A coalition of both conservative and progressive foreign policy organizations have delivered a letter to the White House, asking the president to pursue a broad diplomatic path with the Russians in the much-anticipated U.S.-Russia talks on Monday and in NATO meetings later next week.

The letter, which was signed by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, asks the White House to pursue the Minsk agreements which would “demilitarize the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine and guarantee meaningful political autonomy to the region while retaining Ukrainian sovereignty over the area and its borders.” QI fellow Anatol Lieven has detailed the agreement and the promise it would hold for peace in the region here. Läs artikel

Brevet finns att läsa nedan.

While two extraordinary ECOWAS and WAEMU summits devoted to Mali will be held in Accra on Sunday, the Malian transitional authorities and the international community have started a standoff. Who will win?

The Malian dossier is undoubtedly one of the hottest at the start of 2022, for Africa. The military junta, which took power in August 2020, has been in the sights of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) since last May. […]

We are therefore heading inexorably towards a confrontation between Mali and ECOWAS. Assimi Goïta knows full well that, although Mali risks going to clash, especially after the tensions between his country and the sub-regional organization, ECOWAS cannot afford to leave Mali on the sidelines for too long. […]

A military cooperation between Mali and Russia much more assumed by Bamako, from now on. ”We have received new planes and military equipment” from the Russians, the Malian army spokesman told Reuters on Thursday. “It costs less to train in their use on site than there (in Russia, editor’s note). What’s the problem ? », Asks the military official. Läs artikel

Dear President Biden,
On behalf of the fifteen undersigned organizations, we are writing to support your efforts to engage diplomatically with Russia. Continuing engagement is necessary to avert a military conflict that will harm the interests of the United States, harm innocent civilians in Ukraine, and risk spiraling into a potentially catastrophic war between the world’s two leading nuclear powers.
We greatly appreciate your decision to respond to the substantial Russian military deployment near Ukraine by engaging in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and arranging broader talks next week between Russia, the United States, and our NATO allies. We urge you to continue to pursue diplomatic progress, to promote de-escalation, and to seek negotiated solutions to disputes that avoid war.
We agree with Secretary of State Tony Blinken that “[d]iplomacy is the only responsible way to resolve this potential crisis.” We share his view that the “most promising avenue for diplomacy is for Russia and Ukraine to return to dialogue in the context of the Minsk II agreements,” and are encouraged that both the Putin and Zelenskyy administrations have reaffirmed their commitment to Minsk.1 The Minsk II accords would demilitarize the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine and guarantee meaningful political autonomy to the region while retaining Ukrainian sovereignty over the area and its borders. The United States should press both Ukraine and Russia to implement a workable version of the Minsk accords. Läs hela brevet

I Magdalena Anderssons nya regeringsförklaring nämns den feministiska utrikespolitiken, som hade till mål att bidra till nedrustning och trygghet för oss i Sverige och vår omvärld, inte med ett ord. I stället är det samarbetet med Nato som ska fördjupas. Ett samarbete med en kärnvapenallians som vill rusta upp militärt, ökar spänningar i vårt närområde och som urholkar Sveriges alliansfrihet.

Det är en oansvarig historielöshet. Vår militära alliansfrihet har bidragit till att generation efter generation i Sverige kunnat leva i fred. Den har dessutom gett oss ett utrikespolitiskt handlingsutrymme som gjort att vi kunnat spela en viktig internationell roll för fred och nedrustning. Att frångå de framgångarna riskerar att trissa upp spänningarna i vår omvärld. Läs artikel

Läget i Kazakstan är fortfarande mycket instabilt. Det var en höjning av bränslepriserna som var den utlösande faktorn, men missnöjet har bubblat på under ytan en längre tid. Vad beror allt på?

Kazakstan är Centralasiens rikaste land, men trots det är en stor del av befolkningen fattig. Medellönen ligger på drygt 500 euro, trots att landets energiproduktion håvar in miljonbelopp.

Folket i Kazakstan är missnöjt med hur alla energiproduktionspengar hamnar i fickorna hos landets politiska elit, medan de själva tvingas leva i fattiga förhållanden, berättar Kristiina Silvan som är forskare och expert på Kazakstan vid Utrikespolitiska institutet.

