English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 14/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed
Letter to the Hebrews 12/01-13/:”Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children ‘My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts.’ Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live?For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 13-14/2022
Lebanon commemorates Rafik Hariri assassination amid political dispute
Corona - Health Ministry: 4,443 new Corona cases, 16 deaths
Aoun: Shiite Ministers Behavior Shameful, Polls May be Delayed over Lack of Funds
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry advises its citizens in Ukraine to leave quickly until tension subsides
Hariri in Beirut to Mark Father's Murder Anniversary
Qaouq Says Hizbullah Keen on Cabinet Sessions Continuity
UAE launches first competition for Arab students to explore the moon
Governor Abboud: PM Hariri’s memorial statue will be lit on the eve of his martyrdom commemoration
Hajj Hassan lights a candle in miraculous "Church of Our Lady" in Ras Baalbek: What we need today is a minimum level of political...
Once Lebanon's centre of glamour, Beirut's Hamra Street goes dark/Now many of its stores are shuttered. Poverty-stricken Lebanese and Syrian refugees beg on its sidewalks.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 13-14/2022
No ‘cause for optimism’ after Biden-Putin talks on Ukraine, says US
Biden Warns Putin of 'Severe Costs' of Ukraine Invasion
Thousands march in Kyiv to show unity against Russian threat
Russia Says Warship Chased Off U.S. Sub near Pacific Islands
German Leader Travels to Russia, Ukraine as Tensions Grow
Tension as Controversial Israeli Lawmaker Visits Jerusalem Flashpoint
Biden admin responsible for chaotic Afghanistan exit: Pentagon report
President Erdogan’s UAE visit will turn a page in relations: Gargash

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 13-14/2022
The Ignored Pandemic: 360 Million Christians Persecuted Worldwide/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/February 13/ 2022
It took Biden a year to realize Saudi Arabia’s vital regional role/Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/February 13/2022
Turkey’s contradictions with its own constitution/Yasar Yakis/Arab News/February 13/2022
Climate accountability now/Mary Robinson/Arab News/February 13/2022
Is an agreement on Northern Ireland within reach?/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Arab News/February 13/2022
Why Europe’s eyes are on Africa/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/February 13/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 13-14/2022
Lebanon commemorates Rafik Hariri assassination amid political dispute
Najia Houssari/Arab News/February 13/2022
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian warned on Sunday that the country was once again “falling apart as if those in charge had not learned from previous experiences, which have cost the Lebanese their lives and livelihoods.”
His warning came as Lebanon prepares to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the assassination of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Monday amid an ongoing political dispute, fueled by Hezbollah, over how the Cabinet will approve the 2022 draft budget.
The commemoration of Feb. 14 in Beirut is taking place amid uncertainty within the Future Movement after Sunni leader and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his withdrawal from political life and asked his parliamentary bloc not to run for the upcoming parliamentary elections under the party’s name.Hariri will thus participate in commemorating his father’s assassination without giving his usual speech. Meanwhile, several political and religious figures visited Rafik Hariri’s tomb in downtown Beirut on Sunday.
“How long can the list of martyrs get? Lebanon itself has almost become a martyr,” Derian commented as he stood before the tomb.
He added: “Today, Lebanon is mired in moral corruption, political failure, and financial and economic collapse.
“Honoring the martyr Hariri lies in preserving his moral and national heritage and continuing public work in light of the constructive approach that he adopted throughout his career until his last breath.”
Also speaking before the tomb, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said: “The moment Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14, 2005, the project to destroy the state was launched, aiming at creating multiple powers and disrupting the state’s pillars. “The attempts to sabotage Lebanon’s parliamentary democratic system are ongoing, intending to change Lebanon’s identity and append it to the well-known regional project.”Siniora stressed Lebanon’s need for national rescue action by reviving the principles of Rafik Hariri’s national project.
“This is based on restoring the role of the state and extending its full authority over all its lands and facilities,” said Siniora, adding that there is a need to adopt reform policies and rely on Islamic-Christian coexistence.
Siniora stressed the importance of respecting the constitution and implementing the Taif Agreement to restore the national, economic and social wellbeing of Lebanon and the Lebanese.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement accused President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati of “passing the budget in the last session without voting on it and making appointments that were not agreed upon.”
Culture Minister Mohammed Wissam Al-Murtada said: “The draft budget was still under discussion, but some proposed amendments and some figures had not yet been handed over to the ministers, despite our repeated requests.
“This means that the Cabinet did not conclude its discussion of the draft budget, did not vote on it, nor did it approve or reject it.”
Al-Murtada claimed that the appointments that were made were not on the Cabinet’s agenda. “We objected, but suddenly and without a vote, and after the session was adjourned, we learned that the Cabinet had decided on the appointments.”
Ali Khreis, an MP with the Development and Liberation bloc headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said that what happened “does not reflect any responsibility toward basic issues, and only reflects the reality of the law of the jungle and chaos.”The recovery plan that the government is working on and the draft budget approved by the Cabinet face political and popular objections, mainly from Hezbollah and the Amal movement. Activists staged a sit-in on Saturday evening near Mikati’s residence, expressing their anger at burdening the people. The National Salvation Front said: “The ruling authority wants to place the losses of the economic and financial crisis on citizens’ shoulders in defense of the interests of its mafia-militia alliance, without taking any reform steps that help the country overcome the crisis.”
Addressing the Lebanese after approving the draft budget, Mikati said that “a correction has been made to taxes and fees based on the inflation occurring in the exchange rate,” meaning that the budget will adopt the price of an exchange platform in which the dollar exchange rate is equivalent to the black-market rate. He noted that the economic recovery plan that was being worked on “is the basis for discussion with the (International Monetary Fund). We must set our priorities and carry out the required reforms. “There are over 14 reform decrees that must be issued by the government, and over 30 reform laws must be issued by parliament.”
Mikati added: “We can no longer provide electricity, telecom, and water for free, and citizens should be more understanding.”The prime minister warned: “If we do not speed up reform, we may reach a point where we may no longer be able to import wheat. If the issue had been resolved a year ago, the fiscal deficit would have been around $40 billion, while today it is around $70 billion.” Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of Beirut Elias Audi referred to the economic crisis during his Sunday sermon. The bishop said: “From where will citizens get the money to pay the expected price increases when they are barely able to feed their children? “Are citizens responsible for the state’s collapse and bankruptcy and the Lebanese pound devaluation? “Is it not the state’s duty to put an end to corruption in its institutions, control its borders, stop waste and smuggling, curb tax and customs evasion, close useless funds and unproductive councils, and collect their dues?”

Corona - Health Ministry: 4,443 new Corona cases, 16 deaths
NNA/February 13/ 2022
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health announced on Sunday the registration of 4,443 new Coronavirus infections, which raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 1,016,487. The report added that 16 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.

Aoun: Shiite Ministers Behavior Shameful, Polls May be Delayed over Lack of Funds
Naharnet/February 13/ 2022
President Michel Aoun has described the behavior of Shiite ministers in the latest Cabinet session as “shameful,” as he said that he fears that the parliamentary elections might be postponed due to a lack of funds. The Shiite ministers’ “objection was not over the appointments themselves not over the appointees. The issue is that there is a vacant post, the State Security deputy chief, to whom the Shiite ministers want to name a successor, but they did not bring a proposed name,” Aoun said in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper. “They demanded delaying the appointments until they provide the name. I gave them a week to bring it in order to appoint him in the next Cabinet session but they refused, so I was annoyed by their approach,” the President added. “Chaos ensued but Cabinet approved the appointments. What they did was shameful. What and whom were they questioning?” Aoun said. He stated that the ministers’ call for postponing the appointments was “unacceptable,” adding that “it is okay if they got upset.”“Next week we will appoint for them their candidate,” Aoun went on to say, adding that “what happened will not affect Cabinet sessions” and that “certainly there will not be a return to boycotting.”Turning to the issue of elections, the President said the state “does not have money for anything.”“That’s why I may have fear for the elections and concerns that the vote might not be held,” he added.

Lebanon's Foreign Ministry advises its citizens in Ukraine to leave quickly until tension subsides
NNA/February 13/ 2022 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants advised, in a statement on Sunday, "Lebanese nationals present in Ukraine to voluntarily leave quickly until the tension subsides and things return to normal."The Ministry also advised "Lebanese students registered in Ukrainian universities to communicate and coordinate in advance with the administration of their universities, to preserve their rights and ensure their academic duties," adding that "the Lebanese embassy in Kiev will also communicate with universities to provide possible facilities."Furthermore, the Foreign Affairs Ministry called on "Lebanese who intend to travel to Ukraine to postpone their travel plans at this time until the situation stabilizes."

