Home Archive by category "International Affairs"

Category: International Affairs

A brief tale of Covid priorities in Africa

What Africans have been telling me about Covid this year The arrival of the Omicron variant has finally, although rather unfairly, brought some of the focus in the pandemic onto Africa. There is at least now more discussion of the inequalities in the system that is putting profit before people, leaving Africans at the bottom of the vaccine supply chain. Having spent this year living in Africa and I ought to add, living with Africans, entirely disconnected from any expat…

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The sincerest form of propaganda

While propaganda is best sold to people who don’t realise what they’re being sold, its also best sold by people who genuinely believe what they’re saying. The immense, sophisticated system used by the establishment to guarantee the public succumb to its narratives, creating consent for its otherwise unacceptable actions, is so effective that many professionals are completely taken in by it. Although journalistic failings should be called out, a lot of nuance and complexity is often thrown out in many…

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What is really happening in Tigray, Ethiopia

  The first thing you need to know is that anyone who tells you they know exactly what is going on in Tigray and northern Ethiopia is probably not the sort of person you should be listening to. If you’ve been paying at least passing attention to events you’ll know that there has been fighting between the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian Army since last November. Numerous accusations of crimes against humanity and human rights abuses have…

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A short tale of Brexit Britain vs Africa rising in one small package

  Any brief glance of current British headlines will confirm that my sorry excuse for a nation is taking a headlong dive back to the 1970s, at least economically speaking, there remains the stubborn refusal of flares to come back into fashion. Politically speaking, the 1870s seem more of a guiding light for our government, bathed in its imperial arrogance and racist entitlement. Apologies of course to the Welsh and Scots who bear little responsibility for the almighty clusterfuck Brexit…

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I checked the headlines on China’s role in Afghanistan. This is what I found

After ten days of scanning the coverage of China’s potential role in Afghanistan, it’s clear that there is one voice missing from western media reports: the Afghans themselves. In no article did anyone consider the concerns of the Afghan people, what they might want or expect from a future where China will certainly play a prominent role. This only echoes the US led intervention, where, as always the local people only ever play a walk on part in a plot…

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Why everything you think you know about international affairs is wrong

  Disinformation, trolls, bots, propaganda!!! The tweets and headlines complain. “Our enemies are subverting our democracy”, shout the politicians. “Use the media you can trust”, say the editors. If at any point up till now the thought of Russia or China popped into your head, go stand in the corner, face the wall and think very hard about what a bad, little child you’ve been – unless you’re Russian or Chinese, then you’re entitled to worry about what your own…

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Afghanistan – the illusion of doing something

The first post in a new category of subjects, international affairs. How could the Taliban win so easily? We just needed a few more months! We just needed a few more years! We’re abandoning the Afghan people! We’ve been inundated by these plaintive voices in recent days, many, genuinely well intentioned but many not so, although the media wouldn’t have given you that impression. These questions arise from a complete failure to understand what has been happening and realise we…

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