The eight-year Islamist insurgency in the West African nation of Mali shows no sign of ending and after an August coup toppled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The country’s transitional government has indicated it is willing to open dialogue with all armed groups. France, which has more than 5,000 troops in the country, has warned against any discussions with jihadists.

“With terrorists, we do not discuss. We fight.” The statement made recently by French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview is — to some analysts —  a clear rebuke of the strategy initiated by transitional Malian authorities who are willing to open discussions with jihadists. […]

Nicolas Normand says Macron’s remarks show a growing gap between the Malian population and the former colonial power.

“In 2013, when the French army intervened in Mali to combat the armed groups, they supported the separatists and fought only the jihadists,” he said. ”After eight years, there is no real improvement in the security situation despite many jihadists killed. Eight years is too long for the former colonial power’s army to stay in the country. The population  does not understand.” […]

With more than 50 French troops killed and little progress to report since the deployment, observers say France is considering pulling back its forces and encouraging other European nations to commit more forces to the region. Läs artikel

Storbritanniens regering offentliggjorde en ökning av försvarsutgifterna med 16.5 GGBP på fyra år, eller i snitt drygt 4 GGBP om året, och menar att det bryter en nedåtgående trend. Pengarna ser främst ut att handla om industristöd och går till bygge av örlogsfartyg och stridsflygsprojektet Tempest. Bedömningen är att satsningen ska skapa upp till 10 000 arbetstillfällen om året inom försvarsindustrin.

China’s unilateralism and growing belligerence have led many “like-minded” countries to come together to uphold a proactive yet cautious stance toward the Indo-Pacific region, and the Quad 2.0, comprising the US, Australia, Japan and India, has been especially prominent in this regard.

This trend has enabled robust bilateralism to take center stage and lay the groundwork for successful multilateral collaborations. The rising ties among the Quad 2.0 members have come to play a prime role in their foreign-policy overtures, with the latest example being the “in principle” agreement on a long-anticipated defense pact, the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), by “special strategic partners” Australia and Japan.

Predictably, Chinese state media and experts have perceived the RAA as a prelude to a multilateral mechanism with the core objective of containing China – an “Indo-Pacific NATO” – and therefore detrimental to regional stability. […]

The landmark pact will permit the Australian Defense Force (ADF) and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to operate in each other’s countries, allowing greater interoperability, military-to-military cooperation and multilateral venture of military exercises and understanding. Läs artikel

Säkerhetspolisens chef Klas Friberg bröt mot grundlagen när myndigheten kom med kravet att stänga ute Huawei från den svenska 5G-utbyggnaden, avslöjar Dagens Industri.

Enligt lagen får inte en myndighetschef agera på ett sätt som kan påverka relationen till ett annat land, utan att först informera utrikesministern – vilket Säpochefen inte gjorde.

– Det är just det som den här regeringsformsbestämmelsen är till för att förhindra, att någon myndighet bedriver utrikespolitik på egen kammare, säger Vilhelm Persson, professor i offentlig rätt vid Lunds universitet.

DI har inte kunnat hitta något i kommunikationen mellan Säpo och UD som tyder på att utrikesministern blev informerad. Läs artikel

[…]Sedan några år tillbaka spelar svenska media okritiskt på rysskräcken igen. Nu hävdas att krigen i Ukraina och Georgien bevisar att Ryssland bedriver en aggressiv politik och att Sverige kan stå närmast på tur för en rysk invasion. Detta används som skäl för värdlandsavtal och allt mer intimt militärsamarbete med Nato och USA. Samma främmande makts soldater som härjade här på 80-talet finns nu igen i de svenska skärgårdarna men nu på inbjudan av den svenska regeringen. Sverige har helt slutit upp kring USA och Nato. Borta är den självständiga utrikes-, nedrustnings- och avspänningspolitiken. Nu drivs den hårda linjen med sanktioner mot Ryssland.

It’s been just three years since Emmanuel Macron delivered his speech in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Arriving six months earlier at the Elysée Palace, the French head of state revealed, in front of a packed amphitheater, the outlines of the relationship he intended to weave with Africa.

He made a promise that had been repeated by all his predecessors since General de Gaulle: he was going to put an end to Françafrique, its troubled ties and obscure networks. […]

Is it necessary to negotiate peace with Iyad Ag Ghali and the jihadists in Mali, as called for by many people in the country?

It is necessary to be part of the clear roadmap that is the Algiers agreements. These provide for dialogue with different political and autonomist groups. But this does not mean dialogue with terrorist groups, who continue to kill civilians and soldiers, including our own. With terrorists, we do not discuss. We fight.

Of course, we know that the border between different groups is often porous. But to put it in a politically incorrect way: our military presence is not intended to combat all forms of trafficking in the region. That would be absurd.

Do you understand Presidents Issoufou and Déby when they say it’s normal for France to repair in the Sahel the pots it broke in Libya, which led to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011?

All those who intervened, including France, have a share of responsibility in the anomie that has reigned in Libya since 2011. The situation in Libya has had an obvious impact on its neighbours. Trafficking in arms, human beings and drugs has been reinforced throughout the Sahel, and terrorists have taken advantage of this to obtain supplies and better organise themselves. But the Sahelian question cannot be reduced to the Libyan question. Läs intervjun

Den gamle keiserbyen Nürnberg ble lagt i ruiner under krigen, men ble valgt som åsted for rettsoppgjøret av symbolske grunner.

En nedskalert seremoni i sal 600 i rettsbygningen i Nürnberg markerte fredag at det var 75 år siden rettsoppgjøret mot naziregimet startet i november 1945. […]

Nürnberg-rettssakene i nettopp sal 600 var en historisk hendelse i den forstand at et lands ledere for første gang ble stilt til ansvar for sine forbrytelse og overgrep i en internasjonal domstol. I den første rettssaken måtte 21 framtredende nazister svare på offensive spørsmål fra de allierte maktene som vant krigen – USA, Sovjetunionen, Frankrike og Storbritannia. […]

Nürnberg-prosessene la grunnlaget for et globalt rettssystem for dem som hadde utført de verste overgrep menneskeheten er i stand til. Arven fra Nürnberg lever videre i Den internasjonale straffedomstolen i Haag (ICC) som siden 2002 har vært verdens eneste permanente domstol som behandler folkemord, krigsforbrytelser og forbrytelser mot menneskeheten. Läs artikel

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday committed the British government to an expansion of defense spending that confirms London’s ambitions about improving the Royal Navy through the middle of the century.

The pledge of about £24.1 billion — or just under $32 billion — supports Johnson’s vision of what he calls a freer and more independent “global Britain” following the United Kingdom’s protracted divorce from the European Union via Brexit.

“Reviving our armed forces is one pillar of the government’s ambition to safeguard Britain’s interests and values by strengthening our global influence, and reinforcing our ability to join the United States and our other allies to defend free and open societies,” Johnson told ministers in the House of Commons.

The defense review that prompted the expansion of spending is still technically underway, but Downing Street said the government already was satisfied about the need to affirm that programs are on track, including, within the realm of shipbuilding:

• eight Type 26 frigates;
• five Type 31 frigates;
• new supply ships for the Royal Navy’s two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers;
• and a “next generation of warships,” Johnson said, including “multi-role research vessels” and a Type 32 class of frigate. Läs artikel