Hariri in Beirut to Mark Father's Murder Anniversary
Naharnet/February 13/ 2022
Al-Mustabal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri arrived at dawn Sunday in Beirut to mark the 17th anniversary of the assassination of his father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri. Hariri will visit his father’s tomb in downtown Beirut at 12pm Monday, his press office said.
The ex-PM had on January 24 announced that he was leaving politics for now and would not run in upcoming parliamentary elections. The Hariri family has dominated politics in the small country for decades. Saad’s exit leaves the Sunni community with no obvious leader for the time being, amid speculation that the abstention of the moderate Hariri could result in hard-line Sunni politicians playing a bigger role in Lebanese politics. Hariri, a three-time prime minister and current member of parliament, inherited the political leadership from his late father, billionaire businessman Rafik Hariri, who was one of Lebanon's most powerful and influential politicians after the end of the 1975-90 civil war. The late Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005 in a massive truck bombing in Beirut. Afterward, the family chose Saad to lead despite the fact that he has an older brother. Hariri, who was traditionally in the camp opposing Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbullah, has largely co-existed with the group, forming coalition governments that included Hizbullah. That cost him support from Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, the rival of Iran, over influence and clout in the region. Now, as he exits from political life, Hariri said he is convinced there is "no room for any positive opportunity for Lebanon" in light of Tehran's growing influence, internal divisions, rising sectarian sentiments and the dysfunction of the state. He also acknowledged in an emotional televised speech that he had failed to prevent Lebanon from falling into the worst economic crisis in its modern history. Hariri added that he did all he can to prevent civil war in Lebanon by compromising, an apparent reference to forming governments that included Hizbullah. Hariri has been the most powerful Sunni Muslim politician in Lebanon since 2005. He took the post of prime minister three times until he was forced to resign in October 2019 following mass protests against the country's ruling class. He was appointed to the position a fourth time, but was unable to form a government. "Despite his political woes, Saad Hariri remains the primary Sunni leader in Lebanon," Randa Slim, a political analyst with the Washington-based Middle East Institute said in a Twitter post. "His political exit will create a vacuum," she said, adding that the scramble for the Sunni community leadership mantle will now intensify.
Hariri, who is mired in financial troubles, has for years played a balancing act in Lebanon's delicate, sectarian-based political system. He often found himself caught between the region's two feuding powers -- the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran. In 2017 Hariri was cast onto an unknown path when he was believed to be forced to announce his resignation in a televised statement during a visit to Saudi Arabia, citing Hizbullah's domination of Lebanon. The dramatic move backfired: Hariri returned home and restored his alliance with Hizbullah, losing Saudi backing. Saudi Arabia, once his main backer and the country where the Hariri family made much of its fortune, distanced itself from the 51-year-old politician. Relations with Hizbullah worsened in 2020 when a U.N.-backed tribunal sentenced a member of Hizbullah to life imprisonment for his involvement in Rafik Hariri's assassination. Hizbullah denies the charges. Hariri's decision came despite the fact that several prominent politicians, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Druze leader Walid Jumblat, tried to convince him to change his mind. It was not immediately clear what Hariri, whose family currently resides in Paris, would do away from politics. Hariri was a young political novice when he was thrust into the spotlight following the assassination of his father and had to learn fast. But he lacked his father's political savviness and clout and often fumbled his way through Lebanon's complex and sectarian-based politics. His business also suffered and in 2019 he had to close a TV network and newspaper owned by his family following a years-long financial struggle.

Qaouq Says Hizbullah Keen on Cabinet Sessions Continuity
Naharnet/February 13/ 2022
Senior Hizbullah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq stressed Sunday that his party is “keen on the government’s efficacy and on Cabinet sessions’ continuity,” in the wake of the latest row over the approval of the state budget and the military appointments. “That’s why it objected against the manner in which the draft state budget was passed, because it is unacceptable, neither in form nor in content, and we have important reservations and amendments that we will seek to approve when it gets debated in parliament,” Qaouq added.
“In light of the economic crisis that the citizens are suffering from it is not acceptable for the state budget to include any articles that would harm citizens financially and increase their poverty,” the Hizbullah official underscored.

UAE launches first competition for Arab students to explore the moon
NNA/February 13/ 2022
The United Arab Emirates announced today the launch of the first competition for Arab students to explore the moon under the headline, "Experiment on the Moon". The competition was launched by the Orbital Space Program in partnership with the Higher Colleges of Technology in Sharjah, on the sidelines of the "UAE Innovates" week in the Opportunities Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, according to "Russia Today". The student "Experiment on the Moon" is scheduled to be launched in 2024 as the first mission for Arab students to explore the moon.
Nada Al-Shammari, team leader of the Orbital Space Program at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Sharjah, called on students from all universities to apply for the competition. She explained that students do not have to have any experience in this field, because the competition represents an educational opportunity for students, by forming their team and preparing their innovative idea before May 28th. The winner will be announced on July 16, while preparations will continue until January 2023 through several tests to reach the launch experience to the moon, according to Al-Shammari.
The competition aims to “encourage and empower students to develop, design and conduct experiments in order to raise awareness of space missions, the potential of the environment there, and the impact of space science on humanity.”

Governor Abboud: PM Hariri’s memorial statue will be lit on the eve of his martyrdom commemoration
NNA/February 13/ 2022
The Beirut Municipality's Public Relations Department said in a statement on Sunday: “The Governor of Beirut, Judge Marwan Abboud, instructed the concerned departments in the Municipality to install special electric generators to light the memorial statue of Martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri at the site of the explosion that targeted him and his companions in the St. George area.”“Additionally, workers have been cleaning and preparing the garden surrounding the memorial statue and the site of the torch, to be lit on the eve of the 17th commemoration of PM Hairiri’s martyrdom,” the statement added. It concluded by stating that “Governor Abboud visited the site today to have a closer look at the maintenance works of the Municipality's lighting poles extending from St. George Bay to Ain Al-Mraisseh Square, to ensure that proper works are underway to light the statue.”

Hajj Hassan lights a candle in miraculous "Church of Our Lady" in Ras Baalbek: What we need today is a minimum level of political...
NNA/February 13/ 2022
Minister of Agriculture, Abbas Hajj Hassan, toured Sunday the towns of Arsal, Ras Baalbek and Al-Qaa, in the northern Bekaa region, where he held a series of developmental meetings with farmers, mayors and dignitaries. In Ras Baalbak, Hajj Hassan lit a candle in the miraculous "Church of Our Lady" after a meeting with the town's officials in the church hall, highlighting the dire need for calmness and serenity in the country. "What we need today is a minimum level of political calm that will be reflected in agriculture and industry, for none of us can eliminate the other....We have to open a new page hand in hand, and God is the Grantor of success," he said. Praising the efforts and hardworking citizens of Ras Baalbek, Hajj Hassan considered that the region symbolizes a "grandiose city that needs agricultural, economic, and tourism growth in various fields," pledging to work on boosting its agricultural initiatives and projects among his priorities. Hajj Hassan then visited Arsal, where he was received by Deputy Bakr Al-Hujairi and the town's officials, with whom he reviewed the town's agricultural needs. He then headed to the town of Al-Qaa, where he was presented with a "shield of appreciation" for his work by Al-Qaa Parish Priest, Father Elian Nasrallah.Hajj Hassan's last stop over in his Bekaa tour was in Hermel.

