20 Dec 2018
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, whose experience and stability were widely seen as a balance to an unpredictable president, resigned Thursday in protest of President Trump’s decision to withdraw American forces from Syria and his rejection of international alliances.
Mr. Mattis had repeatedly told friends and aides over recent months that he viewed his responsibility to protect the United States’ 1.3 million active-duty troops as worth the concessions necessary as defense secretary to a mercurial president. But on Thursday, in an extraordinary rebuke of the president, he decided that Mr. Trump’s decision to withdraw roughly 2,000 American troops from Syria was a step too far.
Officials said Mr. Mattis went to the White House with his resignation letter already written, but nonetheless made a last attempt at persuading the President to reverse his decision about Syria, which Mr. Trump announced on Wednesday over the objections of his senior advisers. Click here to read.. [2]
A high-powered delegation from Washington comprising officials from the department of state and department of defense will be arriving in New Delhi in January to enhance the strategic and defence cooperation between the two nations.
The visit will be a follow-up to the first-ever India-US ministerial level 2+2 dialogue held in New Delhi on September 6 between Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman with their respective US counterparts, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis. “A senior official level delegation is coming to India on January 11 to lay the ground work for implementation of decisions taken during the September 2+2 dialogue,” said a senior official in South Block.
The US delegation will be arriving in India after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's visit to the United States early this month, where she asserted that New Delhi sees the US as an important partner. Click here to read.. [3]
India and the US are contesting seven disputes at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in areas including poultry, steel and export incentives, Parliament was informed Monday. These seven cases "pertain to poultry and poultry products from the US, countervailing duties against India's export of steel products, measures against import of solar cells and modules under National Solar Mission," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The other cases include the US's Sub-Federal Renewable Energy Programmes, United States' measures concerning non-immigrant visas, India's export promotion schemes and United States' tariff hike on steel and aluminium products, he said. The US has challenged certain export promotion schemes of India and "there will be no effect to the GST refunds provided to the exporters under the GST Act as GST issues have no linkage with this dispute," he added.
India considers that it does not provide any WTO non-compliant subsidies for exports, he added. Click here to read.. [4]
Donald Trump’s former National Security advisor has had his sentencing delayed, after being warned he could be the first White House official to be jailed in relation to the investigation into possible collusion with Russia. Michael Flynn, who served less than two months in the Trump Administration, pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition between Barack Obama’s presidency and Trump’s, and about his lobbying work for the Turkish Government at the time.
In a bid to avoid jail time, Flynn struck a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives, and cooperated in 19 interviews over the space of a year. Click here to read.. [5]
Donald Trump’s family-run charity has agreed to be shut down, following allegations that the US president and others misused its funds. The Attorney General of New York State, Barbara Underwood, announced that the Trump Foundation would be closing, and accused Trump and his three eldest children of using the foundation and its funds for “private and political gain”, the BBC says.
The New York Times says Underwood accused the foundation of “functioning as little more than a cheque book to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests,” and of engaging in “a shocking pattern of illegality”, including coordinating with Trump’s successful presidential campaign. CBS News reports that the foundation allegedly “raised money at a nationally televised fundraiser in January 2016, then allowed Trump campaign staffers to [illegally] dictate how the money was spent in grants”. Click here to read.. [6]
President Trump’s decision to withdraw roughly 7,000 troops from Afghanistan, along with the resignation of his defense secretary, Jim Mattis, stirred fears in the Asia-Pacific region on Friday that the United States was abandoning its leadership of decades-old alliances crucial to stability and peace since World War II.
The surprise announcements came after President Trump said he was pulling American forces out of Syria, a decision that prompted Mr. Mattis to resign with a statement about the need to “treat allies with respect and also being clear eyed” about potential enemies.
In Afghanistan, Mr. Mattis was seen as the reliable conduit to the American Government, and someone who provided balance to the whims of an often unpredictable president. But the developments drew particular alarm in Australia, a close American ally whose soldiers have died in American-led wars in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan. Click here to read.. [7]
President Donald Trump, who has to sign off on any deal, is insisting at least $5 bn (£4 bn) be included for his long-promised wall along the Mexican border. In the absence of a deal, funding for about a quarter of US federal agencies lapsed at midnight (05:00 GMT Saturday).
