Michael Youssef, AFR, and The Great Replacement

https://www.globalpublishingpartners.com/unholy-alliance-michael-youssef

American Family Radio continues to push the Great Replacement theory and one means by doing so is by linking up with Michael Youssef - a millionaire mega-church pastor from Atlanta who has marketed his Egyptian heritage. I've listened to him many times on the radio and not only have I found his teaching to be defective, there is something of the charlatan and fraud about him. There are so many 'experts' that emerged after 9/11 that have cashed on on Middle-Eastern and Islamic backgrounds - and yet so many have been exposed as frauds.

Humanitarian Imperialism and Sudan

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/13/sudan

The war in Sudan is tragic and like all Africa stories in the West, it gets little attention or traction. To most people the wars in Africa are just repeating loops of video showing fighters in pick-up trucks with AK-47's and suffering women and children in refugee camps. The politics are beyond most people's ability to understand - and they're not going to take the time to look into them. And while Western leaders speak out, levelling condemnations and offering aid - nothing much seems to change.

Welcome to Age of BRICS+

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-66525474

The world is changing, a new order is forming. This has been in the air for sometime but a milestone was passed on 1 January 2024 with the expansion of BRICS.

Americas Secret Cache of Warsaw Pact Weapons

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/03/22/us-soviet-air-defense-ukraine/

Though largely unknown to most of the American public, the US began to purchase large quantities of Warsaw Pact weaponry in the 1970's and would continue to do so until the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet alliance. It is therefore not too surprising that some of the weapons are now being funneled into Ukraine where they will be able to integrate easily enough with the extant arms in Kyiv's possession.

Ethiopia and the Growing Danger of Proxy War in East Africa

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/chinas-support-ethiopian-government-complicates-ties-egypt

After several vicious rounds of advance and retreat, it would seem the Tigray War may be stabilising. At present there is a cease fire and we can hope that it holds. Everyone is tired of fighting and both sides have suffered considerably – not to mention the vast number of civilians who have been brutalised.

While there's a ceasefire, the situation is by no means resolved. The Tigray region is basically (at this point) autonomous and they've proven that they can hold their own against the Abiy government in Addis Ababa – which is now a government in crisis.

The October 2021 Coup in Sudan

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/sudan-coup-imperils-hard-won-international-backing/

Sudan faces more turmoil with the October 2021 military coup. Western media tends to report on the nation's 'progress' which is measured in terms of how much the nation is under the thumb of Western investment and political policy. For the Sudanese the metrics are often quite different.

The ousting of Omar al-Bashir in 2019 marked a major victory for US-led Western interests. Washington had sponsored the creation of South Sudan in 2011 which left the north in a potential crisis as the southern region contained the nation's oil resources. The creation of South Sudan represented a defeat for China which had close ties with Khartoum and was invested in the infrastructure of their oil industry. Civil war was the result in the South, and a decade later the situation remains fragile.

Gülen, Kenya and Turkey's MIT

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57304094

Kenya was the scene of a previous Turkish intelligence (MIT) operation in the late 1990's when (with the help of the CIA) the head of the PKK was captured. This time it's unclear if Nairobi was a willing participant in the MIT operation though it seems unlikely that Turkey would have risked the international scandal to capture someone that frankly is not exactly a high-value target.

Erdogan's AKP is continuing its campaign against the Gülenist movement. They have been unable to get their hands on Fethullah Gülen himself who has lived in the Pennsylvania Poconos since 1999.*

The Sublime Porte versus L'Elysee

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/turkey-bolsters-influence-across-north-africas-maghreb/

While the Istanbul-based Porte is no longer active, the Erdogan administration in Ankara certainly has a vision of Neo-Ottomanism - the Neo-Porte is you will. On the back burner for a season, it's back with a vengeance as Turkey attempts to triangulate its alliances, play its opposition off against one another and re-assert its unique geographical and cultural role. This is best seen in its geo-strategic and economic policies within the Middle East, the Caucasus region, Europe (particularly Germany and the Balkans) and the larger Mediterranean region.