Once Lebanon's centre of glamour, Beirut's Hamra Street goes dark/Now many of its stores are shuttered. Poverty-stricken Lebanese and Syrian refugees beg on its sidewalks.
Associated Press/February 13/ 2022
From his small music shop on Beirut's Hamra Street, Michel Eid witnessed the rise and fall of Lebanon through the changing fortunes of this famed boulevard for more than 60 years. Hamra Street represented everything that was glamorous about Beirut in the 1960s and 1970s, with Lebanon's top movie houses and theaters, cafes frequented by intellectuals and artists, and ritzy shops. It saw a revival the past decade, with international chain stores and vibrant bars and restaurants. Now many of its stores are shuttered. Poverty-stricken Lebanese and Syrian refugees beg on its sidewalks. Trash piles up on its corners. Like the rest of Lebanon, the economic crash swept through the street like a destructive storm.
At 88 years old, Eid remembers the bad times, during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, when Hamra saw militias battling, assassinations at its cafes and, at one point, invading Israeli troops marching down the street. Nothing was as bad as now, Eid says. "We have hit rock bottom," he said. Few customers come to his Tosca Music Shop and Electronic Supplies, which sells records and a variety of electronic clocks, calculators and watches. Lebanon's economic meltdown was the culmination of the country's post-war era. The war's militia leaders became the political leadership and held power since. They ran an economy that at times boomed but was effectively a Ponzi scheme riddled with corruption and mismanagement. The scheme finally collapsed, starting in October 2019, in what the World Bank calls one of the world's worst economic and financial crises since the mid-1800s.
The currency's value evaporated, salaries lost their buying power, dollars in banks became inaccessible, and prices skyrocketed. As much as 82% of the population now lives in poverty, according to the U.N. A walk through Hamra Street shows the impact. Many shops have shut down because owners could no longer afford high rents and huge monthly bills for private electricity generators. After nightfall, the shops that are still operating close early. Many streetlights don't work because of electricity cuts. Once late-night Hamra feels deserted before midnight. During its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, Hamra Street was the elegant heart of Lebanon's cosmopolitan pre-war era, Beirut's Champs Elysees. Arab, European and American tourists flocked to its swanky shops, restaurants and bars.
Hamra had the capital's finest movie houses. At its Piccadilly Theater, Lebanon's most beloved singer Fayrouz performed. You might see the international diva Dalida strolling down the avenue before one of her shows. World stars held concerts in Lebanon, including Louis Armstrong and Paul Anka. Located in the capital's western neighborhood of Ras Beirut, Hamra was — and still is — a place where Christians and Muslims live side by side. Its cafes were hangouts for artists, intellectuals and political activists, caught up in the leftist, secular, Arab nationalist spirit of the times. "Hamra Street is an international avenue," says Mohamad Rayes, who has worked on the street since the early '70s and owns three clothes and lingerie shops in the area. He spoke sitting in a café that, in the 1970s, was called the Horse Shoe. He pointed to a corner where two of the greatest Arab singers of the time, Abdel-Halim Hafez and Farid el-Atrash, had a regular seat, along with Nizar Qabbani, an iconic romantic poet from Syria. The civil war ended that golden era. Fighting wreaked heavy damage on Hamra Street. After the war, the center of Beirut's international commerce and shopping moved to a newly renovated downtown. But Hamra Street saw a major facelift in the early 2000s, with new water, sewage and electricity systems.
That fueled a revival the past 15 years. International chains like Starbucks and Nike opened stores. New restaurants flourished, including ones opened by Syrians fleeing their country's civil war. The new wave pushed aside many of the area's pre-war icons. Its famed cafe Modca was replaced by a bank. A McDonald's stands in place of Faisal Restaurant, where Arab leftists once huddled over glasses of arak liquor and dishes of appetizers. The Piccadilly Theater was abandoned. But the street attracted a new generation of young people of all sects, bringing the progressive spirit of the 2011's frustrated Arab Spring. Once again, the street rang with bars. One club, Metro Medina, drew young crowds with retro live shows of old Arabic music from the past century. Hamra remains busy during the day. Thousands come for treatment at its medical centers or to study at the nearby American University of Beirut, one of the Middle East's top educational institutions. But "Hamra is not the Hamra of the past," said Elie Rbeiz. The 70-year-old Rbeiz has been a hairdresser for the elite in Hamra since 1962. He counted among his regular clients the late Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi, who once flew Rbeiz to London on a private jet for a cut. Rbeiz expanded his business 20 years ago to include men's clothes. Now in the economic crisis, his sales have dropped 60%. Still, Rbeiz believes Hamra will bounce back. He said his shop was blown up during the civil war and he renovated and reopened. "I did not surrender then and will not surrender now. Never."Not everyone is so certain. Eid opened his music store in Hamra in 1958. He'll close it when he stops working, he said. His two sons live abroad; if they don't want his 4,500 records, many of which are collectors' items, he'll donate them. Will Hamra Street flourish again? "Never, never. Impossible," he said. But he won't leave. "Hamra Street is the oxygen that I breathe," he said. "I grew up on Hamra Street and will end my life here."

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 13-14/2022
No ‘cause for optimism’ after Biden-Putin talks on Ukraine, says US
AFP/February 13, 2022
WASHINGTON D.C.: Amid mounting warnings that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come any day, the Pentagon said Sunday that the latest top-level US-Russian contacts did not provide “any cause for optimism.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby offered a grim assessment of the one-hour phone conversation Saturday between US President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. “It’s certainly not a sign that things are moving in the right direction. It’s certainly not a sign that Mr. Putin has any intention to de-escalate. And it’s certainly not a sign that he is recommitting himself to a diplomatic path forward,” Kirby told “Fox News Sunday” when asked about the lack of fundamental change after the call. “So, it does not give us any cause for optimism.”US officials in recent days have issued a series of increasingly blunt warnings that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, and foreign countries have been rushing to evacuate their nationals. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that “a major military action could begin by Russia in Ukraine any day now.”Sullivan used some of the most specific — and chilling — language yet employed by an American official, warning that an invasion is “likely to begin with a significant barrage of missiles and bomb attacks... so innocent civilians could be killed.” That, he said, would be followed by a ground invasion in which “innocent civilians could get caught in the crossfire.” Sullivan said Russia might yet opt for a diplomatic solution, but its forces near Ukraine’s borders are “in a position where they could launch a military action very, very rapidly.” The growing drumbeat of warnings has infused diplomatic contacts with a sense of intense urgency. Biden was set to speak to President Volodymyr Zelensky “in coming hours,” the Ukrainian leader’s office said Sunday. And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was preparing to leave for talks in Kyiv and Moscow, vowed “tough” and immediate sanctions by Germany and its NATO and European allies should a Russian attack threaten Ukraine’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”Tensions are now at a “very critical, very dangerous” point, a German government source told reporters. In London, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace expressed concern that diplomacy was having any effect. “The worrying thing is that despite the massive amount of increased diplomacy, that military build-up has continued,” he told the Sunday Times. “It has not paused, it has continued.”

Biden Warns Putin of 'Severe Costs' of Ukraine Invasion
Associated Press/February 13/ 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden told Russia's Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would cause "widespread human suffering" and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but "equally prepared for other scenarios," the White House said Saturday. It offered no suggestion that the hourlong call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe. Biden also said the United States and its allies would respond "decisively and impose swift and severe costs" if the Kremlin attacked its neighbor, according to the White House. The two presidents spoke a day after Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, warned that U.S. intelligence shows a Russian invasion could begin within days and before the Winter Olympics in Beijing end on Feb. 20. Russia denies it intends to invade but has massed well over 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and has sent troops to exercises in neighboring Belarus, encircling Ukraine on three sides. U.S. officials say Russia's buildup of firepower has reached the point where it could invade on short notice. The conversation came at a critical moment for what has become the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. U.S. officials believe they have mere days to prevent an invasion and enormous bloodshed in Ukraine. And while the U.S. and its NATO allies have no plans to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, an invasion and resulting punishing sanctions could reverberate far beyond the former Soviet republic, affecting energy supplies, global markets and the power balance in Europe.
"President Biden was clear with President Putin that while the United States remains prepared to engage in diplomacy, in full coordination with our Allies and partners, we are equally prepared for other scenarios," the White House statement said. The call was "professional and substantive" but produced "no fundamental change in the dynamic that has been unfolding now for several weeks," according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters following the call on condition of anonymity. The official added that it remains unclear whether Putin has made a final decision to move forward with military action.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin's top foreign policy aide, said that while tensions have been escalating for months, in recent days "the situation has simply been brought to the point of absurdity."He said Biden mentioned the possible sanctions that could be imposed on Russia, but "this issue was not the focus during a fairly long conversation with the Russian leader."
Before talking to Biden, Putin had a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with him in Moscow earlier in the week to try to resolve the crisis. A Kremlin summary of the call suggested that little progress was made toward cooling down the tensions.Putin complained in the call that the United States and NATO have not responded satisfactorily to Russian demands that Ukraine be prohibited from joining the military alliance and that NATO pull back forces from Eastern Europe.In a sign that American officials are getting ready for a worst-case scenario, the United States announced plans to evacuate most of its staff from the embassy in the Ukrainian capital. Britain joined other European nations in urging its citizens to leave Ukraine. Canada has shuttered its embassy in Kyiv and relocated its diplomatic staff to a temporary office in Lviv, located in the western part of the country, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Saturday. Lviv is home to a Ukrainian military base that has served as the main hub for Canada's 200-soldier training mission in the former Soviet country. The timing of any possible Russian military action remained a key question. The U.S. picked up intelligence that Russia is looking at Wednesday as a target date, according to a U.S. official familiar with the findings. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and did so only on condition of anonymity, would not say how definitive the intelligence was.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he told his Russian counterpart Saturday that "further Russian aggression would be met with a resolute, massive and united trans-Atlantic response."
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried to project calm as he observed military exercises Saturday near Crimea, the peninsula that Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014. "We are not afraid, we're without panic, all is under control," he said. Ukrainian armed forces chief commander Lt. Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny and Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov issued a more defiant joint statement. "We are ready to meet the enemy, and not with flowers, but with Stingers, Javelins and NLAWs" — anti-tank and -aircraft weapons, they said. "Welcome to hell!"U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, also held telephone discussions on Saturday. Further U.S.-Russia tensions arose on Saturday when the Defense Ministry summoned the U.S. Embassy's military attache after it said the navy detected an American submarine in Russian waters near the Kuril Islands in the Pacific. The submarine declined orders to leave, but departed after the navy used unspecified "appropriate means," the ministry said. Adding to the sense of crisis, the Pentagon ordered an additional 3,000 U.S. troops to Poland to reassure allies. The U.S. has urged all American citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately, and Sullivan said those who remain should not expect the U.S. military to rescue them in the event that air and rail transportation is severed after a Russian invasion. The Biden administration has been warning for weeks that Russia could invade Ukraine soon, but U.S. officials had previously said the Kremlin would likely wait until after the Winter Games ended so as not to antagonize China. Sullivan told reporters on Friday that U.S. intelligence shows that Russia could take invade during the Olympics. He said military action could start with missile and air attacks, followed by a ground offensive.
"Russia has all the forces it needs to conduct a major military action," Sullivan said, adding that "Russia could choose, in very short order, to commence a major military action against Ukraine." He said the scale of such an invasion could range frm a limited incursion to a strike on Kyiv, the capital.
Russia scoffed at the U.S. talk of urgency.
"The hysteria of the White House is more indicative than ever," said Maria Zakharova, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. "The Anglo-Saxons need a war. At any cost. Provocations, misinformation and threats are a favorite method of solving their own problems."Zakharova said her country had "optimized" staffing at its own embassy in Kyiv in response to concerns about possible military actions from the Ukrainian side. In addition to the more than 100,000 ground troops that U.S. officials say Russia has assembled along Ukraine's eastern and southern borders, the Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain a war. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land marines on the coast. Biden has bolstered the U.S. military presence in Europe as reassurance to allies on NATO's eastern flank. The 3,000 additional soldiers ordered to Poland come on top of 1,700 who are on their way there. The U.S. Army also is shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania, which like Poland shares a border with Ukraine. Russia is demanding that the West keep former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons near its border and to roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe — demands flatly rejected by the West. Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine's Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people. A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled.

