“I’m looking for my uncle” A personal story from Syria
NewsFeed Sarah Kassim is one of many Syrians looking for missing loved ones. She records her search for her uncle, who had been locked away in one of Bashar al-Assad’s prisons. Published On 13 Dec 202413 Dec 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
What does Bashar al-Assad’s fall mean for Syria and the region?
What’s next for Syria? Middle East experts and a former US diplomat join Marc Lamont Hill to unpack the fall of al-Assad. After more than 50 years of the al-Assad’s family reign over Syria, opposition forces, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, launched a swift and unexpected offensive that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad. While al-Assad fled to Russia and has been granted asylum, Syria’s future hangs in the balance. A transitional government has been put in place, but uncertainty over who will ultimately lead the country remains. Will this moment lead to democracy for Syrians after decades of brutality? Will foreign interference and internal conflict undermine a new and independent Syria? This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill talks to former Arabic-language spokesperson for the US State Department Hala Rharrit; founding director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program at George Mason University Bassam Haddad; senior fellow at the CATO Institute Mustafa Akyol; and Middle East expert at the Russian International Affairs Council Alexey Khlebnikov. Adblock test (Why?)
McKinsey to pay $650m to settle US opioid consulting probe
Prosecutors say McKinsey provided Purdue advice on measures it could take to ‘turbocharge’ OxyContin sales. Consulting firm McKinsey & Company has agreed to pay $650m to resolve a United States Department of Justice investigation into the consulting firm’s work advising opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma on how to boost OxyContin sales. McKinsey has entered into a five-year deferred prosecution agreement filed on Friday in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia, to resolve criminal charges brought as part of a rare corporate prosecution concerning the marketing of addictive painkillers that helped fuel the deadly US opioid epidemic. Prosecutors said McKinsey provided Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue advice on measures it could take to “turbocharge” OxyContin sales. It was charged with conspiring to misbrand a drug and obstruction of justice. A former senior partner at McKinsey, Martin Elling, has also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice for destroying records related to McKinsey’s work for Purdue, according to court papers. He is scheduled to enter his plea on January 10. Elling deleted documents related to his work for Purdue from his company laptop, sending himself emails to remind himself to do so, according to court papers. Advertisement “We are deeply sorry for our past client service to Purdue Pharma and the actions of a former partner who deleted documents related to his work for that client,” McKinsey said in a statement. “We should have appreciated the harm opioids were causing in our society and we should not have undertaken sales and marketing work for Purdue Pharma. This terrible public health crisis and our past work for opioid manufacturers will always be a source of profound regret for our firm.” A lawyer for Elling declined to comment. McKinsey agreed to pay $650m over five years, improve its compliance practices to detect illegal activity and submit to oversight from the Justice Department and US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general’s office as part of the deferred prosecution agreement, the company said. The consulting firm also agreed to resolve a related civil probe regarding alleged violations of the False Claims Act and enter into a “corporate integrity” agreement with the HHS inspector general’s office, the company said. ‘Opioid abatement’ Purdue pleaded guilty in 2020 to criminal charges covering widespread misconduct regarding its handling of prescription painkillers, including conspiring to defraud US officials and pay illegal kickbacks to both doctors and an electronic healthcare records vendor. Purdue is currently involved in court-ordered mediation over a multibillion-dollar settlement reached in bankruptcy proceedings that the US Supreme Court turned aside. Advertisement In a statement on Friday, Purdue said it was working to forge consensus on the plan to “deliver billions of dollars of value for opioid abatement” and create a new company as an “engine for good”. Settlement proceeds also aim to compensate victims, Purdue said. McKinsey previously reached agreements totalling nearly $1bn to settle widespread lawsuits and other legal actions alleging the company helped fuel the opioid epidemic through its work advising Purdue Pharma and other drugmakers. The settlements involved all 50 states; Washington, DC; US territories; local governments; school districts; Native American tribes; and health insurers. In 2019, McKinsey announced it would no longer advise clients on opioid-related businesses. The company has maintained that none of its settlements contains admissions of liability or wrongdoing. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia intensifies assaults on Ukraine ahead of Trump’s inauguration