Congress began rare Saturday sessions at about noon local time to try to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, nine of 15 federal departments, including State, Homeland Security, Transportation, Agriculture and Justice are now partially shutting down. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will have to work unpaid or are furloughed, a kind of temporary leave. This is the third time US federal funding has lapsed so far this year, although the other two were brief. Click here to read.. [8]
Late on Wednesday, the US Congress approved a spending bill to keep federal agencies open until February. The Republican President was foiled in the Senate by his own party, which refused to grant him any of the $5 bn (£4 bn) he wants for a US-Mexico wall. Two years on, Mr Trump has been unable to deliver on the central campaign pledge that electrified his rallies.
Congress faces a Friday midnight deadline for averting a partial shutdown of the federal government. Failing to agree a longer-term spending plan, the Senate has only been able to approve a seven-week extension of funds. The House of Representatives is expected to act on the legislation later this week.
President Trump told Republicans on Thursday afternoon he would not approve any deal that denies him wall funding, according to House Speaker Paul Ryan. He later described it as a "sacred obligation". Click here to read.. [9]
President Trump has always taken a contrarian’s view of American military power: He wants to command the biggest, toughest forces on earth, and he wants to keep them at home. The lessons that many in the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies learned in the post-9/11 era — that deployed forces are key to stopping terrorists before they reach American shores and vital to maintaining the alliances that keep the world safe — never resonated with Mr. Trump. He is far more engaged with the idea of using the military to secure the Mexican border than to counter Russia, Iran, North Korea and China.
And now, by ordering the small American force of 2,000 troops to leave Syria, Mr. Trump is about to turn his theory into practice. He is doing so to the quiet horror of many of his senior aides, who have long argued that to pull out of Syria (or Afghanistan, another conflict in which Mr. Trump has said America has no legitimate long-term role) is to ignore the lessons of the past two decades. Click here to read.. [10]
Evaluations of the Japan-US relationship have drastically deteriorated on the Japanese side, according to a recent survey jointly conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun and the US survey firm Gallup. The views of Japanese respondents are notable for a sense of distrust against U.S. President Donald Trump, who proclaims his “America First” policy, such as by demanding that Japan reduce its trade surplus with the United States.
Meanwhile, expectations remain strong for the United States to play a leading role in international society. With many people seeing China and North Korea as military threats, more than 60 percent on the Japanese side supported the role of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, just as in the results of last year’s survey, and their perception of the importance of the alliance seems to have remained unchanged. Click here to read.. [11]
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said relations with the UK are in "deadlock" and he hopes "common sense will prevail". In his annual news conference in Moscow, Mr Putin said he wanted to restore UK-Russia ties "from their current low". "It is in the interests of both countries, both governments to get out of this deadlock. Are we interested in restoring full relations with Britain? Yes, we are interested," he said.
Moscow's relationship with London collapsed following the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. UK police say Russian operatives Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga carried out the attack using the nerve agent novichok, which Moscow denies. Mr Putin dismissed Britain's stance as a "politicised, Russophobic approach" and "simply a reason to organise yet another attack on Russia".Click here to read.. [12]
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused the United States of raising the risk of nuclear war by threatening to spurn a key arms control treaty and refusing to hold talks about another pact that expires soon. In a news conference that lasted more than three hours, Putin also backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria, said British Prime Minister Theresa May had no choice but to implement Brexit and that Western democracy was under serious strain.
The annual event, the 14th of its kind, is used by Putin to burnish his leadership credentials and send messages to foreign allies and foes. This year, he made clear his biggest worry was what he called a dangerous new arms race, something he accused the United States of stoking by turning its back on arms control. Click here to read.. [13]
Russia has conducted another successful test of its ship-based hypersonic missile, a weapon the United States is currently unable to defend against, according to two people with direct knowledge of a US intelligence report. The people, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity, said Russia has carried out five total tests of its ship-based hypersonic missile since 2015. The last known test of the device, dubbed ‘Tsirkon’, was successfully conducted Dec. 10 and reached a top speed of Mach 8, approximately eight times the speed of sound, or about two miles per second.