Thousands march in Kyiv to show unity against Russian threat
Reuters/February 12, 2022
KYIV: Several thousand Ukrainians rallied in Kyiv on Saturday to show unity amid fears of a Russian invasion. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s leader told people not to panic and pushed back against what he said was a glut of bleak war predictions being reported in the media.
Tension has mounted as Russia has built up more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine and carried out large-scale exercises. The United States said on Friday an invasion could start at any moment. Russia denies planning to invade. Ukrainians filed through the center of Kyiv in a column, chanting “Glory to Ukraine” and carrying Ukrainian flags and banners that said “Ukrainians will resist” and “Invaders must die.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who attended police drills in southern Kherson region, said a Russian attack could happen at any time, but pushed back against what he called excessive amounts of information about a major looming war.“The best friend of our enemies is panic in our country. And all this information is just provoking panic and can’t help us,” he said. “I can’t agree or disagree with what hasn’t happened yet. So far, there is no full-scale war in Ukraine.”The United States and numerous Western governments have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine, and Washington on Saturday said it was ordering most of its Kyiv embassy staff to leave. “We have to be ready each day. It did not begin yesterday. It began in 2014, so, we are ready and this is why we are here,” Zelenskiy said in a reference to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and backing for an anti-Kyiv separatist insurgency in the east. Zelenskiy voiced frustrations just last month with dire assessments of a war. Such warnings have taken their toll on the economic, piling pressure on the national currency. US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will speak later on Saturday.

Russia Says Warship Chased Off U.S. Sub near Pacific Islands
Agence France Presse/February 13/ 2022
A Russian anti-submarine destroyer chased off a U.S. submarine near the Kuril Islands, forcing it to leave the country's territorial waters, Moscow said, amid rising tensions over Ukraine. The U.S. military however denied the account. Russia's defense ministry said that during planned military drills the Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer had detected a U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarine in Russian territorial waters near the Kuril Islands in the northern Pacific. When the submarine ignored demands to surface, the crew of the frigate "used appropriate means" and the U.S. submarine left at full speed, the ministry said, without providing further details. The ministry said it had summoned the U.S. defense attache in Moscow over the incident. "In connection with the violation by the US Navy submarine of the state border of the Russian Federation, the defence attache at the U.S. embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian defence ministry," the defense ministry said. The statement from the U.S. military, however, said: "There is no truth to the Russian claims of our operations in their territorial waters."Captain Kyle Raines, spokesman for the US Indo-Pacific Command, said he would not comment on the precise locations of US submarines.But he added: "We do fly, sail, and operate safely in international waters."The Kurils, which lie north of Japan's Hokkaido island, have been controlled by Moscow since they were seized by Soviet troops in the waning days of World War II. The alleged incident took place near the Kuril island of Urup, which is controlled by Russia. It comes amid rising tensions between Russia and the West that have seen Moscow surround Ukraine on three sides with more than 100,000 troops. Washington has warned that an all-out invasion could begin "any day."
Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday condemned such claims as a "provocation."

German Leader Travels to Russia, Ukraine as Tensions Grow
Associated Press/February 13/ 2022
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is flying to Ukraine and Russia this week in an effort to help defuse escalating tensions as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent and Germany has called on its citizens to leave Ukraine as quickly as possible.
Ahead of his first visits as chancellor to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Scholz has renewed his warning to Russia, as well as his advocacy of continuing diplomacy in multiple formats. "It is our job to ensure that we prevent a war in Europe, in that we send a clear message to Russia that any military aggression would have consequences that would be very high for Russia and its prospects, and that we are united with our allies," Scholz told the German parliament's upper house on Friday. "But at the same time that also includes using all opportunities for talks and further development," Scholz said. Russia has concentrated more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's border and launched a series of military maneuvers in the region, but says it has no plans to invade the nation.
Moscow wants guarantees from the West that NATO won't allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members, and for the alliance to halt weapon deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. The U.S. and NATO flatly reject these demands.
Scholz has repeatedly said that Moscow would pay a "high price" in the event of an attack, but his government's refusal to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine or to spell out which sanctions it would support against Russia have drawn criticism abroad and at home and raised questions about Berlin's resolve in standing up to Russia.
Germany's reluctant position is partly rooted in its history of aggression during the 20th century when the country's own militarization in Europe during two world wars led many postwar German leaders to view any military response as a very last resort. Despite this historic burden, experts say it is of utmost importance now that Scholz stresses Germany is in sync with its European and American allies, especially when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Scholz has to convey a very clear message in Moscow, and it can really only be: There is unity and oneness in the Western alliance. There is no possibility of driving a wedge into the Western alliance, and that must be understood in Moscow. I think that's the most important message he has to convey there," said Markus Ziener, an expert with the German Marshall Fund.
"At the same time, he has to make it clear that the costs are high," Ziener added. "That's basically the message that is most likely to catch on in Moscow as well. So a military invasion of Ukraine has significant consequences for Russia."Scholz has not explicitly said what kind of consequences or sanctions Russia would have to face if it invades Ukraine, but it is clear that the future of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline that seeks to bring Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine, is at stake. U.S. President Joe Biden threatened last week that the pipeline would be blocked in the case of an invasion. That would hurt Russia economically but also cause supply problems for Germany. Construction of the pipeline has been completed, but it is not yet operating. "Germany doesn't have much leverage, except for saying that it won't approve Nord Stream 2, which is the only political leverage," Claudia Kemfert, the head of department of energy, transport and environment at the German Institute for Economic Research, said.
"Otherwise, Germany is very susceptible to blackmail. We can't do too much. We have committed ourselves to getting the gas supplies, unlike other European countries we have not diversified our gas supplies and we have dragged our feet on the energy transition. So we did a lot of things wrong, and now we are paying the price," Kemfert added. It is not surprising, then, that Scholz has stressed the need to keep some ambiguity about sanctions to press Russia to deescalate and has so far avoided mentioning Nord Stream 2 specifically. "The hesitancy of Olaf Scholz obviously leads to the fact that one does not really know what the Germans actually want," Ziener said. "With regard to Nord Stream 2, I think there should have been a clear statement that if it comes to a military intervention, then Nord Stream 2 is off the table."Asked on Friday whether Scholz will be taking any new initiative to Kyiv and Moscow or the positions that are already on the table, his spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, replied that he will stick with "the positions that we have already set out." Scholz can only hope that in his talks with Putin he can dissuade him from taking military action with a face-saving solution, says Ziener. "He can actually only hope that at the end of this whole round of negotiations there will be a success, that the war is prevented. Then Scholz will be praised for his negotiating skills," Ziener added. "If not, the question will be asked: What was actually the line of the German government?"