Mounting evidence suggests that Russia ramped up its assaults on Ukraine leading up to the United States election on November 5, in a possible effort to strengthen isolationists supporting Donald Trump. It also appears to be doubling down on that strategy ahead of Trump’s inauguration on January 20. “November was the fifth straight month that Russian Forces have suffered an increase in monthly total losses,” said Britain’s Ministry of Defence, as Ukraine estimated that 45,680 Russian soldiers were killed and wounded during the month. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has estimated Russian losses for September at 38,130 and for October at 41,980. Those climbing casualty figures are due to the fact that Russian ground assaults have steadily mounted despite the pain. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, estimated that Russian daily gains on Ukrainian turf averaged 22sq km (8.5 square miles) in October and 27sq km (10.4 square miles) in November. Advertisement “Russian forces have thus suffered an estimated 125,800 casualties during a period of intensified offensive operations in September, October, and November 2024 in exchange for 2,356 square kilometres of gains,” said the ISW. These losses were well beyond what US officials believed Russia could sustain. They put its recruitment capacity at 25,000-30,000 a month. (Al Jazeera) Ukraine has recorded a similar crescendo in airborne attacks. “From September to November 2024, the enemy used over 6,000 UAVs and missiles in air strikes on Ukraine,” said Victoria Vdovychenko, a programme director at the Centre for Defence Strategies, a Ukrainian think tank, and a fellow at Cambridge University’s Centre for Geopolitics. “This is three times the number used from June to August 2024 and four times the number used from September to November 2023,” she told Al Jazeera. Before and after the election, Vdovychenko believes Russia also upped its information campaigns to manipulate US public opinion. North Korean troops entered active combat in the Russian region of Kursk on the day of the election, showing that Russia had access to fresh manpower. When US President Joe Biden reacted to Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s defeat by authorising US weapons to strike deep inside Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired the Oreshnik ballistic missile into Ukraine in apparent retaliation. But Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov recently told his US counterpart the launch “had been planned long before the Biden administration agreed to allow Ukraine to use American ATACMS to strike deeper into Russia”, reported The New York Times, quoting US officials. Putin was nonetheless able to create the impression that it was the US that was provoking Russia and prolonging the war. Advertisement These messages all played into the hands of the Trump campaign, his supporters admit. “President Trump seeks peace and an end to ‘never-ending wars’ that benefit entrenched elites,” said Demetries Andrew Grimes, a former US naval officer, aviator and diplomat who supports Trump. “The American people made it clear by electing Trump that they desire peace and an end to US funding for the war in Ukraine, reflecting growing concerns about prolonged involvement,” he told Al Jazeera. “The topic of negotiations skyrocketed everywhere since the election, especially in the foreign media,” said Vdovychenko. “Yet Russia doesn’t show any sign that it’s ready to go into talks because they don’t suggest they are ready to give up on anything.” Russia intensifies attacks Russia now appears to be intensifying its attacks, doubling down on the tactics that helped Trump win. Ukraine estimated Russian casualties at at least 11,000 for the first week of December, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tallied drones, missiles and glide bombs at more than 900 for that week. Putin outlined his terms for talks in June. “Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and Kherson and [Zaporizhia] regions,” Putin told foreign ministry officials, naming the four regions his armies partly occupied by force. “As soon as Kiyv declares that it is ready to make this decision … and also officially notifies that it abandons its plans to join NATO, our side will follow an order to cease fire and start negotiations,” Putin said. Advertisement Zelenskyy has since outlined a “victory plan” that includes providing additional weapons to Ukraine and offering it unconditional NATO membership immediately, guaranteeing its security. In an interview with Sky News on November 30 he appeared to compromise, and seek NATO membership for free areas of Ukraine only. “Zelenskyy was saying [there are ways of bringing this conflict to an immediate end] if there were immediate NATO membership for the free areas of Ukraine and deal with the occupied territories later,” said Keir Giles, a Eurasia expert at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. “But, he says, ‘There’s nobody who’s actually suggested that to us’. He knows it’s a nonstarter because NATO doesn’t do things immediately or even swiftly, even without opposition from the US and Germany. So what Zelenskyy was doing, was showing up the lack of political will in NATO and the coalition of backers to actually arrive at a workable solution to the conflict.” Most Ukrainians prefer to keep fighting, according to a poll released this week. The New Europe Center, a Kyiv-based think tank, following its annual December survey of public opinion, said “64.1 percent of Ukrainians believe that negotiations with Russia are not worthwhile unless Ukraine receives real security guarantees from the West”. “The argument is that Russia will start the war again after a short pause,” it said. Could Trump abandon Ukraine? Some observers believe that Trump has already cost Ukraine the battlefield initiative it had following a 2023 counteroffensive. Advertisement Last autumn, he put pressure on Republican members of Congress to deny $60.4bn in military aid, and succeeded in delaying it by six months. “If you look at the pattern of slow, incremental, steady Russian advances, it seems to begin after Ukrainians were compromised in their ability to defend themselves by the hold in aid eventually feeding through