"What we are seeing with this particular weapon is that the Russians designed it to have a dual-purpose capability, meaning, it can be used against a target on land as well as a vessel at sea," one source explained. "Last week's successful test showed that the Russians were able to achieve sustained flight, a feat that is crucial in the development of hypersonic weapons." Click here to read.. [14]
The Arctic is heating up. And it’s not just due to climate change. The appearance of new shipping lanes and access to once isolated resources as the ice retreats has Moscow racing to stake its claims. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, it will demonstrate its ability to exercise its military might in the northern frontier in August-September. The Tsentr-2019 exercise will bring together Russia’s Northern Fleet, Pacific Fleet and Central Military District in what it calls a “serious test of the battle capacities of the Arctic troops”.
In 2018, Russian and Chinese forces combined in a rare display of coordinated firepower in the northern regions of Siberia and Mongolia. More than 300,000 troops, 36,000 tanks and 1000 aircraft took part. The exact scale of the Tsentr-2019 exercise is not yet certain. But Moscow says it will be among the year’s biggest, and the scale of the operation requires the expansion and updating of existing northern port infrastructure. Click here to read.. [15]
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the United States' military presence in Japan was complicating the search for a formal peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo. Russia and Japan have been in dispute for seven decades over island territories captured by Soviet troops in the last days of World War Two. As a result, they have still not formally ended hostilities.
Putin told reporters at his annual news conference that Moscow was concerned by the deployment of a U.S. air defense system in Japan. Click here to read.. [16]
As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe enters a seventh year in office, he is chasing the holy grail of Japanese diplomacy - a breakthrough in a decades-old territorial row with Russia that has stymied a formal peace treaty since the end of World War II. Abe, who has signaled he is keen to strike a deal, is expected in Moscow next month for his 25th summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Veterans of past negotiations say 2019 may be the best and last chance for Abe, who sees a treaty as a potential political legacy, to end the row over a group of windswept islands seized by Soviet troops in the final days of the war. "Abe has only two years and nine months left in his term. If he wants to do this himself, it is a fight against time," said Muneo Suzuki, a former negotiator and Abe confidant. "If it goes on like this, it will end with nothing," he told Reuters.
Putin may be open to a deal now, expecting that better ties will act as a counter-balance to China and attract more Japanese investment and technology, some experts say. Click here to read.. [17]
Russia said on Monday it had built new barracks for troops on a disputed chain of islands near Japan and would build more facilities for armored vehicles, prompting a diplomatic protest from Tokyo. Russia's Ministry of Defense said it planned to shift troops next week into four housing complexes on two of the four disputed islands, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. Japan's Defense Ministry says 3,500 Russian troops are deployed on the two larger islands as part of an on-going military buildup.
The news came after the Kremlin said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might visit Russia on Jan. 21 as the two countries step up efforts to defuse the territorial dispute that has prevented them from signing a World War II peace treaty. In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Taro Kono told a regular news conference that Japan would lodge a protest. Japan said in July it had asked Russia to reduce its military activity on the islands, a plea Moscow dismissed as unhelpful megaphone diplomacy at the time. Click here to read.. [18]
France agreed Monday to a new military framework with Burkina Faso that would speed engagement of its forces to fight Islamist militants in a northern border region of Burkina where there has been a spike in violence.
The arid Sahel region is suffering violence from militant groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State, highlighting the difficulty international partners face in restoring regional stability. The northern region of Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger, has been especially hard hit, leaving the fragile West African state struggling to assert its authority since ex-Burkinabe president Blaise Compaore was ousted in 2014 at the hands of a popular uprising. Click here to read.. [19]
The UN refugee agency is appealing for $2.7 billion to assist more than two million refugees from South Sudan. The refugees are living in bare-bones conditions in six neighboring countries, and funds to provide for their basic needs are running short.
South Sudan is Africa’s largest refugee crisis and one of its most seriously under-funded. The UN refugee agency reports its last appeal for $1.4 billion was only 38 percent funded. It is urging donors to be more generous in supporting the current two-year appeal. It says the money will provide desperately needed assistance to the refugees and the largely impoverished communities hosting them. Click here to read.. [20]
The Governor of Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa on Wednesday ordered a halt to campaigning in the city ahead of Sunday’s presidential vote for security reasons. The decision by Governor Andre Kimbuta, a member of the ruling coalition, follows crackdowns by security forces on opposition supporters last week that killed at least seven people and a fire that destroyed thousands of voting machines.
The long-delayed election is meant to choose a successor for President Joseph Kabila, due to step down after 18 years in power. If successful, it would lead to Congo’s first democratic transfer of power. Click here to read.. [21]
Protesters in Sudan have set fire to the ruling party's offices as part of a series of demonstrations against rising bread prices and shortages of fuel, both subsidised by the government.
