PUBLICATIONS

This edition's featured story discusses the recent presidential election in Uganda. The election has been widely condemned as unfree and unfair, and the results of it are being viewed as a crushing blow to democracy.

Click link to read full statement.

In the face of a global pandemic, global calls for racial justice, and the existential threat that is climate change, we have a once in a generation opportunity to reimagine a foreign policy based on universal human rights, mutual respect, acceptance of differences, and the common good. A progressive foreign policy would prioritize cooperation over competition, dignity over dehumanization, equity and equality over white supremacy and patriarchy, and solidarity over exploitation. While reversing disastrous Trump policies is a vital first step, we must go further to democratize and demilitarize U.S. foreign policy to meet the most serious challenges of the 21st century. We call upon the Congress and the next administration to:
End the endless wars and reliance on military interventionism to solve conflict; End the misallocation of national resources to the Pentagon and massively downsize the U.S. global infrastructure of violence; and Invest in diplomacy, multilateralism, development, peacebuilding, and the enforcement of international law to address the greatest challenges that face the United States and all of humanity.

As Japan transitions its armed forces from a defensive posture into one with more forward leaning capabilities, it has looked to acquire newer and more advanced weaponry. With an eye towards a more assertive China, Japan has bought billions more worth of arms from the U.S. over the past 5 years, steadily expanding its U.S. arms imports, presenting risks to escalating regional tensions.

This edition's featured story performs a review of the continent's top stores and its table of the week provides details on airstrikes and civilian casualties within Libya and Somalia while the monitor as a whole presents an aggregation of current continent wide stories, a list of upcoming events, and more.

The Trump administration’s expansion of arms sales and defense cooperation with Taiwan has riled China, escalating cross-strait tensions. Though efforts to enhance Taipei's defenses are aimed at deterring a hypothetical attempt from Beijing to retake the self-governing island, concerns remain that the arms transfers make little difference in Taiwan’s security situation while drawing China’s ire and worsening tensions in the Pacific.

The U.S. is considering expanding AFRICOM's authorities to conduct drone strikes in majority-Muslim counties in eastern Kenya that border Somalia targeting al-Shabaab despite questions regarding the efficacy of such a strategy, its impact on civilians in the region and its legality under Kenyan law.

In July 1960, Britain and Italy granted independence to their respective colonial
territories in the Horn of Africa, enabling them to come together as the Republic of Somalia.

The events of 2020 have dramatically underscored the need to rethink the concept of national security. The COVID-19 pandemic, the devastation caused by climate change, and racial and economic injustice all pose risks to public safety and security as great, or greater than, traditional military challenges. It’s long past time for the United States to adopt a new approach to national security that prioritizes our most urgent challenges, reduces U.S. global military deployments and spending, defunds unnecessary weapons systems, and eliminates waste.

This edition's featured story spotlights recent African uprising and its table of the week explores the Tigray conflict while the monitor as a whole presents an aggregation of current continent wide stories, a list of upcoming events, and more.