- Geopolitics Hound
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🐾 Fanboy dictator Kim
Geopolitics Hound
August 01, 2023
Good morning, readers!
Things are starting to heat up both in Africa and Eastern Europe—from nuclear to conventional military threats. Let’s begin today’s newsletter, hoping for peaceful resolutions to the ongoing conflicts.
Today’s geopolitics hotspots:
🖐🏻 Before we start, here’s a photo from North Korea:
Such a grandiose display of love.
Xi shakes up his nuclear force
China has replaced two top generals in charge of its nuclear arsenal, sparking rumors of a power struggle. General Li Yuchao and his deputy Liu Guangbin were the leaders of the PLA Rocket Force, the unit that controls China’s land-based nuclear missiles.
✍🏻 Rapid Fact Check:
After months of absence from public view, they are reportedly under investigation for “corruption.”
Former deputy navy chief Wang Houbin is the new head.
Party Central Committee member Xu Xisheng is the new “Party Central Committee member.”
Both replacements have been promoted to generals.
📚 Context:
This shake-up in China's military leadership is the largest in nearly a decade, coinciding with China's ongoing expansion and modernization of its nuclear force.
Niger’s neighbors warn ECOWAS
Ibrahim Traoré (left), the leader of Burkina Faso, Assimi Goïta (right), the leader of Mali.
Following the military coup in Niger on July 26, neighboring countries Burkina Faso and Mali have warned the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
"Any military intervention against Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali.”
✍🏻 Rapid Fact Check:
Burkina Faso and Mali are both run by military juntas as well.
The French Foreign Ministry is planning an evacuation of its people seeking to leave Niger “soon.”
On Sunday, ECOWAS threatened military intervention in Niger if President Bazoum is not reinstated within one week.
📚 Context:
Niger is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militancy in West Africa.
Niger also supplies about 5% of global output from Africa’s highest-grade Uranium ores.
Ukraine warns Russia: mass drone attack incoming
A video released by the Ukrainian Armed Forces shows a Ukrainian boy sending a paper plane that turns into a drone, heading for multiple Russian targets. The video ends with a date: August 24. This date marks Ukraine’s Independence Day, celebrating the nation's liberation from the Soviet Union in 1991.
✍🏻 Rapid Fact Check:
The video was posted on the Telegram channel of the Strategic Communications Department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) on July 30, 2023.
📚 Context:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that war is “gradually returning to Russia.”
The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing for nearly 18 months now.
Ukraine is seeking security assurances from the US as NATO accession seems unlikely in the near-term.
Quick updates
📕 Note for the newcomers:
Click on the country's name to read the full article.🇷🇺 Russia: The same skyscraper at the Moskva City complex that suffered a drone attack on Sunday was struck again on Tuesday, damaging the 21st floor.
🇷🇺 Russia: A senior Russian official, Medvedev, warned that Russia may resort to using nuclear weapons if Ukraine's counteroffensive succeeds in reclaiming its territory.
🇲🇲 Myanmar: The military junta that seized power in 2021 has postponed the promised election due to ongoing violence.
🇲🇲 Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's deposed leader, received a partial pardon for 5 out of 19 offenses, but remains under house arrest, battling 14 other cases.
🇮🇳 India: Foxconn, Apple’s main supplier, is betting big on India with over $1.2 billion in new investments and two more factories.
🇵🇰 Pakistan: The death toll from a suicide bombing in Pakistan has risen to 56. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.