On Sunday, the two leaders of warring Libyan factions met in Berlin along with leaders and officials from Turkey, Russia, Egypt, France, Italy, UK, U.S., United Arab Emirates, Algeria, China, the Republic of the Congo, the United Nations, European Union, and African Union for an international summit in an attempt to stop the ongoing military...
Category: TRENDS IN GEOPOLITICS
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FRANCE: OLD STRIKES END, NEW STRIKES START
Last week, over 500,000 strikers continued the massive protest against proposed changes to the pension system, which is now over a month long. Ending the longest transport strike in the history of France this past weekend, other unions kept the fight going by cutting power to thousands in the southern suburbs of Paris. Last Friday,...
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VENEZUELA: GUAIDÓ DOWN, POMPEO PUMPS HIM UP
As reported in last week’s Trends Journal, Juan Guaidó, who had declared himself president of Venezuela last January with the support of the U.S. and some 50 other countries, has lost much of his popular support. In a rally following a disputed vote for his re-nomination as leader of the Congress, only a few hundred...
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IRAN: U.S. SELLING “IMMINENT THREAT” LIE: WMDs 2.0
Following up on the 7 January Trends Journal Special Report detailing the U.S. assassination of Iran’s General Qassim Soleimani, the next day, Iran responded by firing over a dozen missiles at Iraqi military bases housing American troops. There were no deaths, nor any major casualties. It was reported that Iran provided advanced notice of the...
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HONG KONG: BEIJING GETTING TOUGHER
The Hong Kong protests, now in their seventh month, show no signs of abating. And with the November local election bringing in 87 percent of candidates who are anti-Beijing and pro-democracy, the Chinese government is taking measures to reign in the movement. Last weekend, the Chinese government’s top representative in Hong Kong was replaced with...
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FRANCE: MACRON FEELING THE HEAT
The longest strike in France since 1986 is now over a month long and shows no signs of losing strength. On New Year’s Eve, French President Emmanuel Macron made a plea for compromise to unions in their negotiations with the government over proposed changes in the country’s pension system. The response to the speech by...
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INDIA: HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS TAKE TO THE STREETS
Hundreds of thousands continue to protest throughout India against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new citizenship law. The act specifically makes religion a basis of citizenship, which is considered by the protesters a direct violation of India’s secular constitution. The bill specifically excludes Muslims, of which there are over 200 million living in India, from rights...
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VENEZUELA: GUAIDÓ BLOCKED, GUAIDÓ BACK
On 5 January, Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader who proclaimed himself the rightful President of Venezuela last January, despite an internationally observed electoral victory by President Nicolas Maduro, was denied entrance to parliament by government security forces. A video was released of Guaidó climbing a fence outside the parliament building and being restrained by security...
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TRUMP PLAYS THE WILD CARD: FIRES FIRST SHOT OF WWIII
Last Thursday, Iran’s top military commander, Major General Qassim Soleimani, was killed by a U.S. Reaper drone strike outside the Baghdad International airport. Soleimani had just arrived on a commercial flight to attend the funerals of Iraqi soldiers killed a few days earlier in American air strikes, and he was also scheduled to meet with...
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LEBANON: GOING DOWN
As we state in our “Geopolitical Update,” credit rating firm Fitch warns that Lebanon is likely to default on its debt, as the fractured government cannot quell the political and financial crisis that has brought protesters into the streets of Beirut since October. The protests, sparked by rising unemployment, government corruption, and financial mismanagement, are...