In the pre-election throes for the presidency, the White House is actively looking for a possible area of focus to showcase “its successes” to everyone, placing particular emphasis in the international arena in this regard on expanding the list of Arab and Muslim countries that are ready, under Washington’s current mediation, to establish diplomatic relations […]
The Security Council began meeting in its chamber this month, complete with plastic dividers, for the first time since the pandemic started: Nicolas de Rivière, France’s ambassador, left, and Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s envoy, right, Oct. 15, 2020. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program and an American, spoke to the media at UN headquarters in New York City remotely on Oct. 16, 2020. The agency was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a week earlier, and he used the briefing to plea for billions of more dollars in donations to the agency to stave off famines in certain countries. He also asked billionaires to pitch in as nations are “tapped out” from the pandemic financially. JOHN PENNEY
By Yves Engler · October 14, 2020
Which is more believable as motivation to send soldiers to other countries, altruism or self-interest?
Canadian forces don’t train their African counterparts out of a commitment to professionalism or democracy but to extend this country’s influence.
Recently, in light of its ongoing confrontation with China, the United States has started seeking opportunities to expand its influence in Africa increasingly more actively. Just as other leading world players, Washington has shown interest in the continent because of its natural resources and strategic location, i.e. the main reasons why the US “battle over Africa” is seemingly ramping up.
In September, in South Africa, in a clear repeat of events which took place last year, there was a new wave of demonstrations directed primarily against the massive numbers of Nigerians, political refugees, economic migrants, and expatriates from Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe immigrating into the country. The local population believes that they threaten jobs for South Africans themselves, by virtue of which the slogan “South Africans First” has gained particular popularity among the protesters.
The issue of healthcare reform is one that is consistently identified by opinion polls as being among the most important to Americans. The United States continues to be the only fully industrialized nation that lacks a public healthcare system, a feature of modern “democracy” that is taken for granted in most developed countries.
Anna Evstigneeva, the new deputy ambassador at the Russian mission to the UN. She is the first woman to have that role there, although she worked at the mission, including as a political coordinator, from 2011 to 2016. She began her diplomatic career in Oslo. JOHN PENNEY
