In this series, we take a look at 5 current conflicts, crises and events around the world every two weeks. This time in focus: US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East policy, Qatar withdraws from negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Austria deploys soldiers to Iraq, Chad threatens to withdraw from multinational security force.
Event #1: Qatar throws in the towel
According to the FAZ Qatar is withdrawing from the role of mediator in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The Gulf monarchy will only get involved again when both parties show willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war, according to Majid al-Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry. According to diplomats, the negotiations have so far failed because both Israel and Hamas are sticking to their positions. Hamas is demanding a permanent end to the war and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, wants to station forces in Gaza for the long term. He is calling for a temporary pause in the fighting, during which he would release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages. Qatar has been hosting since 2012 the political leadership of Hamas in exile. Doha is therefore a key location for negotiations with Israel on ending the war and releasing the hostages. Egypt is the other important mediator between the two sides.
Event #2: New US president, new Middle East policy?
Since it became clear that former US President Donald Trump will also be the next President of the United States, many observers have been asking themselves what impact this will have on US policy as a whole – especially with regard to the Middle East. Some suspect that in future there will be less pressure on
Israel’s Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu to moderate his extremist-ridden government on the Palestinian issue and other regional conflicts such as the one with Iran. Others, on the other hand, suspect that Trump could be aiming to bring the Middle Eastern wars to a rapid end. “If you follow Trump’s statements so far and see the joy of Netanyahu’s government, then you can actually expect less criticism of Israel,” explains Middle East expert Walter Posch in our “5 questions to” interview on the topic. https://militaeraktuell.at/walter-posch-welche-nahost-politik-trump/
Event #3: Austria sends soldiers to Iraq
This week Austria is sending two officers and two non-commissioned officers of the Austrian Armed Forces to Iraq as part of the NATO Training and Advisory Mission (NMI). The deployment was a year ago by the main committee in parliament a year ago. At that time, it was decided that the Austrian Armed Forces would participate in the mission with up to ten military personnel. The NATO-mission is intended to support Iraq in building up more effective armed forces and security institutions in order to prevent the return of the Islamic State (IS). As the press reportsThe international legal basis for Austria’s participation in the NMI is UN Security Council Resolution 2249 of November 20, 2015, which calls on all UN member states to “prevent and suppress” terrorist acts in Iraq. Austria’s participation is initially planned for six months.
Event #4: US missiles in Poland
As the Standard reports the USA officially opened a missile base in northern Poland this week. The base is located around 230 kilometers from the Russian border. The missile base strengthens our ability to defend ourselves against the growing threat of ballistic missiles from outside the Euro-Atlantic area, the daily quotes NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The base is part of a larger NATO shield, which also includes a radar system that could intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. According to the FAZthe system, which also includes a similar base in Romania, was already planned under the then US President George W. Bush. It was originally intended to protect Europe from the threat of possible missile strikes by Iran. Moscow criticized the move. “This is nothing more than an attempt to contain our military potential, and of course we will adopt appropriate measures to ensure parity,” the newspaper quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Event #5: Chad threatens to withdraw from multinational security force
As Reuters reportsChad’s President Idriss Deby threatened to withdraw his country from a multinational security force at the beginning of November. In his opinion, this force had failed in the fight against Islamist rebels in the Lake Chad region. The announcement followed an attack by Boko Haram in which at least 40 Chadian soldiers were killed in the province of Lake Chad at the end of October. Chad is another Central African state that is distancing itself from France and the West, turning towards Russia instead. This is despite Paris going to great lengths to prevent any criticism of democratic deficits in Chad by other member states at EU level since Deby’s coup in 2022, as analyzed by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS). According to estimates by diplomats, France will reduce its troops in Chad from the current 1,000 to 300 in the coming months.
Click here for “5 views of the world #013“: What was? What is? What will be?
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