Making it Clear: #10/28

Making It Clear is a brand-new international politics column in a nutshell in which we are going to analyze the main events that happened in the past week regarding international relations and do it in an understandable way for anyone, including those who aren’t graduated or specialized in Humanities. We aim to inform with cohesion and simplicity, without bringing up any sort of ideologies or personal opinions.

For our first post, dated in the last week of October, the topics chosen for the analysis are: the political crisis in Sudan, the climate conference in Glasgow, the COP26 and the current situation of Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban.

Sudan is an African country located on the Eastern portion of the continent and recently suffered from a military coup which is causing commotion worldwide on October 25th. Sudanese people had already expressed complaints and concerns about the military, since there was a transition to democracy demanded by the population which led to a shared government between militaries and civilians with scheduled elections for 2023. The tensions among the groups were escalating and there were coup attempts in September, these tensions throwback to war crimes committed by the military back in 2003 in a conflict in Darfur and killings in June 2019.

In the beginning of the week, cabinet members and civilian party leaders were arrested as well as the Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, these events sparked protests at the capital Khartoum and there were victims of the violent approach used by the military. The international response to the events came from the United Nation, European Union, United Kingdom and United States asking for the release of the Prime Minister and end of the conflict, aid was also given to Sudan to fight back the military and regain control over the country. The events raised the question if military coups are becoming something common in Africa in the past decades which are also happening in Guinea and Niger and the UN is concerned about the instabilities in the continent. We might be facing a transition in African governments which are influencing the social, economic, and political future in these countries as well as changing the early generations to create different proposals for the State organization.

Speaking of governmental instabilities, the situation in Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban seems unchanged. In August, the Afghan State was taken completely by the radical religious group Taliban which took down the government and installed an authoritarian leadership focused on denying any influences of the West and the use of violence against civilians. The Afghan president is nowadays in United Arab Emirates since the capital, Kabul, was taken and the government no long is ruling the country. There was a big international commotion when it happened, specially when US president Biden claimed he wouldn’t provide military help anymore, since the missions previously stablished to train the Afghan army to fight against the Taliban were already completed. The UN is currently asking for funding to help the country to overcome the economic collapse of the national currency and the poverty. Also, there is solid evidence from the Taliban that the Afghan branch of ISIS is now operating in the country and blamed for several killings since August and the Afghanistan is facing a very particular situation involving two radical Islamic groups which greatly affects the population and the refugee flux to other countries.

At last, the next climate conference is going to happen in Glasgow, Scotland, and it aims to discuss the switch to electric cars, phasing out coal power, decline deforestation, develop more ways to protect people from climate change and to decrease fossil fuel emissions. China already announced its absence in the event; however, the European Union and the United States confirmed their presence. The conference hasn’t happened yet, but it’s expected to accelerate many changes in the global way of life and to increase the debate of protection of countries that are in danger because of the rise on the sea levels.

It’s expected to hear more of the Sudan military coup and the COP26 next week, however we may expect more news about climate change and speeches from many countries regarding fossil fuels emissions and fewer from the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, unless a country decides to intervene, which in the present sounds unlikely.