Tension as Controversial Israeli Lawmaker Visits Jerusalem Flashpoint
Agence France Presse/February 13/ 2022
Israeli police clashed with Palestinians in the flashpoint east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Sunday, as a visit by a controversial far-right Jewish lawmaker inflamed tensions. Police said two people were arrested as they tried to contain "a violent riot," in the area of annexed east Jerusalem that has emerged as a symbol of Palestinian resistance against Israeli control of the city. Scuffles broke out as Itamar Ben Gvir of the far-right Religious Zionism alliance opened a parliamentary office in Sheikh Jarrah, in what he described as an effort to show support for its Jewish residents. More than 200,000 Jewish settlers live in east Jerusalem, in communities widely regarded as illegal under international law. Efforts by settler groups to expand the Jewish presence in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital, have further fuelled hostilities. Ben Gvir, a Jewish nationalist with a long history of incendiary comments about Palestinians, accused police of failing to react to alleged arson attacks on a settler home in Sheikh Jarrah. "Jewish lives have become worthless," Ben Gvir charged in a tweet before his visit. He told reporters in Sheikh Jarrah on Sunday that he would remain there until police "looked after the security of the (Jewish) residents." The Palestinian Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, condemned Ben Gvir's visit as a "provocative and escalating move that threatens to ignite... violence that will be difficult to control." Tensions that erupted in Sheikh Jarrah last year -- as several Palestinian families faced eviction by settler groups -- in part sparked the May conflict between Israel and armed groups in Gaza. Hamas, the Islamists who control Gaza, warned there would "consequences" over Israel's repeated "attacks" on Sheikh Jarrah. Palestinians across east Jerusalem accuse Israeli police of using heavy-handed tactics quell protests.Six people were arrested in the neighborhood during unrest in the neighborhood late Saturday. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it, in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

Biden admin responsible for chaotic Afghanistan exit: Pentagon report
Arab News/February 13/2022
LONDON: The administration of US President Joe Biden was at fault for the chaos surrounding the US withdrawal from Kabul, a Pentagon report has said. The declassified report, published by The Washington Post on Saturday, said decisions — or in some instances indecision — contributed to problems faced by US forces who were trying to secure Kabul’s Hamid Karzai Airport as the Taliban seized the city last August. The Pentagon’s after-action report blamed the State Department and the number of its officials for issues and delays in the evacuation process. “The delay in embassy staff drawdown, NEO declaration and lack of agreed upon (indications and warning procedures) increased risk to mission upon (noncombatant evacuations operations) execution,” it said. In another section of the report, the same organization is faulted for phasing in a new team of embassy staff in the middle of the evacuation process, which the Defense Department said “caused confusion as the new consular team established operations,” which led to hundreds of US civilians and Afghans seeking passage out of the country through an unfamiliar application process. “Consular staff did not have sufficient manning to supervise all processing at the gates which often led to Department of Defense personnel at the gates making on the spot calls on paperwork,” the report added.Too many of these “on the spot calls” were being made by US soldiers, who had little experience in the processes of the State Department, the report concluded. It also said that “confusion” surrounding bureaucratic decisions affected the capabilities of US forces attempting to conduct an orderly evacuation in the final days of the occupation, which were marred by images of Afghan civilians clinging to US aircraft. The fallout from the evacuation chaos came amid criticism of the US government over a strike which was supposed to take out Daesh-aligned fighters heading for Kabul during the Taliban takeover, but instead led to the deaths of 10 Afghan civilians, including children.

