Security and Defence

On 1 April 2022, the Malian government proudly announced their successes during a recent operation in Moura that left an estimated 300 ‘militants’ dead. Between 23 and 31 March, the Malian army and suspected Russian mercenary counterparts, Wagner Group (WG), summarily executed these estimated 300 men.

On February 21, 2022, three days before its invasion of Ukraine, Russia recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as independent states.

Corruption, mismanagement, poverty, and war provide fertile conditions for desperate youths with little prospect and lost patience with leaders to welcome such radical change as a military coup. And the pattern is clear; as long as coups succeed, coups will continue to take place.

While the Mali government have launched some investigations into atrocity allegations regarding Islamist groups, investigations into the Mali military have not been commenced.

Moscow must not be allowed to get away with this, even if the sanctions are also costly to the side imposing them. If Russia thinks it has won Ukraine, it is naïve to think it will stop there – this victory will only embolden it to go after everything else it desires.

Since the fall of the USSR, Ukraine has come a long way. While the country still struggles with corruption and economic challenges, it has made strides towards becoming a successful, Western-facing democracy. To safeguard this progress, and the state’s territorial integrity, the West should stand firm against Russia’s recent manoeuvres in forthcoming talks – and Ukraine must be involved.

In 2023 there will be general elections in Nigeria and the current President continuously states that security in the country will be established before handing over power. Already now a year before the elections, it can be discussed whether security, or lack there off, can affect the very happening of such elections.

In October 2007, the CSTO agreed to create a ‘Peacekeeping Force’ that could deploy under a United Nations (UN) mandate, or, within one of its member states without a UN mandate. And in January 2022, the CSTO would, for the first time, deploy collective military forces in the form of ‘peacekeepers’, when violent protests sparked a domestic crisis in Kazakhstan.

How long Kishida remains in office depends on the potentially uncomfortable choices he will have to make: as the moderate leader of a conservative-dominated party, either his old dovishness will alienate the LDP right or his new hawkishness will alienate the Japanese public.

South Korea and Taiwan share surprisingly complex bilateral relations, especially considering that they have so much in common: they are US allies who have experienced far-reaching democratisation and economic growth in the past three decades, they are both former Japanese colonies and they both possess historical links with China.