Europe’s new concerns about reliance on Russia for much of its energy security are nothing compared with the worries in many other capitals around the world about the problem posed by China’s growing demand for oil and gas, say analysts. Those worries are little mollified by repeated assurances coming out of Beijing that China’s insatiable appetite for energy is not a threat to the rest of the world. Beijing’s assurances don’t sound convincing, many analysts say. Each year since the early 1990s, China has been consuming more and more energy to fuel its fast-growing economy. Last year, the Chinese accounted [...]
The merger announced last month by Ayman al-Zawahiri between al-Qaida and Algeria’s GSPC represents a significant strategic move by the al-Qaida leadership. It is the latest example of a new chapter in al-Qaida’s efforts to both outsource operations and more aggressively re-brand once autonomous or loosely affiliated groups. It is a well-known fact that al-Qaida has become highly decentralized in the years since 9/11 and the fundamental nature of the organization has changed dramatically. With no physical base from which to draw and train recruits or launch attacks, and with its hierarchy severely damaged, the role of al-Qaida-central (as some [...]
ACCRA, Ghana — The name Robert Kabushenga probably languishes in obscurity in the West. Knowledge of the man is limited to Ugandans and anyone, be they diplomats, aid workers or journalists, with an interest in Uganda. That’s a shame, for Kabushenga is a strident foe of the free press, not unlike Zimbabwe’s disgraced, ex-information minister Jonathan Moyo. His zealotry manifests itself in his evangelical belief in the unrivaled brilliance of Uganda’s 20 years-and-counting president, Yoweri Museveni. In his rhetoric and his actions, Kabushenga has frequently crusaded against those reporting and documenting the realities of Uganda and the direction his patron [...]