France’s Macron names centrist ally Francois Bayrou as new prime minister
Veteran politician tasked with hauling nation from crisis after the previous government was toppled. French President Emmanuel Macron has named centrist leader Francois Bayrou as his new prime minister after the previous government was deposed last week. Bayrou’s appointment, confirmed by the Elysee presidential palace on Friday, came after former Prime Minister Michel Barnier was forced by far-right and left-wing lawmakers to step down after just three months in office in a historic no-confidence vote last week. Bayrou is a well-known figure in French politics whose political experience is seen as key in efforts to restore stability to the country. The 73-year-old leader of the Democratic Movement (Mouvement Democrate, or MoDem) group, which has been allied to the president’s centrist Renaissance party since he swept to power in 2017. The country was plunged into a political crisis when Macron called snap elections earlier this year after his party polled badly in European elections, with Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party emerging as the clear victor. But his bid to buttress his minority government, which had struggled to pass legislation, backfired spectacularly when the poll delivered an inconclusive result, leaving parliament divided among three warring blocs with no absolute majority. Advertisement Bayrou, who served as education minister from 1993 to 1997, now faces the immediate challenge of putting together a cabinet that can survive a no-confidence vote and thrash out a 2025 budget in a bid to limit economic turmoil. The new prime minister, the country’s fourth this year, was recently cleared in a case alleging embezzlement of European Parliament funds. His appointment has raised hackles on the left of the political spectrum, which is wary of continuing the president’s policies, and on the right, where he is disliked by influential former President Nicolas Sarkozy. Jordan Bardella, the president of the RN, said the party would not be calling for an immediate no-confidence motion against Bayrou. France’s festering political malaise has raised doubts about whether Macron will complete his second presidential term, which ends in 2027. The president has pledged to stay on “until the end” of his five-year term, until May 2027. In a critical moment, Le Pen will be judged in an embezzlement trial next year. If convicted, she could lose the opportunity to stand in the 2027 election. The public appears to be eager for a period of stability in French politics, with just over two-thirds of respondents in an Elabe poll published Wednesday saying they want politicians to reach a deal, not to overthrow a new government. Adblock test (Why?)
How India’s Gukesh Dommaraju became chess king in a cricket crazy country
Indian chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju has become the youngest world chess champion ever after defeating defending champion Ding Liren of China. Gukesh’s win on Thursday came in the last game of the 14-game World Chess Championship in Singapore. The otherwise cricket-crazed India is jubilant at the 18-year-old’s victory. Here is more about Gukesh, and how he clinched the world title: Who is Gukesh? Gukesh comes from Chennai, the capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He attended Chennai’s Velammal Nexus School. He started playing chess at the age of seven, Gukesh said in an interview uploaded in 2019 by the Gibraltar International Chess Festival. “Chess is so complex, so I just love it,” Gukesh said in the video. “I want to become a world champion.” By the age of 12, Gukesh had become a grandmaster – the highest title a chess player can attain – making him the third-youngest grandmaster in history and the youngest one from India. Gukesh sees beauty and philosophy in pawns, bishops and boards. A YouTube video uploaded by the chess news publication ChessBase India shows the shelves of his room in his Chennai house stacked with trophies and chess books, such as Under the Surface by Jan Markos and Yochanan Afek’s Practical Chess Beauty. Advertisement Chennai has come to be known as the chess capital of India. Out of the 85 chess grandmasters in India, 31 are from Tamil Nadu. The state is even home to a temple dedicated to the game Is he the youngest world chess champion? Yes. Before Gukesh, Russian legend Garry Kasparov was the youngest to become world champion at the age of 22 in 1985. How did Gukesh win? Gukesh qualified for the championship in April by winning the men’s Candidates Tournament of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). He was the youngest candidate to win the Candidates Tournament. He competed against seven other contestants in the event held in April in Toronto, Canada. The winner of the double round-robin tournament goes on to challenge the defending champion for the world title. Ding, 32, became world champion in 2023. Starting November 25, Gukesh and Ding faced off over 14 intense games. In chess, a player wins one point for a win and half a point for a draw. Ding went into the lead by winning the first game. The second round ended in a tie. Gukesh won the third game, tying things up with Ding at 1.5 each. They remained tied for multiple games, drawing each of them. In the 11th game, Gukesh, playing with white, took the lead after Ding made a blunder. But Ding bounced back by winning the 12th game, levelling the playing field once again. The 13th game resulted in a draw. The winning moment Gukesh played with black in the 14th and final game. Midway