President Erdogan’s UAE visit will turn a page in relations: Gargash
Arab News/February 13/2022
LONDON: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the UAE will turn a page in bilateral relations between the two countries, the diplomatic advisor to the UAE President said on Sunday. Erdogan will visit the UAE on Feb. 14-15 and will attend the Expo 2020 in Dubai on Tuesday. His visit comes after the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan visited Ankara in November last year. The president’s visit will turn a “new positive page in bilateral relations between the two countries,” and is in line with the UAE's aim to strengthen bridges of communication and cooperation in order to achieve stability and prosperity in the region, Anwar Gargash tweeted. “The UAE continues to strengthen channels of communication with various countries in order to support the stability and prosperity of the region and the well-being of its people,” Gargash said. “The UAE's policy is positive and rational and is in the interests of security, peace and regional development. President Erdogan's visit to Abu Dhabi comes within this framework that we are betting on to ensure a prosperous future,” he added.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 13-14/2022
ريموند إبراهيم/معهد جيتستون/الوباء الذي يتم تجاهله: 360 مليون مسيحي مضطهدون في جميع أنحاء العالم
The Ignored Pandemic: 360 Million Christians Persecuted Worldwide
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/February 13/ 2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106309/raymond-ibrahim-gatestone-institute-the-ignored-pandemic-360-million-christians-persecuted-worldwide-%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%88%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a5%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%87%d9%8a%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87/
“When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, they tried to appear moderate—but there’s no sign that Christianity will be anything other than a death sentence.” — World Watch List-2022.
“The persecution of Christians in India has intensified, as Hindu extremists aim to cleanse the country of their presence and influence. The extremists disregard Indian Christians and other religious minorities as true Indians, and think the country should be purified of non-Hindus…..” — World Watch List-2022.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has offered a new weapon to persecutors. In some areas, Christians have been deliberately overlooked in the local distribution of government aid and have even been accused of spreading the virus.” — World Watch List-2022.
In Qatar, “Violence against Christians rose sharply ….” — World Watch List-2022.
In Bangladesh (#29), local authorities told Muslim converts to Christianity who, like their Muslim counterparts, sought governmental aid, “to return to Islam or receive nothing.”
In the Central African Republic, which was “hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic … Christians were denied government aid and told to convert to Islam if they wanted to eat.”
Another notable trend concerns the growing number of internally or externally displaced people — 84 million: “a significant number [of whom] are Christians fleeing religious persecution.”
[A]t least a quarter, though arguably much more, of all hate crimes registered in Europe in 2020 were anti-Christian — representing a 70% increase compared to 2019.
[I]t is telling that the European nations suffering the most also happen to have Europe’s largest Muslim populations — namely, Germany (where anti-Christian hate crimes have more than doubled since 2019) and France (where two churches are reportedly attacked every single day, some, as in the Muslim world, with human feces).
In short, the persecution of Christians, which was already horrific, has increased by nearly 70% over the last five years, with no signs of abating.
How long will it be before this seemingly irreversible trend metastasizes into those nations currently celebrated for their religious freedom?
The year 2021 “saw the worst persecution of Christians in history” — with an average of 16 Christians murdered for their faith every day. The persecution of Christians, which was already horrific, has increased by nearly 70% over the last five years, with no signs of abating. (Image source: iStock)
The year 2021 “saw the worst persecution of Christians in history” — with an average of 16 Christians murdered for their faith every day.
That observation comes from the World Watch List-2022 (WWL-2022), recently published by the international humanitarian organization, Open Doors. The report each year ranks the top 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted for their faith. The WWL uses data from field workers and external experts to quantify and analyze persecution worldwide.
According to the WWL-2022, covering October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021:
“over 360 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith—a rise of 20 million from last year. The number represents one in seven Christians worldwide. This year records the highest levels of persecution since the first list was published 29 years ago…”
For the same reporting period, 5,898 Christians were murdered “for their faith,” a number representing a 24% increase from 2021 (when “only” 4,761 Christians were killed). Additionally, “6,175 believers [were] detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned,” and 3,829 abducted.
Perhaps even more reflective of the hate for Christianity, 5,110 churches and other Christian buildings (schools, monasteries, etc.), were attacked and profaned.
Crunching these numbers into daily averages, the above statistics mean that every day around the world, more than 16 Christians were murdered for their faith; 27 were either illegally arrested and imprisoned by non-Christian authorities or abducted by non-Christian actors; and 14 churches were destroyed or desecrated.
For the first time since these WWL reports were published, Afghanistan, which for years was usually ranked the #2 worst nation (after North Korea) shot up to the #1 spot, meaning “Afghanistan is now the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian.” Additionally:
Christian men are facing almost certain death if their faith is discovered.
Women and girls may escape death but may be married to young Taliban fighters who want the “spoils of war.” After women and girls are raped, they are trafficked.
The incoming Taliban regime gained access to recordings and reports that helped to identify Christians. They were often detained, in order to identify networks of Christians, before being killed.
Taliban fighters are still actively tracking down Christians from existing intelligence, sometimes going door-to-door to find them.
Ten other nations, after Afghanistan, received the same designation of “extreme persecution.” It means that these places, for Christians, are only marginally safer. They are: North Korea (#2), Somalia (#3), Libya (#4), Yemen (#5), Eritrea (#6), Nigeria (#7), Pakistan (#8), Iran (#9), India (#10), and Saudi Arabia (#11). In these countries, Christians face persecution ranging from being harassed, beaten, raped, imprisoned or slaughtered merely for being identified as a Christian or attending church.
Notably, the “extreme persecution” meted out to Christians in nine of these top 11 worst nations comes either from Islamic oppression or takes place in Muslim-majority nations. This situation means that 82% of the absolute worst persecution takes place in the name of Islam.
This trend affects the entire list: the persecution that Christians experience in 39 of the 50 nations on the list also comes either from Islamic oppression or occurs in Muslim majority nations. The overwhelming majority of these nations are governed by some form of shari’a (Islamic law). It can either be directly enforced by government or society or, more frequently, both, although societies — family members outraged in particular by relatives who have converted — tend to be more zealous in its application.
In a section titled, “Emboldened: The ‘Talibanization of West Africa and beyond,” the report suggests that this trend is worsening:
“[T]he fall of Kabul has fuelled [sic] a new mood of invulnerability among other jihadist groups worldwide. The groups believe that they won’t face serious opposition from the West for their expansionist agendas and are exploiting nations with weak or corrupt governments…. Sub-Saharan Africa, already the place where violence against Christians is highest, has faced further steep rises in jihadist violence, with fears that a significant part of the region faces destabilization….”
In another section, the report elaborates:
“In Nigeria and Cameroon, Boko Haram continues to wreak havoc, the Islamic State group is active in West Africa and Mozambique, and al Shabab controls large portions of Somalia. It seems like nothing can be done to stop the advance of Islamic extremism.
“We know what radical Islamic ideology looks like for believers because we’ve seen it in Iraq and Syria. When ISIS took over parts of the Middle East, Christians were executed, abducted, sexually assaulted and hunted. Where groups like Boko Haram and al Shabab are active, similar threats are inevitable. When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, they tried to appear moderate—but there’s no sign that Christianity will be anything other than a death sentence.”
Although Islam continues to have the lions’ share of persecution, religious nationalism in non-Muslim nations is also causing them to rise in the ranks. In Myanmar (#12),
“Converts to Christianity … find themselves persecuted by their Buddhist, Muslim or tribal families and communities because they have left their former faith and have thereby removed themselves from community life. Communities who aim to stay ‘Buddhist only’ make life for Christian families impossible by not allowing them to use neighborhood water resources.”
Rising Hindu nationalism has catapulted India into #10, among the “extreme persecuting” nations:
“The persecution of Christians in India has intensified, as Hindu extremists aim to cleanse the country of their presence and influence. The extremists disregard Indian Christians and other religious minorities as true Indians, and think the country should be purified of non-Hindus. This has led to a systemic—and often violent—targeting of Christians and other religious minorities, including use of social media to spread disinformation and stir up hatred. The COVID-19 pandemic has offered a new weapon to persecutors. In some areas, Christians have been deliberately overlooked in the local distribution of government aid and have even been accused of spreading the virus.”
Several other nations have, one way or another, exploited COVID-19 to discriminate against or persecute Christians. For example, “COVID-19 gave Chinese authorities (#17) a reason to shut down many churches—and keep them shut.”
Similarly, in Qatar, “Violence against Christians rose sharply because many churches were forced to stay closed after COVID-19 restrictions.” Moreover, Qatar—”host for this year’s World Cup, where converts from Islam especially face physical, psychological and (for women) sexual violence”—jumped 11 spots (now #18, from #29 last year).
In Bangladesh (#29), local authorities told Muslim converts to Christianity who, like their Muslim counterparts, sought governmental aid, “to return to Islam or receive nothing.” As one Bangladeshi explained, “We see many villagers and neighbors receive relief aid from government support but we Christians do not get any support.”
In the Central African Republic, which was “hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic … Christians were denied government aid and told to convert to Islam if they wanted to eat.”
Another notable trend concerns the growing number of internally or externally displaced people — 84 million: “a significant number [of whom] are Christians fleeing religious persecution.” Those Christians that end up as refugees in neighboring Muslim nations “can be denied humanitarian and other practical assistance by authorities.”
Additionally:
“Christian women fleeing their homes and seeking safety report sexual assault to be the leading source of persecution, with multiple reports of women and children subjected to rape, sexual slavery, and more, both in camps and while they journey in search of safety. Poverty and insecurity compound their vulnerability, with some drawn into prostitution to survive. As jihadism spreads and destabilizes nations, we can expect this Christian exodus to multiply further.”
Although the report is limited to the 50 worst persecuting nations, it appears that persecution in general is growing around the world. For example, although North Korea is now ranked #2, as a reflection of how bad matters have gotten overall, the report explains that “The persecution score for North Korea actually went up [compared to last year], even though its ranking went down.”
Similarly, hate crimes against Christianity in Western Europe are at an all-time high. According to a November 16, 2021 report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, at least a quarter, though arguably much more, of all hate crimes registered in Europe in 2020 were anti-Christian — representing a 70% increase compared to 2019. Christianity is, furthermore, the religion most targeted in hate crimes, with Judaism at a close second. There are, however, significantly fewer Jews worldwide (roughly 15 million) than Christians (2.8 billion.
Although media outlets rarely identify those behind these anti-Christian hate crimes, many of which revolve around the vandalism of churches, it is telling that the European nations suffering the most also happen to have Europe’s largest Muslim populations — namely, Germany (where anti-Christian hate crimes have more than doubled since 2019) and France (where two churches are reportedly attacked every day, some, as in the Muslim world, with human feces).
As a reflection of how bad persecution has gotten elsewhere around the globe, no Western European nation made the top 50 list.
In the end, perhaps the most disturbing trend is that the number of persecuted Christians continues to grow annually. As seen, according to the newest statistics, 360 million Christians around the world are experiencing “high levels of persecution and discrimination.” This represents a 6% increase from 2021, when 340 million Christians experienced the same level of persecution; and that number represented a 31 % increase from 2020, when 260 million Christians experienced the same level of persecution; and that number represented a 6% increase from 2019, when 245 million experienced the same level of persecution; and that number represented a 14% increase from 2018, when 215 million was the number.
In short, the persecution of Christians, which was already horrific, has increased by nearly 70% over the last five years, with no signs of abating.
How long will it be before this seemingly irreversible trend metastasizes into those nations currently celebrated for their religious freedom?
Raymond Ibrahim, author of Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18226/christians-persecuted-worldwide

It took Biden a year to realize Saudi Arabia’s vital regional role
Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/February 13/2022
Following the informal distancing and stagnation in their bilateral relations, US President Joe Biden did not hesitate to call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to ask for help and save his administration from the growing challenges it is facing. Biden has been confronted with domestic and foreign crises that may cause the Democratic Party to lose the Senate and House of Representatives to the Republicans in the midterm legislative elections in less than nine months and thus lose the White House in 2024.
This phone call was the second between the US President and the Saudi monarch since February 2021, after Biden took office. It represented a significant positive shift in Biden’s approach with one of America’s historic close allies.
According to a statement issued by the White House, the two leaders discussed various issues, including regional developments, Iranian-enabled attacks by the Houthis against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia and the availability of global energy necessities.
“The president underscored the US commitment to support Saudi Arabia in the defense of its people and territory from these attacks and full support for UN-led efforts to end the war in Yemen,” the statement read, adding that King Salman was briefed on ongoing multilateral talks to reestablish constraints on Iran’s nuclear program. Pushed by the progressive wing of the Democrats — which continued calls to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia — Biden’s first foreign policy decisions were ending US support for the Saudi-led Coalition Forces Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen and canceling the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization.
It took the Biden administration a year to realize the vital regional role of Saudi Arabia as leader of the Muslim world, the importance of its international influence and Biden’s best solution to the global fuel shortage.
Washington is changing its language with Riyadh. Following the Houthi drone attack against an airport in the southern Saudi region of Abha, near the Kingdom’s border with Yemen, injuring 12 innocent multinational civilians, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan emphasized his country’s efforts in working with its Saudi and international partners to hold the pro-Iran Houthi terrorist group accountable. “As the president told King Salman yesterday, we are committed to supporting Saudi Arabia in the defense of its people and territory from these attacks. America will have the backs of our friends in the region,” Sullivan said. It took the Biden administration a year to realize the vital regional role of Saudi Arabia as leader of the Muslim world, the importance of its international influence and Biden’s best solution to the global fuel shortage.
Meanwhile, US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price stressed to reporters that Washington would not relent in designating Houthi leaders and entities involved in military offensives threatening civilians and regional stability.
This time the White House — for a change — had made the right foreign policy call to protect the country’s interests and undermine the influence of Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East.
If Putin decides to invade Ukraine, the Saudis are the only ones who could help relieve the unsteady oil markets by pumping more crude, being the largest crude exporter in the OPEC oil production group. The White House emphasized that both leaders further reiterated the commitment of the US and Saudi Arabia in ensuring the stability of global energy supplies.
On the other hand, despite its efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, Washington acknowledges the aggressive attitude of the regime in Tehran. Therefore, no matter which political party is in power, the US could not and would not jeopardize the safety and interests of its major allies in the region, including Israel. Such a significant confrontation cannot succeed without an essential influential country that could mobilize regional support, like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On Feb. 3, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced in a statement that the State Department had approved a potential Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia of Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals (MIDS-LVT) for an estimated cost of $23.7 million. “The proposed sale will provide the Saudi armed forces with the equipment, training and follow-on support necessary to protect Saudi Arabia, and the region, from the destabilizing effects of terrorism, countering Iranian influence and other threats,” the statement read, noting that the deal would support US foreign policy and national security objectives by improving the security of a friendly country that continues to be an essential force for political stability and economic growth in the Middle East. Despite Democratic attempts to open a gap between Riyadh and Washington in favor of other countries, Saudi Arabia’s political, military and security weight make it imperative for Biden to take a step away from his party to protect the interests of his country and its major allies.
No matter how the White House tries to change its foreign policy and move away from the Middle East, there remains an urgent regional need to build a strong coalition if the US does not want to abandon its position as leader of the free world.
Dalia Al-Aqidi is Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy. Twitter: @DaliaAlAqidi

