Category: Podcast
Why Some African Countries Welcome Trump’s Return to Power
Donald Trump will be back in the Oval Office in just over a month after he is inaugurated for his second term as U.S. president on January 20th. While there's concern in some African capitals that Trump may scale back U.S. ...
“Some Improvement” But Still a Long Way to Go to Resolve China-India Border Tensions
India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the lower house of parliament last week that "some improvement" had been made in resolving the ongoing border dispute with China. But he also cautioned that a lot more work has to be done ...
Fact-Checking International Media Coverage of Biden’s Africa Tour
Joe Biden wrapped up a three-day trip to Cabo Verde and Angola this week, marking the first visit by a sitting U.S. President to Africa in almost ten years. Although Biden sought to lay out an expansive vision for U.S. foreign ...
[WEEK IN REVIEW] China’s Role in Africa’s Energy Transition and Biden’s Angola Trip
The Sirexe “Salon International des Ressources Extractives et Energetiques” conference took place this week in the Ivory Coast and brought together ministers, policymakers and corporate leaders from across the continent to discuss Africa's energy transition. ...
China, Indonesia and the Great Power Competition for Transition Minerals
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is not a fan of the Biden administration's climate legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), describing it as a "green scam." Trump has promised to repeal it, which will undoubtedly be welcome news in Indonesia. ...
Xi Took Center Stage at G20 While African Union Kept a Low Profile
This week's G20 summit wrapped up much the same way previous G20 gatherings have in recent years, with a weak final communiqué and lots of discord among the group's members. But this year's summit in Rio de Janeiro was nonetheless notable ...
Is China Building a New Military Base in Cambodia? Maybe. Probably.
Chinese contractors have been renovating the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia for the past two years, leading to widespread suspicion that the upgraded facility could eventually serve as a future outpost for the PLA Navy in Southeast Asia. ...
Chinese Lending to Africa is Way More Complicated Than You Think
It's widely believed that Chinese lending to African countries is predominantly done by a few state policy banks, such as the China Exim Bank and the China Development Bank. While that was true in the past, today the situation is far ...
Gauging the Impact of a Second Trump Presidency on U.S.-China Relations in the Middle East
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has already indicated that the Middle East is going to be a central focus of his second term's foreign policy. He's already named Elise Stefanik, a fiercely pro-Israel lawmaker, to be his ambassador at the United Nations ...
How Will Trump’s Return to Power Impact China-Africa Ties?
The re-election of former U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to significantly alter U.S. foreign policy, including its approach to Africa. As seen during Trump’s first term, U.S. engagement with the continent is likely to decrease, with a stronger emphasis on ...
Update on the State of the BRI in the New “Small and Beautiful” Era
There's been a lot of talk in recent years about the new "small and beautiful" doctrine that now guides China's Belt and Road Initiative. The problem is that a lot of people still do not understand what it actually means in ...
Chinese Companies Engage in Massive “Forest Looting” in the DR Congo
Two Chinese logging companies are now the largest timber harvesters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with concessions sized at more than 3 million hectares. The firms, Wan Peng and Booming Green, are engaged in industrial-scale logging to export raw ...