through, a draw appeared imminent. But Ding made the mistake of moving his last powerful piece, his rook, off a strong position. Ding’s mistake took Gukesh by surprise, and he looked intently at the board and calculated his next moves. Ding, left, and Gukesh compete in game 14 of the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore on December 12, 2024 [Simon Lim/AFP] After realising his mistake, Ding was visibly disappointed and resigned three moves later, conceding the world champion title to Gukesh. Advertisement “It took me a while to realise I blundered. … I think I played my best tournament in the year. “I could be better, but considering yesterday’s luck, it’s a fair result to lose in the end. I have no regrets,” Ding said at a news conference after the game, saying he would continue to play chess. [Simon Lim/AFP] When Gukesh realised he had won, he broke into tears. Speaking to reporters after the game, Gukesh said he initially did not realise Ding’s blunder but when he did: “It was probably the best moment of my life.” Gukesh reacts after winning. [Simon Lim/AFP] Gukesh said Ding “fought like a true champion”. Who are the earlier 17 champions? Wilhelm Steinitz: Born in Prague, Steinitz was the first official world champion, grabbing the title in 1886 and holding it for eight years over four championships. Emanuel Lasker: Born in Prussia in what is today Poland, Lasker won the title in 1894 and held it over six championships. Jose Raul Capablanca: Hailing from Cuba, Capablanca won the title in 1921. Alexander Alekhine: The Russian who obtained French citizenship won the title first in 1927 and three times after that. Max Euwe: The Dutch mathematician won the title in 1935. Mikhail Botvinnik: The Russian won the title five times, first in 1948. Vasily Smyslov: The Russian became world champion in 1957. Mikhail Tal: The Latvian became world champion in 1960. Tigran V Petrosian: The Armenian remained world champion from 1963 to 1969. Boris Spassky: The Russian became world champion in 1969. Bobby Fischer: The American became world champion in 1972. Anatoly Karpov: The Russian held the title from 1975 to 1985, winning five times. Garry Kasparov: The Russian held the title from 1985 to 2000, winning six times. Vladimir Kramnik: The Russian held the title from 2000 to 2007, winning three times. Viswanathan Anand: The first grandmaster and world champion from India won the title in 2007 and held it until 2013, winning four times. Magnus Carlsen: The Norwegian grandmaster won the title in 2013 and held it until 2023. Ding: The Chinese grandmaster held the title of world champion for 20 months after winning it in April 2023. Advertisement What are the reactions to Gukesh’s win? Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Modi posted on X on Thursday: “This is the result of his unparalleled talent, hard work and unwavering determination. Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi: Gandhi also posted on X: “Gukesh, you’ve made all of India proud!” Gukesh, you’ve made all of India proud! At just 18, becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion is a phenomenal achievement. Your passion and hard work remind us that with determination, anything is possible. Congratulations, champ! pic.twitter.com/wcK4YZmVB9
US President-elect Trump invites China’s Xi Jinping to his inauguration
United States President-elect Donald Trump has invited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration ceremony in January, despite his history of hawkish rhetoric and tariff threats. On Thursday, Trump’s incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed reports of the invitation in an appearance on the conservative TV channel Fox News. She framed the invitation as an effort to strengthen ties between the two countries, long seen as rivals. “This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too,” Leavitt told the programme Fox & Friends. Experts say that it would be unprecedented for a Chinese leader to attend a US presidential inauguration, given the frosty relations that have persisted between the two countries for decades. “This is diplomatic theater, nothing more. Other heads of state, let alone Xi Jinping, haven’t attended US presidential inaugurations,” Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the news agency Reuters. Advertisement Experts say Xi is unlikely to accept the invitation. When asked at a briefing about Trump’s invitation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded: “I have nothing to share at present.” But the symbolism behind his appearance at Trump’s second inauguration would likely be fraught. Danny Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told The Associated Press that Xi’s attendance – if he accepts – could be construed as the Chinese president “celebrating the triumph of a foreign leader”. “Can you imagine Xi Jinping sitting outdoors in Washington, DC, in January at the feet of the podium, surrounded by hawkish members of Congress, gazing up at Donald Trump as he delivers his inaugural address?” asked Russel. Xi and Trump have also butted heads in the past. During Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021, he initiated a trade war with China that saw the two countries impose tariffs on each other’s imports. In 2019, the United Nations Trade and Development organisation issued a report warning that the trade war was “economically hurting both countries”. Experts have also warned that the cost of tariffs is often offset onto consumers. Trump also exchanged a war of words with Xi’s government during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he called the “China virus”. He demanded China be held accountable for its spread. China, for its part, condemned Trump’s accusations