Turkey’s contradictions with its own constitution
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/February 13/2022
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Feb. 6 said that “Turkey will not respect the Council of Europe if it does not respect Turkish courts.” He said this upon the decision adopted by the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe to initiate the “infringement proceeding” for Turkey.
Erdogan’s statement contradicts the provisions of Turkey’s constitution, which provides in its article 90 that “international agreements duly put into effect have the force of law. No appeal to the Constitutional Court shall be made with regard to these agreements, on the grounds that they are unconstitutional. In the case of a conflict between international agreements, duly put into effect, concerning fundamental rights and freedoms and the laws due to differences in provisions on the same matter, the provisions of international agreements shall prevail.”
Turkey has duly ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and has recognized the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Therefore, it has to abide by the latter’s rulings.
The Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe on Feb. 2 decided to formally initiate the “infringement proceeding” for Turkey because of its refusal to implement a verdict of the ECtHR regarding Osman Kavala, a Turkish businessman and philanthropist.
It was known beforehand that if Turkey were to refuse the implementation of the verdict, the next step would be to ask the ECtHR to determine whether Turkey has failed to meet its obligation to implement the court’s verdict.
The previous decision adopted on Dec. 2 last year by the Ministerial Committee was the last reminder that the infringement proceeding was going to be initiated if Kavala were not released. This decision was adopted with 35 countries — out of a total of 47 — voting in favor of the decision. Three countries, including Turkey, had voted against the decision. Seven countries had abstained and two countries — Poland and Bosnia Herzegovina — have not participated in the voting.
There has been a slight change in the pattern of the votes since the previous voting. Moldova, which had abstained in the previous voting, changed side this time and joined 35 countries that voted against Turkey, increasing the number to 36. Three countries that voted in favor — Azerbaijan, Hungary and Turkey — remained unchanged. Poland and Bosnia-Herzegovina did not again participate in the vote.
The distribution of the votes indicates that all 27 EU member countries, with the exception of three — Hungary, Poland and Romania — voted against Turkey. This subtlety is important, because an at least 15 country rejection is required for a decision to be rejected. Therefore, any country’s changing side matters and the rejection of a decision to initiate a sanction against Turkey becomes less likely. If the ECtHR reaches the conclusion that Turkey has failed to meet its obligation to implement the court’s verdict, the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe will decide the nature of sanction that it will use against Ankara. There is an irony here, because Erdogan recited a poem in 1997 at a party rally and was found guilty of incitement to violence and religious hatred and put in jail. At that time, Erdogan applied to the ECtHR to get this sentence repealed. In other words, he regarded the ECtHR as a legitimate place to redress the injustice done against him. Now he says that he will not abide by the rulings of the same ECtHR.
There is a contradiction between president Erdogan’s stated commitment to continue Turkey’s path toward the EU and his attitude regarding the implementation of the ECtHR verdicts.
On the other hand, the dispute between Turkey and the Council of Europe looks like a dialogue of the deaf. Turkey says that the ECtHR’s verdict on Kavala has been duly implemented, but there is now a new case against him and he is being kept in jail because of this second case.
Kavala has been held in prison for more than four years without being convicted. The question remaining now is how will justice be restored if he is not found guilty eventually?
Robert Spano, chairman of the ECtHR, said that he did not want to comment on the Kavala case “but the general rule was that the governments are bound to implement the verdicts of the courts whose jurisdiction they have recognized.”Despite this opinion of its chairman, the ECtHR has no police force to execute the decisions. The only instrument that it holds is political pressure. The ultimate pressure that it can exercise is the suspension of a member country’s voting rights and eventual exclusion from the council. No member country has so far been excluded. On one occasion Azerbaijan was faced with a comparable case, but the procedure against that country was discontinued when Baku decided to release the person it was keeping in jail.
There is a contradiction between president Erdogan’s stated commitment to continue Turkey’s path toward the EU and his attitude regarding the implementation of the ECtHR verdicts. Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkey and founding member of the ruling AK Party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar

Climate accountability now
Mary Robinson/Arab News/February 13/2022
It has been 30 years since world leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro and agreed on a set of measures to start the global mobilization against human-caused climate change and to meet the imperative of a more sustainable development model.
Their Rio Declaration affirmed that “human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.”
Today, tens of millions of people who were not even born in 1992 are suffering the worst of the climate crisis. In a world already plagued by economic inequality and social injustice, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the policy failures of the past three decades. Political leaders have not lived up to their previous commitments. To overcome inertia, policymakers everywhere would do well to listen to those on the front lines of the climate crisis who are demonstrating real leadership and innovation. Among them are Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the mayor of Freetown in Sierra Leone, and young activists such as Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti from Kenya, and Mitzi Jonelle Tan from the Philippines, with whom I discussed future challenges at Project Syndicate’s recent Generation Green event.
These intergenerational debates are critical for driving progress and upholding one of the Rio Declaration’s central principles, namely, “the right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.”
One of Rio’s strongest legacies is the creation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The UNFCCC has been the key multilateral body in the international community’s effort to strengthen the political consensus on climate action through annual Conference of the Parties summits.
At COP26 in Glasgow in November, there was some progress toward strengthening the 2015 Paris climate agreement’s nationally determined contributions to emissions reduction, closing the gap in financing for climate adaptation, and ending the use of coal. But these advances were nowhere close to sufficient, given the existential threat posed by rising emissions and temperatures.
That is why 2022 must be the year of accountability, with all major emitters delivering on the promises of the so-called Glasgow Climate Pact. That declaration maintained a lifeline for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, relative to pre-industrial levels, as agreed in the Paris accord.
All countries at COP26 promised to step up their ambitions and revisit their emissions-reduction targets as soon as this year. In concrete terms, those who still have not set Paris-aligned 2030 targets should do so by COP27, due to be held in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.
While all countries must fast-track implementation of their new commitments, it is particularly important that wealthy G20 economies do so, because they are responsible for most global emissions.
Climate finance remains another critical part of the puzzle. It has been more than a decade since rich countries pledged, at COP15 in Copenhagen, to provide $100 billion annually to support developing countries in their mitigation and adaptation efforts. That target has never been met. In the interests of global trust and goodwill, rich countries must follow through on this commitment this year.
COP27 will be hosted by an African country, on the shores of the Red Sea. Africa is the continent most vulnerable to climate change, despite African nations’ negligible contribution to the problem. In the interest of justice and solidarity, I hope to see Africa speak with one voice to ensure that COP27 advances the region’s concerns on adaptation, finance, and loss and damage – the acknowledgement that countries are suffering climate effects beyond their ability to adapt. COP26 left unfinished business on loss and damage because the US, backed by the EU, postponed the creation of a new financial mechanism to rebuild communities in the aftermath of climate-related disasters. Country representatives nonetheless have committed to holding further discussions on the issue, which means that COP27 represents a major opportunity to achieve a breakthrough.
2022 must be the year of accountability, with all major emitters delivering on the promises of the so-called Glasgow Climate Pact. An effective loss and damage fund is increasingly important for climate-vulnerable states. At COP26, the Scottish government and the Belgian region of Wallonia took the first step by pledging $2.7 million and $1 million, respectively, for loss and damage (with matching funds from philanthropic organizations). But this money currently has nowhere to go.
Another encouraging development was the deal concluded by South Africa, the EU, the UK, the US, France, and Germany to support South Africa’s just transition away from coal. This now needs to be built upon – and emulated elsewhere.
The spirit of multilateralism that animated the Rio summit and its outcome remains indispensable today, even though the geopolitical climate is fraught with tensions, mutual suspicion, and weak institutions. As my fellow Elder Ban Ki-moon told the Generation Green audience, “we all have a part to play in addressing the climate crisis – especially those with the power needed to bring about change.” To honor the legacy of the Rio summit, to meet the needs of those already living with the consequences of the climate crisis, and to limit the repercussions for future generations, we all must strive to go further and faster to protect our shared home. And 2022 must be the turning point.
*Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland and UN high commissioner for human rights, is chair of The Elders.

