29 Nov 2024
African Think Tank

Association For Strategic Culture and Research Foundation

African Think Tank
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Russia-Africa Summit: The Roadmap to Africa, Shift in Geopolitical Relations
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent warm greetings to African leaders, business people and participants early October, signaling that everything is set for the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, southern coastal city of Russia.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
26 February, 2021
South Africa: The most ideal partner for Russia in Africa.
Central documents are Joint Declaration on the Establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Africa, signed during the working visit of President Vladimir Putin to the RSA timed to BRICS Summit in Durban in March 2013 and the Treaty on Friendship and Partnership concluded within the official visit of President of Russia Vladimir Putin to the RSA in September 2016.
By Lungile Cabangani II
19 April, 2021
The Battle for Indian Ocean and Island States
Russia has taken an increasing interest in strengthening consistently its diplomacy with small island States especially Cape Verde, Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles. Late December, the Kremlin appointed Deputy Director Artem Kozhin at the Foreign Ministry as the new ambassador to the island of Seychelles, signaling the strategic importance it attaches to this island state of Seychelles with an estimated population of 85 thousand, located in the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar and east of Kenya.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
14 August, 2021
Economic Forum to Boost Far East Regional Development
With a focus to gather corporate business directors and investors especially from the Asian-Pacific region, the Far East federal district administration is speedily preparing to host the 6th edition of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on September 2-4 in Vladivostok.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
27 August, 2021
Egypt Hopes for Russia's Nuclear Plant Construction
It was highly unique step forward in October 2019, during the first Russia-Africa Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi reaffirmed commitment to scale-up cooperation in various economic sectors and particularly expedite work on the special industrial zone and the construction of proposed four nuclear power plants, raising hopes for an increased power supply in Egypt.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
1 September, 2021
Russian Disinformation Popularizes Sputnik V Vaccine in Africa
In Africa, public opinion is often difficult to measure, whether due to conflict, undemocratic regimes, or a lack of administrative capacity.
By John Campbell, Michelle Gavin
16 September, 2021
More African Countries Register Russia's Sputnik Vaccine. What Next After The Registration Campaign?
Russia's drive to share Sputnik V vaccine, of course, offers a chance to raise its image and strengthen alliances in Africa. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has made efforts promoting the vaccine using all its channels. But supply and delivery have largely lagged behind, the pledges have simply not been fulfilled. Russian authorities have oftentimes said that they would step up efforts for fruitful cooperation in combating coronavirus in Africa.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
17 September, 2021
Russian Duma elections mark a watershed moment in Russia-West relations
This election marks a watershed moment in Russian national security policy, whose large international implications will not be immediately perceived by the Western strategic policy community which remains a prisoner of its own false narrative of Russia as a country which is sooner or later bound to fail.
By Tony Kevin
21 September, 2021
Foreign Competition In Guinea: The Scramble For Natural Resources
Guinea has struggled with political instability and endemic corruption since its independence from France in 1958. Despite the country’s poor infrastructure, there is a significant foreign presence in Guinea. Countries are mostly competing for its mineral resources, such as gold, diamonds, bauxite, and iron ore. The United States, along with other foreign powers, vies for access to these resources and for the ability to influence the country’s government.
By Jessica Pickering
22 September, 2021
France's Worries About Wagner's Alleged Deployment To Mali Make No Sense
In the event that those reports turn out to be true and such a deal is ultimately reached, then it should be internationally praised instead of condemned.
By Andrew Korybko
26 September, 2021
The Great Games of Diplomacy: Russia Sees Neocolonialism as An Investment Barrier in Africa
Some argue that the best way to fight neocolonialism is to invest in order to jostle for economic influence. Nevertheless, Russia has sought to convince Africans over the past years of the likely dangers of neocolonial tendencies perpetrated by the former colonial countries and the scramble for resources on the continent.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
30 September, 2021
Global Energy: Transformation for Development
Vladimir Putin is the President of the Russian Federation. He took part in the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week International Forum held on October 13-15, in Moscow.
By H.E. Vladimir Putin
16 October, 2021
Dynamics of Empowering Women in the Changing World
Throughout the world, there is a growing demand for female leadership. Research has shown that companies with women on their boards of directors enjoy better results.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
19 October, 2021
Wagner: Putin’s secret weapon on the way to Mali?
France is outraged at the prospect of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group arriving in Mali. However, Paris is seeking a way out of an unwinnable conflict.
By Richard Rousseau
23 October, 2021
From Trade Gateway to Risk Guarantees: What Russian Businesses Can Offer Africa
Africa today is one of the most attractive markets and promising regions for long-term investment. The continent shows the world's highest consumption growth rates. Russia has recently joined business activities in the region. The first-ever Russia-Africa summit, held in Sochi in 2019, was a powerful impetus for this. The second one is due in 2022. Both sides expect a considerable increase in the number of contracts that will be concluded.
By Kristina Miroshnichenko
29 October, 2021
Should China and Russia Form an Alliance?
In history, China has formed alliances with Russia more than with any other countries. The two countries formed alliances three times, respectively, during the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China, and the People’s Republic of China.
By Zhao Huasheng
1 November, 2021
Geopolitical Analysis of the “Power Shift” and Russia's Special Interest in Sudan
Sudan, located in the northeast Africa, has deepening economic crisis, so many social and political forces. While some are advocating for developing democracy, others have, under the circumstances, aligned with the military, which has accused the civilian governing parties of mismanagement and monopolizing power.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
3 November, 2021
The Geopolitics of China-Russia Relations: The Dragon and The Bear
As most of the world is desperately waiting for the pandemic to take its final breaths, the Dragon and the Bear have perhaps the most to look forward to in the year ahead.
By Nicholas Meyers
22 November, 2021
What Went Wrong With Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine Rollout?
In August 2020, Russia was the first country to announce the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Since then, a relentless publicity blitz has promoted the attributes of the Sputnik V vaccine. However, Sputnik V has struggled to gain mass acceptance inside Russia, let alone in other countries where it is marketed as an alternative to vaccines developed by Western and Chinese pharmaceutical firms.
By Paul Stronski
24 November, 2021
China: The Upcoming Global Superpower
China holds 17.7% of the world’s total wealth, the second largest share held by any country. It has the world’s largest banking sector, with assets of $40 trillion and the world’s top 4 largest banks all being in China. In 2019, China overtook the US as the home to the highest number of rich people in the world, according to the global wealth report by Credit Suisse. It has the highest number of rich people in the world’s top 10% of wealth since 2019. There were 658 Chinese billionaires and 3.5 million millionaires.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
28 November, 2021
Central Asian Elites Choose China Over Russia
The rationale to explain these Central Asian elites’ choices is that they may be better off embracing China while subtly distancing themselves from Russia, as Beijing increasingly aligns with its Central Asian counterparts with greater success than Moscow. Despite Central Asian countries being independent for three decades, it is common to find Russian assertions that they still effectively own the region.
By Jon Yuan Jiang
6 December, 2021
The New Era Of Great Power Competition And The Biden Administration: Emerging Patterns And Principles
Geostrategic Interactions. Russia and China present distinct competitive threats to the United States around the globe. In many regions, Russia often poses the more immediate challenge, whereas the repercussions from Chinese economic investments manifest themselves subtly and will likely undermine U.S. strategic interests more gradually.
By Thomas F. Lynch III
27 December, 2021
Russia, Africa and the Sputnik V
On bilateral basis, Russia has made some vaccine deliveries, but only to its preferred countries including North Africa (Algeria Morocco and Egypt), in East Africa (Ethiopia), in Southern Africa (Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe) and West Africa (Guinea). Media reports say South Africa has rejected Sputnik V donation.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
5 January, 2022
St. Petersburg – Venue for Second African Leaders Summit
In their first joint declaration, emerging from the Russia-Africa summit, at the initiative of African participants a new dialogue mechanism—the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum—was created. The declaration stipulated that all top-level meetings take place within its framework once every three years, alternately in Russia and in an African state. It says further that the foreign ministers of Russia and three African countries—the current, future and previous chairpersons of the African Union—will meet for annual consultations.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
20 January, 2022
Information operations: An understudied facet of Russian influence in Africa
Russia’s Evolving Information Operations
By Miriam Roday, Sarah Daly
20 January, 2022
Russia and the Maghreb: Future Geostrategic Perspectives?
Today, the Maghreb is not a fundamental interest for Russia, but rather a source of economic and political opportunities. The Russian redeployment in the Maghreb, which began during Vladimir Putin's second term in 2004 and has been over the last decade, relies on new vectors, distinct from the old anti-imperialist aura from which the Soviet Union had benefited in Algeria and Libya.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
23 February, 2022
African Students Further Expose the Racist Character of the Ukrainian State
As western media outlets seek to build sympathy for the NATO-backed regime in Kiev, Africans and others oppressed groups are facing targeted discrimination and violence.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
3 March, 2022
How Russia Will Counterpunch the U.S./EU Declaration of War
One of the key underlying themes of the Russia/Ukraine/NATO matrix is that the Empire of Lies (copyright Putin) has been rattled to the core by the combined ability of Russian hypersonic missiles and a defensive shield capable of blocking incoming nuclear missiles from the West, thereby ending Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.)
By Pepe Escobar
6 March, 2022
Many Africans Reject Washington’s Position on Ukraine Crisis
Since the post-World War II period national liberation movements and independent countries in Africa have developed solid diplomatic and economic relations with the former Soviet Union and today’s Russian Federation.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
14 March, 2022
Why Did U.S. Prioritize Containing China Over Russia?
These calculations seemingly changed sometime around last fall, when everything began to get much more intense in Europe. A decision had apparently been made to not sincerely negotiate with Russia in good faith and, if anything, perhaps even provoke the Kremlin into taking the kinetic action that U.S. intelligence subsequently claimed that it was preparing to authorize.
By Andrew Korybko
17 March, 2022
Police Killings Continue While the Biden Administration Calls for More Funding to Law-Enforcement
Two examples of the inability of the administration to satisfactorily handle the rise in police violence against the oppressed, are the recent exonerations of law-enforcement officers in the killing of Ma’Khia Bryant (featured image) in Columbus, Ohio in April 2021 and Breonna Taylor during March 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Bryant, a 16-year-old in foster care, was gunned down by a police officer called to the scene of a fight between two teenagers.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
17 March, 2022
Ukraine: The Great Manipulation
A timetable was worked out. President Zelenski will address the French parliament, then President Biden will come to Europe to preside over an extraordinary NATO summit, and finally Pope Francis, fulfilling the prayer of the Virgin Mary at Fatima, will consecrate Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin. This montage may appear artificial, but its effect should be powerful. For many Catholics, fighting Russia will become a religious duty.
By Thierry Meyssan
24 March, 2022
Once in a Century Opportunity
In short, the financial war on Russia gave the West an unmistakable lesson from Moscow that the hardest currencies are not USD or EUR, but rather oil, gas, wheat, and gold. Yes, energy, food and strategic resources are currencies.
By Alastair Crooke
5 April, 2022
The Total War to Cancel Russia
The stated aims are “demilitarization” and “denazification” of a future neutral Ukraine – but geopolitically reach way beyond: the aim is to turn the post-1945 European collective security arrangement upside down, forcing NATO to understand and come to terms with the concept of “indivisible security”. This is an extremely complex process that will reach the next decade.
By Pepe Escobar
11 April, 2022
Western Sanctions Against Russia Creates Food Deficits Globally
On an international geostrategic level, the Soviet Union and the U.S. found themselves on the opposite sides of the political spectrum. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, the Soviet Union supported the national liberation movements and those independent governments seeking to build an anti-imperialist and socialist orientation.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
13 April, 2022
United Nations Secretary General Holds Talks in Moscow and Kyiv on Ukraine War
Obviously, the U.S. and NATO actions indicate that the Biden administration and its European allies are not interested in a speedy conclusion to the war in Ukraine. The sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the EU has created a crisis in Western Europe where several leading states such as Germany are continuing, out of necessity, to purchase oil and natural gas from the Russian Federation.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
3 May, 2022
Congress Passes Anti-Russia Bill Reinforcing Neo-colonialism in Africa
Russian military operations in Ukraine are in response to Washington and Wall Street’s efforts to expand the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) deeper into Eastern Europe as a direct threat to the interests of the Russian Federation and its allies.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
15 June, 2022
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