsotakis told a state broadcaster yesterday. Marriage equality was part of his 2023 reelection platform, and he has introduced several LGBTQ+ reforms since first taking office in 2019.
This Backgrounder compares marriage equality around the world. |
| |
Argentina, IMF Agree on $4.7 Billion Loan Disbursal After Change in Government |
After reviewing the economic reform measures being taken by Javier Milei’s government, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed (FT) in a provisional deal to release $3.3 billion to Argentina that had been delayed and an additional $1.4 billion ahead of schedule, despite Argentina not meeting the terms of its $43 billion loan program with the bank.
Brazil/Japan: The leaders of the two countries discussed the possibility (Reuters) yesterday of a trade deal between Japan and the South American customs union known as Mercosur, the Brazilian government said.
|
|
|
SEC Approves Trading of Some Bitcoin Funds |
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially confirmed yesterday that it is approving (CNN) the offering of some exchange-traded funds in bitcoin after it erroneously announced this move on Tuesday. The move would make investing in bitcoin more accessible to people who are not direct owners of the digital asset.
This Backgrounder by Anshu Siripurapu and CFR’s Noah Berman explains cryptocurrencies.
|
|
|
Council on Foreign Relations |
58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 |
1777 F Street, NW — Washington, DC 20006 |
|
|
|