as “baseless” and called his rhetoric stigmatising. Advertisement A second Trump term may spark further tensions with China. Already, he has pledged to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods if more is not done to curb the trade of the synthetic drug fentanyl. And his incoming administration is stacked with several notable foreign policy hawks, including Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, who has accused China of deploying “theft” and “predatory tactics” to strengthen its economy. China sanctioned Rubio in 2020. The current administration of US President Joe Biden has also left some tariffs from Trump’s first term largely in place and taken aggressive steps meant to hobble China’s tech sector. But this week, there was evidence the US could seek to increase cooperation with China moving forward. The Biden administration announced a delegation of senior Treasury Department officials would travel to Nanjing, China, while other officials would coordinate with their Chinese counterparts at a meeting for the Group of 20 (G20) forum in South Africa. Trump too has signalled a willingness to warm relations. Speaking from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, Trump also said his incoming administration would engage in “a lot of talks with China”. “We have a good relationship with China. I have a surprising relationship. Now, when the COVID came in, I sort of cut it off. That was a step too far,” he said. Some are hopeful that the two global powers will find room for collaboration where possible. “We should choose dialogue over confrontation and win-win cooperation over zero-sum games,” Xi said in the letter read aloud at a US-China Business Council gala in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Trump backs dockworkers in fight over automation
US president-elect says savings from automation are not worth the ‘distress, hurt, and harm’ caused to workers. United States President-elect Donald Trump has thrown his support behind union dockworkers who are at an impasse with their employer over the use of automation. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) have until January 15 to agree on a new contract, after the sides reached a temporary deal in October. The deal, which was brokered under intense pressure from the administration of President Joe Biden, brought an end to a three-day strike that crippled operations at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, but left the contentious use of semi-automated cranes unresolved. Trump on Thursday signalled his support for the workers’ stance following a meeting with Harold Daggett, the president of ILA, and Dennis Daggett, the union’s executive vice president. “I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen,” Trump said on Truth Social. Advertisement Trump said that foreign shipping firms had “made a fortune” through their access to the US market and should hire more American workers. “They shouldn’t be looking for every last penny knowing how many families are hurt. They’ve got record profits, and I’d rather these foreign companies spend it on the great men and women on our docks than machinery, which is expensive, and which will constantly have to be replaced. In the end, there’s no gain for them, and I hope that they will understand how important an issue this is for me,” he said. Much as his support of tariffs and scepticism of interventionist foreign policy marked him out from traditional Republicans, Trump’s remarks are a departure from his party’s longstanding support of businesses over unions. The ILA argues that automation destroys jobs, while USMX contends that modernisation is necessary to keep US ports competitive. USMX said in a statement after Trump’s remarks that it looked forward to working with the incoming administration to strengthen supply chains and support jobs. “It’s clear President-elect Trump, USMX, and the ILA all share the goal of protecting and adding good-paying American jobs at our ports. But this contract goes beyond our ports – it is about supporting American consumers and giving American businesses access to the global marketplace – from farmers, to manufacturers, to small businesses, and innovative start-ups looking for new markets to sell their products,” the employer group said. “To achieve this, we need modern technology that is proven to improve worker safety, boost port efficiency, increase port capacity, and strengthen our supply chains. ILA members’ compensation increases with the more goods they move – the greater capacity our ports have and goods that are moved means more money in their pockets.” Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Indonesia’s Prabowo steers strategic middle path amid China, US rivalry
When Prabowo Subianto was sworn in as Indonesia’s eighth president in October, an immediate question was what the appointment of the once-feared ex-special forces general would mean for regional security during his five-year term in office. Analysts tell Al Jazeera that Prabowo’s approach to foreign policy will differ significantly from his predecessor – ex-President Joko Widodo, better known as “Jokowi” – whose term in office was focused more on attracting foreign investment to Indonesia and building export markets, than on defence spending and international affairs. As competition mounts between China and the United States in the Asia Pacific region, just how far the 73-year-old President Prabowo will take Indonesia in a new foreign policy direction remains to be seen. “Unlike Jokowi, who largely delegated foreign affairs and security matters, Prabowo, through his defence minister, will drive more opportunities with the Pentagon,” Natalie Sambhi, an Indonesia expert and executive director of Verve