– Det grundläggande problemet är en frustration över det nuvarande politiska styret och den korruption som präglar näringslivet och politiken, säger Silvan. Läs artikel

Sverige ska fördjupa sitt samarbete med Nato. Det beskedet kommer efter statsminister Magdalena Anderssons (S) krissamtal med Nato-chefen Jens Stoltenberg. Det gäller bland annat att samordna Sveriges och Natos planering, uppger försvarsminister Peter Hultqvist (S) för DN. […]

På DN:s frågor till Magdalena Andersson om hur samarbetet med Nato nu ska fördjupas så hänvisar hennes pressekreterare till försvarsminister Peter Hultqvist:

– Det handlar om den stegvisa fördjupning som vi tidigare har redogjort för. Det är övningssamarbete, informationsutbyte med också om det riksdagsbeslut som fattats om koordinerad planering, säger Hultqvist.

Samordnad planering mellan Nato och Sverige?

– Ja, det kan man säga. Jag upplever att vi har ett mycket gott förhållande med Nato och det är en positiv och bra relation som fördjupas genom övningar, säger Peter Hultqvist och tillägger:

– Vi har riksdagsbeslut som bas för vår fördjupning och vårt agerande. Och vi har också beslut om djupare samarbete på vår partikongress. […]

Sveriges försvarsminister avvisar kategoriskt de ryska påståendena:

– Vi övar inte kärnvapenattacker mot någon annan. Det är desinformation och en ren felaktighet. Vi är inte bas för någonting sådant. Vi övar med amerikanska styrkor, med Nato-styrkor med många andra länder i vårt närområde och det är väl känt. Men vi utsätts naturligtvis också för desinformation, svarar Peter Hultqvist. Läs artikel

Seeking to deepen their defense cooperation, the United States and Japan will soon sign a new five-year agreement on sharing the cost of the American military presence in Japan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday.

Speaking at the outset of a virtual conference between the U.S. and Japanese foreign and defense ministers, Blinken said Tokyo and Washington also will sign a deal on collaborating more closely in research and development of defense-related technologies, including ways to counter threats from hypersonic weapons.

The agreement on a new formula for sharing the cost of the American military presence in Japan ends a Trump-era dispute that had been a significant irritant in U.S.-Japan relations. Blinken said the new deal will enable greater investment in the readiness of both countries’ forces and improve their ability to operate together. […]

Under the terms of the hosting deal, which will run to 2026, Japan will spend approximately $1.82 billion annually to support the U.S. military presence. The United States has about 55,000 troops in Japan, including a naval contingent, which makes it the largest forward-deployed U.S. force in the world, according to the GAO. Läs artikel

There are currently 13 nuclear-powered submarines under construction in Severodvinsk, plus the modernization of the large battle-cruiser Admiral Nakhimov.

2021 became a record year for Russia’s only yard building nuclear-powered submarines. Three subs were handed over to the navy, two were put on water and two more were laid down. Not since the late days of the Soviet Union have the workers at the two yards in Severodvinsk been busier than now. While the Sevmash is building new subs, the Zvezdochka repairs and upgrades older submarines.

Moscow’s modernization program for the navy over the last decade stands in sharp contrast to considerable neglect in the years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Läs artikel

Some of the blame for Afghanistan’s unfolding crisis rests squarely with the new Taliban government. Policymaking is mired in abject confusion, and factional disagreements have stymied the humanitarian response. The decision to prohibit girls from attending secondary school, which the Taliban now denies is official policy, undermines the national self-interest, and mixed messages on women’s employment have compounded poverty.

But government incompetence is only part of the story. When the Taliban took power, the foreign aid that financed three-quarters of all government spending was stopped overnight, leaving millions of teachers, health workers, water and sanitation engineers, and public officials unpaid. The entirely predictable collapse of social infrastructure has fueled the humanitarian catastrophe. […]

Western governments urgently need a plan for supporting recovery that goes beyond humanitarian aid. The US should unfreeze Afghanistan’s foreign-currency reserves. Sanctions regimes should be amended to facilitate non-humanitarian aid, the recovery of the country’s banking system, and the operations of Afghanistan’s central bank.

None of this implies full normalization of diplomatic relations. But it does require recognizing the simple fact that no credible alternative to the Taliban exists. […]

After two decades of war in Afghanistan, the international community must now unite to win a fragile peace. That means ending an economic blockade that is violating vulnerable Afghans’ human rights no less than the edicts of armed religious zealots are. Läs artikel