International Affairs

An image of Putin and Trump on a backdrop of the Russian and American flags, with Trump clapping

Putin As the President’s Medicine

When Putin came, it was different. Not only did Trump wait for him on the tarmac, applauding as the Russian president walked the red carpet to meet him, they both travelled in the Beast, a rare privilege that bypassed a carefully planned last-minute attempt to prevent a one-on-one summit.
For Putin, the special one, Trump wangled a one-on-one….What is it about Putin that fascinates Trump so much?

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Two images of Trump, with one side directed at the BRICS coalition, and the other directed at the 5 West African countries visiting the white house

Again, Trump’s Way or the Highway

A global trading system dominated by the dollar is no longer fit for purpose. Trump doesn’t think so. He believes the US can continue to eat its cake, preferring bullying and unilateralism to dialogue and multilateralism. The BRICS (now BRIC+) has a combined GDP that is two and a half times larger than the EU’s. It would be foolish of BRICS to underestimate its advantage or indulge Trump’s tantrums

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AI-generated image of stylised, landscape-mode political cartoon, depicting President Trump aggressively shouting “WHITE GENOCIDE”—emphasized by bold exclamation marks—contrasted with President Ramaphosa’s more subdued, explanatory posture

Inside the Oval Office, Trump’s new Lair

Trump wanted only one thing. He wasn’t interested in resetting trade talks or bilateral issues. He wasn’t interested in repairing ties between South Africa and the US or hearing firsthand the other view about the so-called genocide against white farmers. He wasn’t interested in conciliation. He was interested in only one thing: having Ramaphosa for lunch

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Image of Rasool and Trump on a backdrop of AU leaders

Rasool’s Expulsion Was Africa’s Missed Opportunity to Tackle the US Bully

During my visit to Israel last December, the talk at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs was that South Africa took a bribe of $2 billion from Iran to mount a case against the Benjamin Netanyahu government at the International Criminal Court (ICC), an allegation that diplomatic sources in Pretoria have denied

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images of Obasanjo, Omar al-Bashir, Patrice Lumumba, Haile Selassie, Mugabe and Zelenskyy

African Lessons Zelenskyy May Use in Ukraine

Africa’s experience teaches a different, nuanced lesson. From the betrayals of Haile Selassie during Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia to the murder of Patrice Lumumba of Congo, the continent learnt the hard way that only fools test the depth of a river with both feet. Unlike his predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, Zelenskyy was just the fool the West needed

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