WORLD ROUNDUPWhat If Putin Actually Uses Nukes on Ukraine? | How Xi Came to Dominate China | Iran: From Theocracy to a Military State, and more
·· Putin Lies in the Shadows after France Loses Sway in West Africa
The Kremlin is wrenching influence from Paris over former French colonies
·· How Xi Came to Dominate China
Over the past generation, no country has changed more than China
·· Iran Plans to Send Missiles, Drones to Russia for Ukraine war, Officials Say
Iranian-made surface-to-surface missiles will be used against Ukrainian cities and troop positions
·· ‘Kamikaze Drones’ Strike the Center of Kyiv
Iranian-made Shahed drones were also used last week against Ukrainian infrastructure
·· Inside Britain’s £5.5 Billion Military Disaster
A single program stands out, symbolizing the nation’s procurement failings: The Ajax light tank
·· Iran’s Loyal Security Forces Protect Ruling System That Protesters Want to Topple
Iran no longer a theocracy ruled by Shiite clerics, but a military state ruled by the Revolutionary Guard
·· What If Putin Actually Uses Nukes on Ukraine?
Suddenly, talk of nuclear apocalypse is in the air for the first time in decades
·· Western Sahel Conflict Sees Dramatic Rise in Year-Over-Year Deaths
A deadly Islamist insurgency that is spreading across the Sahel and has displaced millions of people
Putin Lies in the Shadows after France Loses Sway in West Africa (Adam Sage, The Times)
Moscow has revealed its next target in resource-rich west Africa, where a deteriorating security environment is helping the Kremlin wrench influence over former French colonies from Paris.
How Xi Came to Dominate China (Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times)
China has been transformed from a poor developing country to the second wealthiest in the world. One thing remains stubbornly unchanged — the way it chooses its leaders.
Iran Plans to Send Missiles, Drones to Russia for Ukraine war, Officials Say (Joby Warrick, Ellen Nakashima and Shane Harris, Washington Post)
Increased flow of weapons from Iran could help offset steep Russian weapons losses, rebuild supply of precision-guided munitions
‘Kamikaze Drones’ Strike the Center of Kyiv (Catherine Philip, The Times)
The Ukrainian capital came under attack from Russian-launched “kamikaze drones” Monday morning, exactly a week after a wave of missile strikes on Kyiv and other cities across the country.
Iran’s Loyal Security Forces Protect Ruling System That Protesters Want to Topple (Ben Hubbard and Farnaz Fassihi, New York Times)
The Revolutionary Guards — the country’s most powerful military force — have become so deeply woven into Iran’s economy and power structure that they have everything to lose if the system falls.
What If Putin Actually Uses Nukes on Ukraine? (Benjamin Hart, New York Magazine)
Suddenly, talk of nuclear apocalypse is in the air for the first time in decades.
Western Sahel Conflict Sees Dramatic Rise in Year-Over-Year Deaths (Henry Wilkins, VOA News)
Backers of Burkina Faso’s latest coup cited the military’s failure to stem a deadly Islamist insurgency that is spreading across the Sahel and has displaced millions of people. A new analysis shows more civilians died in the Western Sahel conflict during the first half of 2022 than in all of 2021. War has raged between Western Sahel countries and militants linked to Islamic State or al-Qaida for more than a decade. Analysts say failure to stop attacks helped spark two coups in Burkina Faso, the most recent coming September 30. Both military juntas that carried out the coups cited the inability of the previous government to improve security. “There was this expectation that a military leader would perform better than a civilian one,” said Constantin Gouvy, an analyst for the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank. “What we’ve seen instead is that since January, the security situation has continued to deteriorate.” Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project show that nearly 2,300 civilians were killed in the Western Sahel conflict during the first half of 2022. That’s about 400 more than the number killed in the whole of 2021. In Burkina Faso, one of the previous military junta’s flagship policies for reducing violence was to create “military interest zones.” It called for civilians within conflict-affected provinces to leave for a period so the army could carry out operations against terrorists.