Trouble on the Nile

There is serious trouble brewing in Northeastern Africa. While many of the tensions and conflicts of our day are packaged in terms of human rights and political struggle there is an underlying factor that is driving geopolitical tension and that is the struggle for resources.

A Warning to the Egyptian Churches

http://www.christianpost.com/news/treatment-of-christians-in-egypt-much-better-now-than-its-been-for-a-long-time-expert.html

Egyptian ethnic Christians and Protestants have always endured their share of struggles as modern Egyptian society has been torn apart by the conflicts between secular nationalist rule and religious traditionalism. The latter is represented by groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood which would (if allowed) take Egypt in the direction of a more deliberately Islamic society and this would also be reflected in terms of foreign policy – an issue that continues to tear modern Egyptian society apart.

Libya and the Escalating Mediterranean Conflict

https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/turkey-raises-prospect-to-send-troops-to-libya/

The rift continues to deepen between Turkey and Libya and the story is further complicated by frankly dishonest Western reporting regarding the status of Khalifa Haftar and his backers.

Haftar and Libyan Ports

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-economy-port-idUSKCN1U02CH

This development represents further US subversion of the UN recognised regime in Tripoli.

In addition to further support for Khalifa Haftar... who interestingly has threatened Turkish interests... the move ensures that China won't be able to move in and connect Libya to its larger OBOR project.

Haftar: Made in the USA

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190614-sisi-egypt-will-always-suppor

Contrary to the official narrative and policy I would argue that the United States has been supporting Haftar since his return to Libya in 2011.

Few would doubt that his part in the 2011 so-called Libyan Revolution was sponsored by Washington. But the official narrative posits that he fell out of favour during the subsequent and ongoing civil war which many date to 2014.

Trump +346: UN Funding, the American Empire and the Rise of Multipolarity

The Trump administration recently declared it would further cut US payments to the United Nations. This is particularly damaging to the international body as the US pays a significant portion of its budget. American conservatives have long argued that the UN works against American interests and thus they are particularly bitter about the fact that US tax money helps to fund the organisation.

Netanyahu the Tour Guide

https://ijr.com/the-declaration/2017/12/1039797-netanyahu-special-gift-christians-travel-israel-christmas-next-year/

Netanyahu is practically gushing. The fact that he can say these things with a straight face indicates what sort of person he is.

Christians thrive in Israel?

The (Tel-Aviv – Riyadh – Washington) Triple Alliance and the Dangerous Game

http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/middleeast/2017/11/saudi-arabia-game-thobes-171105162806956.html

This is another story which seems to change by the day and the hour. This link while interesting is already outdated. Hariri is back in Lebanon and has rescinded his resignation and Saleh who broke with the Houthi's is now dead.

Trump and the Qatar Crisis

While receiving some press coverage, the growing Qatar Crisis is worthy of larger consideration. Standard commentaries on the Middle East rightly identify the ongoing struggle between the Saudi's and Islamic Republic of Iran. Sometimes it's even referred to as the Middle Eastern Cold War. This is a multifaceted struggle over the leadership of Islam, Sunni vs. Shiite, Arab vs. Persian and it also represents an aspect of a larger proxy struggle between the great powers.

Russian Aid to CIA-connected Libyan General

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/14/russian-special-forces-deployed-in-egypt-near-libyan-border-report

These reports are still largely unsubstantiated. Yet if true it would hardly come as a surprise.

Gaddafi's Libya and the United States

A lesson in alliance and machination

During the opening salvos of the Cold War, the United States found a staunch ally in Libya's King Idris who reigned from 1951-69. Italian imperialism seemed to be replaced by the United States which promptly utilised the nation's resources and appropriated a large airbase. Libya was viewed as strategically important, a bridge between the Mediterranean, Africa and the Middle East.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelus_Air_Base#United_States_withdrawal

A Seared Conscience Speaking Lies With Hypocrisy

Today Janet Mefferd tried to suggest the chaos in Libya is due to Obama's naïve support for the Arab Spring. There are always the veiled insinuations that he's some kind of crypto-Muslim.