Why China Is Investing in Africa’s Green Energy Future

A wind farm in Namib­ia and a float­ing solar farm on Zim­bab­we’s mas­sive Kari­ba Dam are among the new green ener­gy projects Chi­nese com­pa­nies are look­ing at invest­ing in this year after Bei­jing pledged to help African coun­tries address their ener­gy prob­lems with renew­able sources rather than fos­sil fuels.  “Chi­nese over­seas renew­able ener­gy invest­ments aim to…

The old guard: Joe Biden seems like a spring chicken compared to some of these guys

When the U.S. pres­i­dent on Tues­day announced that he would seek reelec­tion in 2024, atten­tion quick­ly turned to his advanced age.  If elect­ed, Joe Biden would be 82 on inau­gu­ra­tion day in 2025, and 86 on leav­ing the White House in Jan­u­ary 2029.  POLITICO took a look around the globe and back through his­to­ry to meet…

Joe Biden’s Ireland trip reinforces narrative of the American dream

US president’s ‘home­com­ing’ vis­it has alchemised pol­i­tics, diplo­ma­cy and the per­son­al into a feel­go­od glow for vis­i­tor and hosts John F Kennedy set the tem­plate for US pres­i­den­tial for­ays to Ire­land with a rap­tur­ous vis­it in 1963 that he called the best four days of his life. Joe Biden’s vis­it this week did not quite match that…

Russia Sanctions a Boon for Chinese Arms Sales to Africa?

Rus­sia has long been the biggest exporter of arms to sub-Saha­ran Africa, but a new study indi­cates West­ern sanc­tions are mak­ing it hard­er for Moscow to sell weapons, open­ing the door for more Chi­­nese-made arms. Even before the Ukraine war, Chi­na had increased its sales of weapons to sub-Saha­ran Africa, export­ing almost three times as…

How the Iraq war altered US politics and led to the emergence of Trump

The dri­ve to war was fueled by par­ti­san­ship and served as an accel­er­ant to the extrem­ism that led to Trump and the Capi­tol riot Long shad­ow of US inva­sion of Iraq still looms over inter­na­tion­al order Twen­ty years ago, Lt Col Karen Kwiatkows­ki was work­ing as a desk offi­cer in the Pen­ta­gon, when she became aware of…