The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...
Category: Ukraine
Russia’s Lavrov Visits Beijing to Discuss Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Sunday in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart to discuss Ukraine and relations with the United States. Russia's top diplomat arrived in China following a visit to North Korea, where he received assurances of support in ...
How the Global South Became Central to China’s Narrative Strategy on Russia’s War in Ukraine
By Lukas Fiala Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a little over three years ago, marked a critical juncture in the development of European and international security. Far from merely a regional issue, the war has since affected many beyond the old continent: ...
How the Global South Became Central to China’s Narrative Strategy on Russia’s War in Ukraine
By Lukas Fiala Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a little over three years ago marked a critical juncture in the development of European and international security. Far from merely a regional issue, the war has since then affected many beyond the old ...
G7 Virtual Meeting With Zelensky Turns Focus to Beijing and South China Sea
The G7 on Wednesday issued a clear warning against China’s military buildup in the South China Sea and stressed that member countries will divest and diversify from China when needed to keep their economies healthy. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle ...
Sexy, Sexy Cold War
Years in a media studies grad school have condemned me to always be haunted by the gap between real-life tragedy and its afterlife as a media narrative. In this vein, it recently struck me that the real-life horror, pain, dislocation and ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
Today is a public holiday in South Africa – Human Rights Day. There’s a certain irony in spending the day focusing on China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vladimir Putin, knee-deep in a human rights disaster. What one makes of the ...
South Africa Begins Controversial Naval Exercises With Russia and China
The South African navy kicked off ten days of drills in the Indian Ocean on Friday with visiting warships from Russia and China. The naval exercises, known as Operation Mosi II, have sparked considerable outrage among civil society groups and opposition ...
It’s the West’s Fault, Not Russia’s There Are Food Shortages in Africa, According to Chinese State Media
Chinese state media is promoting the narrative that the worsening food crisis in Africa is due to Western sanctions against Russia rather than because Moscow invaded a sovereign country. CGTN published a short clip on Tuesday of an ...
Chinese Scholars Map the Future of Africa-China Relations
How are Africa-China relations changing in response to crises like Ukraine? Few are more preoccupied with this issue than China’s Africa scholars. The Africa Research Group of the Eurasia Systems Science Society, which includes some of the most prominent Africa scholars in China, recently hosted a conference ...
China, Kazakhstan Worry About “Spillover” From the War In Ukraine to Countries in Central Asia
Concerns that the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine will spread to Central Asia was a key topic of conversation on Tuesday during talks between Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Wang also issued a veiled warning to the ...
USAID Head’s House Testimony A Glimpse of U.S.-China Polarization
The United States’ development agenda in the Global South is increasingly dominated by the determination to contain China’s global influence. This became clear during budget testimony on Wednesday by Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Tanzanian Presidential Visit to Washington Raises Questions about Africa Focus
Press coverage of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s meeting with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington DC on Friday revealed how geopolitics are reshaping U.S.-Africa relations. While Tanzanian coverage of the meeting focused on investment pledges, Voice of America framed the visit in the context ...