WORLD ROUNDUPThe Day After Iran Gets the Bomb | Putin is Plotting “Physical Attacks” on the West | Could Ghana Be Jihadists’ Next Target?, and more
· The Day After Iran Gets the Bomb
Scholars and policymakers are still trying to understand what would happen after Tehran acquires a nuclear weapon
· U.S. Threats Led to Rupture of Vital Military Ties, Nigerien Leader Says
In an exclusive interview, Prime Minister Zeine blamed the U.S. for the breakdown in bilateral relations, culminating with the planned ouster of American troop
· Putin is Plotting “Physical Attacks” on the West, Says GCHQ Chief
British intelligence ‘increasingly concerned’ over growing links between Russia and cyber hacks
· Secret Papers Reveal Hamas Plan to Set Up Base in Turkey
Israel claims that a document proposing to ‘establish a security branch abroad’ was discovered at the home of the chief of staff to Hamas’s leader in Gaza
· Could Ghana Be Jihadists’ Next Target?
Long seen as an island of stability, the country shares many of the same vulnerabilities that militants have exploited across the Sahel region
The Day After Iran Gets the Bomb (Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy)
In 2015, the Obama administration negotiated an agreement that rolled back Iran’s enrichment capacity significantly, reduced its stockpile of nuclear material, and expanded monitoring of Iran’s remaining nuclear activities. In a stunning strategic blunder, Trump abandoned the deal in 2018.
U.S. Threats Led to Rupture of Vital Military Ties, Nigerien Leader Says (Rachel Chason, Washington Post)
A crucial military relationship between the United States and its closest West African ally, the country of Niger, ruptured this spring after a visiting U.S. official made threats during last-ditch negotiations over whether American troops based there would be allowed to remain, according to the country’s prime minister.
Putin is Plotting “Physical Attacks” on the West, Says GCHQ Chief (Matthew Field, The Telegraph)
Anne Keast-Butler, who was appointed to lead Britain’s intelligence operations last May, has used her first major speech to highlight the growing threat posed by the Kremlin.
Secret Papers Reveal Hamas Plan to Set Up Base in Turkey (Anshel Pfeffer, The Times)
Hamas planned to establish a secret base in Turkey and other terror cells elsewhere to co-ordinate attacks against Israeli targets in neighboring countries, including NATO members.
Could Ghana Be Jihadists’ Next Target? (Eliasu Tanko and James Courtright, Foreign Policy)
Ghana suffers many of the same vulnerabilities that militants have preyed upon in other countries. Similarly to other coastal states in West Africa, northern Ghana is comparatively less developed than the south.
