In the Trends Journal’s 9 February article, “ICC TO PROBE ISRAELI WAR CRIMES,” we reported on the International Criminal Court’s decision to investigate allegations of war crimes against Israel for its role in the 2014 Gaza War, otherwise known as “Operation Protective Edge.” Israel quickly called the move politically motivated with no legal standing, and the...
Category: TRENDS IN GEOPOLITICS
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BIDEN RENEWS “STATE OF EMERGENCY” SANCTIONS ON VENEZUELA
Picking up where former President Trump left off – and despite recent overtures by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to restore relationships – the Biden administration renewed a declaration of national emergency, which is the legal framework to impose strict sanctions against the Maduro regime. Despite the hardship, the sanctions have imposed on the general population...
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ITALY: POPULIST MOVEMENTS DEAD
Giuseppe Conte, the former Italian prime minister who was recently replaced by Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, will lead the country’s Five Star Movement that was once championed as an anti-euro populist party. In our 26 January article, “ITALY’S CONTE PREVAILS IN CONFIDENCE VOTE, NOW RESIGNS,” we reported that Conte...
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BIDEN’S CIA PICK: CHINA FOR THE “LONG HAUL”
As we have reported, the Biden administration has vowed to keep a close eye on China after announcing a task force last month fully devoted to countering Beijing, which President Biden has called the U.S.’s most “serious competitor.” Last Wednesday, William J. Burns, Biden’s pick to head the CIA, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that...
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BIDEN BACKTRACKS ON HOLDING SAUDI PRICE ACCOUNTABLE
President Biden, throughout his campaign, promised he would approach Saudi Arabia differently than former President Trump and hold Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for his alleged role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That has not happened. Back in November 2019, Biden said that if elected, he would make it clear to Saudi Prince...
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PROTESTS IN YEMEN AGAINST U.S., SAUDI-LED COALITION
A massive protest broke out last Friday in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, to condemn the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting with the country’s Houthis for six years. Thousands took to the streets in Sana’a to criticize a Saudi-led blockade and the closure of an airport in the country, according to Tasnim News Agency. The...
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GEORGIAN UNREST INTENSIFIES
Last week, we reported that the Georgian Dream, the governing party of Georgia, announced the nomination of Irakli Gharibashvili as the country’s next prime minister. Gharibashvili is a close associate to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire who founded the party. There was a contested parliamentary election in October and subsequent arrest of opposition leader Nika Melia...
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ERITREAN TROOPS GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES?
We have been reporting on the escalating war in Ethiopia since it broke out in early November. It was launched by its Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after the region held its election in September without Ahmed’s approval. As the war spread, we reported on Ethiopia bringing in troops...
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MYANMAR REVOLT: AT LEAST 18 DEAD
As we reported in our 9 February article, “MYANMAR PROTESTS SURGE, JUNTA CLAMPS DOWN,” on 1 February, Myanmar’s military put Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader, under house arrest declaring a state of emergency. Taking full control of the government, they postponed the new election until next year. Since the overthrow began,...
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TOP DEMOCRAT: KEEP THE AFGHAN WAR GOING
Senator Jack Reed, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, signaled last week that the U.S. should refrain from withdrawing troops from Afghanistan to meet an agreed-upon 1 May deadline, calling the pullout potentially destabilizing. The Trends Journal has been reporting on U.S. troop deployment in the country and how October will commemorate the...