Images circulating on social media showed the ruling National Conference Party's offices in Atbara, some 320km north of the capital Khartoum, being set on fire, while other fires were scattered across the streets at the centre of the protests. Residents told Al Jazeera that the protests were triggered after bread prices increased from one Sudanese pound ($0.02) to three Sudanese pounds ($0.063). Click here to read.. [22]
The African Union (AU) has asked Burundi, the second largest contributor of troops to the AU force in Somalia (AMISOM), to repatriate 1,000 soldiers deployed in the Horn of Africa country by 28 February as part of a gradual disengagement programme by the mission.
This request is contained in a note- seen by AFP and authenticated by a senior official of the AU – summarizing the conclusions of the last meeting of the Coordination Committee for Military Operations of AMISOM on 30 November in Addis Ababa. “It has been decided that the Burundi National Defence Force (BNDF, Burundian army) must reduce its contribution to AMISOM by 1,000 soldiers by 28 February 2018”, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2431, according to the text, which requests the assistance of the United Nations for this repatriation operation. Click here to read.. [23]
Burundi army spokesman Colonel Floribert Biyereke said in a statement issued on Sunday, that the military would ask the Government to argue for a proportionate number of troops be withdrawn from each AU member country, rather than solely Burundian soldiers.
Burundi is the second biggest contributor to the 21,500-strong peacekeeping force with 5,400 soldiers, behind Uganda with 6,200 but ahead of Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia. The African Union is gradually scaling back its Amisom force as Somalia’s nascent armed forces are trained and deployed to replace them. Click here to read.. [24]
23 December 2018
The African Union Peace and Security Council have now approved a new plan of operations in Somalia that will enable peacekeepers to start liberating regions that are still held by Al Shabaab.
Known as the Concept of Operations (ConOps), the blueprint will enable the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) to start with Middle Jubba region to flush out Al-Shabaab remnants at the beginning of 2019. Click here to read.. [25]
Links:
[1] https://www.vifindia.org/vifdigest/internationaldevelopments/2018/december/27
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/us/politics/jim-mattis-defense-secretary-trump.html
[3] https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2018/12/20/US-high-powered-delegation-to-visit-India-in-January.html
[4] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-us-contesting-seven-disputes-under-wto-commerce-ministry/articleshowprint/67133147.cms
[5] https://www.theweek.co.uk/98596/trump-aide-michael-flynn-tries-to-buy-time?_mout=1&utm_campaign=theweekdaily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
[6] https://www.theweek.co.uk/98597/trump-foundation-forced-to-close-down?_mout=1&utm_campaign=theweekdaily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/world/asia/mattis-resign-afghanistan-withdrawal-trump.html
[8] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46657393
[9] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46637773
[10] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/trump-syria-withdrawal-obama.html
[11] http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0005431105
[12] https://news.sky.com/story/vladimir-putin-says-uk-russia-relations-are-deadlocked-11586869
[13] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-nuclear/russias-putin-accuses-u-s-of-raising-risk-of-nuclear-war-idUSKCN1OJ11R
[14] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/20/russia-tests-hypersonic-missile-that-could-be-ready-for-war-by-2022.html
[15] https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/russia-announced-largescale-arctic-wargames-in-2019/news-story/148ebcce1fb414e812003a76e4f0156d
[16] http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201812210014.html
[17] http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201812190060.html
[18] http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201812180019.html
[19] https://www.voanews.com/a/france-vows-aid-for-burkina-but-no-more-troops-to-fight-islamists/4704736.html
[20] https://www.voanews.com/a/billion-appeal-launched-for-south-sudanese-refugees/4705635.html
[21] https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN1OI1DQ-OZAT
[22] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/sudan-protesters-torch-ruling-party-hq-rising-prices-181220063351630.html
[23] http://www.africanews.com/2018/12/21/burundi-to-withdraw-1000-troops-from-somali/
[24] http://www.africanews.com/2018/12/23/burundi-to-oppose-au-s-request-for-withdrawal-of-troops-from-somalia/
[25] https://allafrica.com/stories/201812230092.html
[26] http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?title=VIF News Digest: International Developments (17-23 Dec 2018)&desc=&images=&u=https://www.vifindia.org/vifdigest/internationaldevelopments/2018/december/27
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