Is an agreement on Northern Ireland within reach?
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Arab News/February 13/2022
Northern Irish politics, never dull, has been complicated by the resignation of the First Minister Paul Givan, of the Democratic Unionist Party, and the automatic ejection from office of the deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, of Sinn Féin.
Sinn Féin claims that this development presages a major political crisis and has called for the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont to be brought forward from May.
Meanwhile, an order made by the DUP agriculture minister, Edwin Poots, that halted the internal UK border checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland in protest at burdens of the Northern Ireland Protocol, was suspended by the High Court.
The DUP contends that this internal border breaches the agreement signed in 2020 by all the Northern Ireland parties, the UK and Irish governments, and lauded in the USA. A key part of the deal that brought back power sharing after three years was that Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market would be protected. The DUP have said they will not reinstate their First Minister for as long as this agreement is in breach.
Meanwhile Lord Frost, Britain’s chief negotiator with the EU, earlier resigned from government and has been replaced by the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss.
As negotiations continue, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quoted by the DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, as having given the prospect of an agreement being reached with the EU in the next few weeks a 30 per cent chance of coming to fruition. According to Donaldson, Johnson demurred when asked if he would take unilateral action if no movement was made. Publicly, however, the government in London maintains that to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland, “nothing is off the table.”
All of these things suggest chaos and confusion. Outside observers might be tempted to worry that a negotiated agreement to move beyond the protocol is unlikely. But this is not inevitable.
Even with Northern Ireland in a state of political disarray, things proceed.
Reforms brought forward by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis, and passed by the UK Parliament last night, will improve longer term political stability by maintaining some continuity of local government in Northern Ireland, whereas previously power sharing would have automatically collapsed and an early election would have been inevitable.
So government in Northern Ireland will not suffer a total break in continuity while the current political drama is being resolved local.
Continuity is preserved in negotiations too, with Truss largely sticking to Frost’s line. Some EU sources are critical of this, claiming it is overly rigid. But it signals continuity and straightforwardness from the UK negotiators, and that the path previously followed in negotiations remains available.
Intensive negotiations with the EU continue. Truss hopes to reach an agreement on the protocol before the end of February. EU sources have briefed friendly newspapers that they remain skeptical of the British approach, but slowly a consensus is emerging on customs checks and the law. The question in the minds of many is whether a full consensus can be achieved in time for the scheduled May elections.
Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s Brexit commissioner, believes that Britain will not trigger Article 16 of the protocol, which unilaterally terminates the arrangement, a sign that agreement on moving past the dictates of the protocol is possible. But he also knows that, now more than ever, any deal on the Protocol must satisfy all sections of the community in Northern Ireland, as diplomats and politicians in London have been arguing for some time.
A deal must be reached that works for all communities in Northern Ireland so that power sharing can be fully restored by the elections this year.
This agreement is internationally desirable and sought by many. Secretary Lewis will be in Washington on Wednesday to meet senior US officials over the protocol. Lewis’ shuttle diplomacy has shown his determination to reach an accord.
Those in Washington who have followed Northern Ireland’s long road to peace closely will want to help Lewis’ efforts.
Transcending the protocol remains of the utmost importance. Barriers to trade imperil prosperity and day-to-day business. Those temporary delays to full implementation of the protocol, which have been made largely on the fly, responsive to momentary crises, and are not designed to exist in the longer term. For Northern Ireland to prosper, and for political stability to be retained, the protocol must be succeeded by a less suffocating arrangement. But with elections on the horizon, time is running out to safeguard the gains of the Good Friday Agreement. A deal must be reached that works for all communities in Northern Ireland so that power sharing can be fully restored by the elections this year.
It is in the interests of all sides to reach an agreement, and much progress has been made since Britain left the EU in 2020. A new system is taking shape, slowly being laid down after years of negotiations. Politics remains contentious and heartfelt. Individual crises flare up and must be dealt with. But negations grind doggedly on. A solution is still close at hand.
*Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is the Director of Special Initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington D.C. and author of “The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar’s Genocide” (Hurst, 2017). Twitter: @AzeemIbrahim

Why Europe’s eyes are on Africa
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/February 13/2022
The EU is not known for unveiling bold new initiatives, yet this week may be an exception when it launches its new Global Gateway project, widely seen as a counterpart to China’s mammoth Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
This week’s big announcement, the highlight of the EU-Africa summit starting on Thursday, will see the Brussels-based club kickstart the first Global Gateway regional plan mobilizing up to €300 billion ($340 billion) for public and private infrastructure around the world by 2027. Half of this money is intended for Africa and is focused on renewable energy, reducing the risk of natural disasters, digital connectivity, transport, vaccine production for both coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other diseases, and education. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen intends to proclaim the EU-27 (the 27 EU member states following Brexit) to be the continent’s “most reliable” global partner.
This underlines how much the approximately 1.2 billion-strong African continent has become a foreign policy super-priority for Brussels and the EU-27. In recent years, there has been a clear European pivot to the continent, increasingly based on investment rather than aid.
In the words of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell Fontelles, what is being developed is “a new, integrated strategy for and with Africa” that sees “equal partnership.” Brussels wants to encourage Africa as a champion of the EU’s rules-based, multilateral approach to world order, seeing the EU as a counterweight in the continent to other prominent world powers like China with the “power politics” they are perceived to offer.
Buttressing this massive European economic investment, the EU also wants to strengthen support for African defense and security forces, including through EU military missions. The Brussels-based club currently has 11 military and naval missions across the continent, and examples of ones it is planning to expand include its naval presence off the Nigerian and Somalia coasts.
While this important European pivot is being spearheaded by Brussels, individual EU nations are also doubling down on their engagement with the continent. Take the example of France, whose President Emmanuel Macron hosted last year the first France-Africa summit of recent times.
French influence over its former colonies continues today via political, security, economic and cultural connections in so-called Francophone Africa. Building from this legacy, Macron has announced significant new plans to renew the historical relationship in the face of growing interest in the continent from other countries.
Outside the EU, the UK is another key European power with a renewed focus on Africa. For London, the continent has assumed new importance with Brexit as UK officials seek to consolidate ties with key non-EU nations following the 2020 departure from the Brussels-based club.
Yet, it is not just Europe paying close attention to the continent given its long-term growth potential, post-pandemic. Several great powers like the US and China, plus other states like Turkey and some Gulf nations, are also showering Africa with greater attention, giving its countries more diplomatic options than in the past.
International interest in Africa appears only likely to grow into the 2020s given its growing strategic importance.
It is China that has invested most time and money in Africa in recent decades, a point illustrated by the fact that its top leadership (the president, premier and foreign minister) have reportedly made a staggering total of around 80 visits to over 40 different countries there over the past decade alone. Beijing is aiming to better connect its Belt and Road initiative increasingly with the continent’s development. As a result, trade and investment between the two powers have risen massively, with around 40 African countries having signed onto Belt and Road, and Beijing a frequent host of China-Africa Summits.
Under President Joe Biden, the US is also stepping up its interest in the continent, although the new administration in Washington knows it is playing a game of ‘catch-up’ with China. The Biden team is seeking to turbocharge US policy via the US Prosper Africa initiative, which seeks to substantially increase two-way trade and investment.
While the administration is framing the initiative as a way to promote shared US-Africa prosperity, it is also designed, in part, to counter China in the region. It is trying here to learn the lessons of the Trump years, when US policy toward Africa lacked coherency, clarity and urgency. Key administration figures, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton, often acknowledged that China was “interfering with US military operations and posed a significant threat to US national security interests” across the continent.
This exemplifies that, while the upsurge of foreign attention to Africa often reflects economic calculations, broader geopolitical considerations are also at play too. From the new European pivot toward the continent to the great power game underway between the US and China, international interest in the continent appears only likely to grow into the 2020s given its growing strategic importance.
*Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics