Unreported: Moscow fills vacuum of power in Sub-Saharan Africa as France fades from scene

Unreported: Moscow fills vacuum of power in Sub-Saharan Africa as France fades from scene

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, February 6, 2024 While the wars in Ukraine, Gaza/Israel, and the Red Sea have grabbed the headlines, there’s a dangerously developing security situation throughout large parts of the African continent. The systemic chaos which has befallen a string of countries in the Sub-Saharan Sahel region has gone largely […]

After Afghanistan: Global conflicts widen, endure and spread

After Afghanistan: Global conflicts widen, endure and spread

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, September 8, 2023 It’s been two years since the fall of Afghanistan. The tragic collapse of Kabul to the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban signaled the last sordid chapter in the Biden Administration’s appalling and shambolic “withdrawal” from America’s longest military commitment. But beyond the perceived American weakness and strategic […]

Coup in geostrategic Niger confronts France — and U.S. — with Russia’s expanding footprint

Coup in geostrategic Niger confronts France — and U.S. — with Russia’s expanding footprint

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler, August 13, 2023 PARIS — The recent military coup d’etat in Niger, a vast and arid land on the southern tier of the Sahara, underscores the widening political crisis in Africa’s Sahel region, where instability, dire poverty and Islamic jihadi terrorism, have stalked the land. Thus, when Gen. […]

2023: Looking into the crystal globe at the year ahead

2023: Looking into the crystal globe at the year ahead

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler It’s that time of year to gaze into the crystal snow globe and try to see the stories on the horizon which will affect the New Year. Our world remains an increasingly tumultuous place and the tragedy of expanding conflicts is only surpassed by the waves of refugees […]

‘Breadbasket’ no more: Ukrainians and populations of Lebanon, Somalia, Mali hit by food shortages

‘Breadbasket’ no more: Ukrainians and populations of Lebanon, Somalia, Mali hit by food shortages

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler “If we do not feed people, we feed conflict,” warned UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressing an urgent Summit on Food security in the wake of the ongoing Ukraine war. “Global hunger levels are at a new high.  In just two years, the number of severely food insecure […]

Global terrorism: How chaos in overlooked African Sahel could impact West

Global terrorism: How chaos in overlooked African Sahel could impact West

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Subsaharan Africa’s vast but impoverished Sahel region has been largely overlooked amidst the turmoil of Mid-East conflicts and East Asian regional instability. Yet this arid swath of five countries comprising what’s known as the Sahel, remains wracked by poverty, hunger, weak governance, and environmental degradation, […]

U.S. support needed in Mali, a nexus for Sahel terror and people-smuggling

U.S. support needed in Mali, a nexus for Sahel terror and people-smuggling

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The landlocked West African state of Mali remains a critical crossroads for both international people smuggling and a nexus of radical Islamic terrorism in the Sahel, the vast arid region on the southern reaches of the Sahara desert. Here amid ancient caravan routes, porous borders, […]

Who’s who: Vote tally on UN resolution slamming U.S. on Jerusalem

Who’s who: Vote tally on UN resolution slamming U.S. on Jerusalem

Special to WorldTribune , December 21, 2017 Yes: 128 No: 9 Abstain: 35 Y  AFGHANISTAN Y  DOMINICA Y  LITHUANIA SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE Y  ALBANIA A  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Y  LUXEMBOURG Y  SAUDI ARABIA Y  ALGERIA Y  ECUADOR Y  MADAGASCAR Y  SENEGAL Y  ANDORRA Y  EGYPT A  MALAWI Y  SERBIA Y  ANGOLA EL SALVADOR Y  MALAYSIA […]

After policy disasters, U.S. AFRICOM to deploy troops to 35 countries

After policy disasters, U.S. AFRICOM to deploy troops to 35 countries

Special to WorldTribune.com Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com The United States will deploy troops to 35 African countries in 2013 to deal with increasing Al Qaida or Al Qaida-like terrorist threats. The total number of Africa-bound troops will be around 3,500 and they will come from the 2nd Brigade’s Heavy Combat Team of the First […]

Addressing global terrorism on a day when it was everywhere

Addressing global terrorism on a day when it was everywhere

John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The Hydra-headed challenge of global terrorism continues as the multi-faceted threat changes and mutates in response to increasingly effective counter-measures. Few countries have been in the cross hairs of violence as has been Pakistan, so it should come as no surprise that in the Security Council’s urgent meeting to […]