In this series of articles, our foreign affairs editor Colin McGinness provides a concise roundup of the biggest geopolitical events from the past month.
Asia
In a surprise move, Shinzo Abe has announced that he will resign from his post as Prime Minister of Japan due to health concerns. Struggling since a teenager with ulcerative colitis, Abe stated that although his condition had been under control, stresses of the job had caused it to flare up again. He is Japan’s longest serving prime minister, and has been instrumental in dictating both the domestic and foreign policy of the country during his tenure. The term ‘Abenomics’ was coined to describe his approach at reforming the Japanese economy and his attempts at jump-starting it out of its several decades long slump. With the opposition in Japan still largely fragmented, his successor will likely come from his own Liberal Democratic Party.
Of the six coronavirus vaccines that are entering the human trial phase, three are being produced by Chinese biotech companies. Accusations of rushing the process have been levied against the companies, particularly from the West. As the virus still runs rampant in many parts of the world, the hope is that the race for the vaccine will ensure a speedy rollout once the final trials have been completed.
A Wall Street Journal report has claimed that Facebook has been influenced by the ruling BJP party in India to go easy on hate-speech posted on the platform by its party members. Following a highly divisive election in 2019, the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Nahendra Modi has sought to solidify its rule and fight back against accusations of prejudice and preference for Hindu-nationalism. However, the opposition Congress Party claims that this report is further proof that the BJP is using its time in power to unfairly influence information.
North America
With the 2020 US general election looming, both the Republican and Democratic parties have now held their respective political conventions. While not the usual live spectacle that is a staple of the political calendar, both conventions highlighted the deep divisions that currently consume the country. Democratic nominee Joe Biden announced that Kamala Harris, a one-time rival and presidential hopeful, would be his running mate for the coming campaign. Across the week of the convention; Harris, Biden, the Obama’s, a mix of notable Democrats as well as some high profile former Republicans gave speeches either online or in pre-recorded videos stating the case for a change in national leadership. Conversely, the Republican National Convention was largely a family affair, which saw President Trump present himself as the ‘law and order’ candidate, similar to the Nixon campaign of 1968.
South America
Wildfires continue to rage through the Amazon rainforest. Following the rampant blazes of last year, the Brazillian government instituted a fire ban and pledged to prevent similar damage. However as the current blazes are nowhere near being under control, experts say that the fires could surpass even the record set in 2019.
In Ecuador, a man and woman have become the world’s oldest married couple. Julio Mora, 110, and Waldramina Quinteros, 104, received Guinness certification this month for their combined age of 214 years.
North Africa & The Middle East
Earlier this month, the Lebanese capital Beirut was wracked by an enormous blast, caused by the improper storage of explosive materials. This disaster came at a particularly difficult time for the nation, which has traditionally been a relatively stable state in an unstable region. Faced with a looming debt crisis and political gridlock, citizens have once again taken to the streets to protest government mismanagement and corruption.
A proposed ceasefire in Libya has since been called off by the forces controlling the eastern portion of the country under General Haftar. Haftar is being supported by the Egyptian state which opposes the UN backed provisional government based in Tripoli. Having been pushed back further east, Haftar has called on his Egyptian allies who have in turn already expressed the possibility of intervention.
Africa
Ethiopia has begun the process of filling the reservoir of its newly constructed Grand Ethiopia Reservoir Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile. Egypt, which lies upriver from the the project has accused Ethiopia of unilaterally infringing upon its water rights to the Nile and its tributaries. This has been a running issue between the two states since construction on the project began in 2011, and recent attempts at negotiation have not resulted in any concrete agreements.
Mali has experienced its second military coup in under 10 years. Following months of protest in response to president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta’s responses to the ongoing insurgency in the country as well as accusations of corruption amongst his cabinet, the government has since collapsed and the military has taken control of the country. The United Nations Security Council, as well as other organisations including the African Union, EU and Amnesty International have denounced the coup and have called for the release of political prisoners.
Europe
In Belarus, an election has spiralled out of control and is the cause of large-scale civil unrest and rioting. The country’s leader, Alexander Lukashenko, is commonly referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictator’ and has been in power since 1994. Of the five elections Lukashenko has contested since, only the first was acknowledged by international monitors as ‘free and fair’. Lukashenko’s opponent, a human rights lawyer named Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, is now in exile in Lithuania following a reported attempt on her life. Amidst the largest protests in the country’s post-soviet history, Vladimir Putin has suggested that Russian military is available to intervene ‘should the situation require’.
The French government is investigating one of its top military officials over a ‘potential security breach’. The official in question has not been named, and is suspected of spying for Russia. He is currently being held at a prison in Paris.