Research, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement “That said, we have early signs that Indonesia is looking to deepen its relationship with China, including resuming military exercises,” Sambhi said. “We have five years to see whether the complexity and frequency of military exercises with the [Chinese] People’s Liberation Army evolves in ways that rival the intensity with the US military,” she said. ‘Mitigating the impact of US–China rivalry’ While it raised some eyebrows at the time, Prabowo’s early choice of state visits upon securing Indonesia’s presidency gave away little of his strategic thinking for Indonesia’s place in a region of rapidly evolving military competition. He visited Australia in August and Russia in September as Indonesia’s president-elect. That was followed by a visit to China in November when he was elected president. Shortly after, he travelled to Washington, DC, where he met with US President Joe Biden, capping the visit with a phone call to the US’s president-elect Donald Trump. In late November, Prabowo visited the United Kingdom and met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles. Zachary Abuza, a lecturer in Southeast Asian politics and security at the National War College in Washington, DC, said the decision to visit Russia and China ahead of the US “certainly raised some alarm bells about what he is going to do with the bilateral relationship”. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Prabowo attend at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on November 9, 2024 [Florence Lo/pool/Reuters] But the order of the countries that Prabowo chose to visit could have also been more an issue of logistics and timing than a symbolic indication of strategic intent as a visit to the US would have been complicated while the country was in the middle of a presidential election campaign in October and early November, Abuza said. Advertisement What is certain, according to Abuza, is that “Prabowo is going to be a different figure” when it comes to foreign policy and the new Indonesian president may also mean a strengthened Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] amid the regional rivalry between Beijing and Washington. Prabowo “understands that ASEAN is more effective with a stronger Indonesia at the helm”, Abuza said. Sambhi of Verve Research said that analysts would likely be looking at how Indonesia under Prabowo might deepen and diversify its regional security partnerships away from the twin poles of Washington and Beijing. US President Joe Biden, right, meets with President Prabowo in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 12, 2024 [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters] Other security partners for Indonesia may include Australia, France, India, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam, Sambhi said. “The more Indonesia does with other middle and emerging Indo-Pacific powers, the better for the region in mitigating the impact of US-China rivalry,” she said. Special forces commander to Indonesian president Prabowo comes to Indonesia’s top job with a diverse portfolio and a chequered reputation in some of the Western countries that may now be eager to build a new security relationship as a counterbalance to China. Born in Jakarta in 1951, Prabowo began his military career in 1970, when he enrolled in the Indonesian Military Academy, and from which he graduated in 1974 before joining the Indonesian Special Forces Command (Kopassus). Advertisement Throughout his military career, he was accused of a string of human rights abuses while in active service, including accusations of abuses in East Timor and Indonesia’s West Papua, as well as involvement in the bloody race riots in 1998 during the fall of then-president Soeharto – of whom he was once a son-in-law. Prabowo denied involvement in the abductions of student activists during Soeharto’s rule and while he has never stood trial, the allegations of abuses and rights violations saw him banned from travelling to the US and Australia for almost two decades. Then-Indonesian Chief of Strategic Command Lieutenant-General Prabowo, right, speaks with the country’s Military Commander General Wiranto in Jakarta in 1997 [File: Reuters] Prabowo’s travel ban was quietly overturned by Washington in 2020 when he was named Indonesian defence minister by Jokowi. Australia also dropped its ban on Prabowo in 2014 when Canberra too hastily predicted that he was on the cusp of securing the Indonesian presidency on his first attempt a decade ago. Australia ‘yoking itself exclusively to the US’ Australia’s relationship with Indonesia remains complex. In August, both countries signed a defence cooperation agreement described as “historic”. But the relationship between Indonesia and Australia will be one to watch as Prabowo tries to steer a middle path between China and the West, said Ian Wilson, a lecturer in politics and security studies at Perth’s Murdoch University. Indonesia was one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War, and has a “bebas-aktif” or “free and active” approach to foreign policy, which means that it does not align itself with any major power bloc – choosing instead to work with everyone, Wilson told Al Jazeera. Advertisement Australia, however, has new regional security commitments under AUKUS – the trilateral defence partnership between Australia, the UK
How the US funds Israel’s war on Gaza
Money Works The United States has backed Israel in its ongoing war on Gaza for more than a year, providing substantial military aid worth billions of dollars. But this financial support never actually leaves the US. Find out how this funding system works. Published On 12 Dec 202412 Dec 2024 Adblock test (Why?)