The incoming administration has a unique opportunity to cultivate a dynamic partnership with Africa that transcends conventional diplomacy, intensifies economic ties, balances security commitments, and revitalizes development efforts
China invests $50 billion in Hainan's military infrastructure;
Huawei obtains advanced AI chips despite U.S. export controls;
China's military uses Meta's Llama to build an AI model;
China tightens its grip on rare minerals needed to make chips;
Indonesia wants more high-speed rail financing from China
New sanctions target Hamas fundraising;
Israel eyes a Somaliland base to counter the Houthis;
Russia ponders how to deal with extremists...;
...amid fear and loathing in the Caucasus;
The ISIS marriage trade
Russian propaganda targets Africa's health sector;
South Africa downgrades its Taiwan diplomacy;
Kenya's political shakeup;
Hungary makes a deal with Chad…;
…While Chad launches military operation
The campaign of terror carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, succeeded in denting Israel's aura of military invincibility, while the resulting conflict in Gaza helped isolate Jerusalem on the world stage. Israel's normalization with the Gulf States, which had started to profoundly marginalize the Islamic Republic, also seemed to be a casualty of the new war. Meanwhile, timid American regional policy, and the Biden administration's overriding fear of a wider Mideast war, led to a persistent failure on Washington's part to hold Tehran accountable for its regional troublemaking.