China Cements its Position in the Middle East

by Judith Bergman • January 10, 2023 at 5:00 am

Saudi Arabia is not only one of China's most important energy suppliers, but the kingdom is also an important link in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) -- a gigantic global development project... to enhance China's global influence from East Asia to Europe by making countries worldwide increasingly dependent on China. Under the BRI, China has signed cooperation agreements with 20 Arab countries.
China is also Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner -- an arrangement that extends to military cooperation....
Biden took a longstanding ally, Saudi Arabia, and, by repeating that he would make the kingdom "a pariah nation," created an adversary. "For an American president to be silent on the issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am," Biden said. The same concern for human rights has not seemed to bother him, however, when it comes to China or Iran, whose record on human rights is at least as bad as Saudi Arabia's, if not worse.
China jumped in to fill the vacuum.
Xi Jinping has made no secret of his wishes to "replace America as the global superpower" economically, militarily, diplomatically and technologically by 2049. The United States might be "well poised to lead," but is it leading?

When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia on December 7 for his first visit since 2016, he was welcomed with a lavish reception. The contrast to the low-key reception of US President Joe Biden last July could hardly have been greater. Pictured: The Chinese and the Saudi flags fly in Riyadh, on December 7, 2022, ahead of Xi's visit to the Saudi capital. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)

When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia on December 7 for his first visit since 2016, he was welcomed with a lavish reception. Fighter jets escorted his plane into Saudi airspace, a purple carpet was rolled out, and cannons were fired. Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), welcomed Xi the next day with a ceremony, during which Xi's car was escorted by members of the Saudi Royal Guard on horseback and carrying the flags of both countries, followed by a welcoming banquet.

The contrast to the low-key reception of US President Joe Biden last July could hardly have been greater. Biden took a longstanding ally, Saudi Arabia, and, by repeating that he would make the kingdom a "pariah nation," created an adversary.

Continue Reading Article

Africa's Sahel Region: Enter Russia's Wagner Group to Make It Worse

by Lawrence A. Franklin • January 10, 2023 at 4:30 am

Sahel states such as Mali do not possess the essential services to deliver to their impoverished and ethnically divided constituents. These economic and social shortcomings render national governments vulnerable to the challenge posed by sub-state jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.
The decline in security not only permitted both terrorist groups to expand their area of operations in the Sahel but also to Atlantic coastal states of West Africa such as Benin.
Moscow also seized upon this security vacuum as an opportunity to dispatch Russia's Wagner Group mercenaries to Mali, where the military junta apparently hopes to use the Wagner to coup-proof the regime.
When France closed down its ten year anti-terrorist deployment to the Sahel, it enabled JNIM to extend its deadly reach to the border regions of Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Niger, and even as far as Togo.
One thing is certain: since the arrival of the Wagner Group, reports of civilian atrocities have increased and the overall security status of Mali has dramatically worsened.

The departure of France's troops from Mali in April, followed by the June 2022 shutdown of the French-led multilateral European Special Forces "Task Force Takuba," created a security vacuum in the region. Pictured: A French Marine Special Operation Forces officer trains Malian soldiers as part of Task Force Takuba, in Mali's Menaka army base, on December 7, 2021. (Photo by Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)

The Islamic Jihadist challenge to the legitimacy and sovereignty of post-colonial nation-states throughout the entire expanse of the African continent's Sahel region is seriously worsening.

To begin with, the internecine warfare between jihadist groups in the West African states of the Sahel, just south of the Sahara Desert, has become an existential threat to the legitimacy of the region's national governments.

Continue Reading Article