WORLD ROUNDUPStrategic Autonomy Is Europe’s Only Choice | Promise and Peril of Ethiopia’s New Mega-Dam | Syria’s Foreign Fighters, and more

Africa Is Now Calling the Shots  (Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, Foreign Policy)
Governments, civil society, and the private sector are reimagining development away from external interventions.

The Promise and Peril of Ethiopia’s New Mega-Dam  (Economist)
It could power the region or plunge it into another conflict.

Strategic Autonomy Is Europe’s Only Choice  (Hugh De Santis, National Interest)
An independent European security structure may be difficult establish, but there is no other alternative to deter Russia.

Beyond Hawala: Emerging Online Financing Trends Among South Asian Violent Extremist Groups in 2025  (Ashreet Acharya, GNET)
Throughout 2025, we have witnessed the rapid evolution of fundraising tactics used by violent extremist groups across South Asia. Despite constant military and political crackdowns, it remains challenging for counterterrorism financing measures to be globally impactful. The region’s financial landscape is rapidly transforming with a surge in fintech adoption and mobile wallets, with global cryptocurrency markets hitting record highs, allowing access for both licit and illicit users. With record remittance flows, these trends create a fertile ecosystem for extremist financiers to hide illegal fund transfers within legitimate volumes. This convergence makes it crucial to understand how these violent groups sustain their financial operations while regulators risk falling behind.
This evolution marks a shift towards more advanced technology-driven strategies from traditional tactics like hawala networks and front charities. This Insight draws on recent open-source case studies and comparative data from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Indonesia to analyze these advancements and explore how extremist actors misuse cryptocurrency, crowdfunding platforms, and digital payment apps to evade regulatory scrutiny, enhancing the survival and sustenance of their financial networks. Moreover, the Insight underscores the operational repercussions of such financial innovations and proposes actionable recommendations for policymakers, fintech corporations and law enforcement agencies to interrupt terror financing impactfully and sustainably.

Syria’s Foreign Fighters: Strategic Asset or Looming Threat?  (Uran Botobekov, HSToday))
By endorsing the integration of foreign fighters into the Syrian army, President Trump aimed to curb the influence of the Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance.” Simultaneously, his decision sets the stage for containing the Salafi-jihadi threat within Syria and across Central Asia and China’s western Xinjiang region.