In Geopolitics Today: Friday, October 14th
Russia Has Failed to Invest in Armed Drone Capabilities, Growing Cooperation Between Central Asian Powers, and other powers.
The United States Sends a Delegation to Haiti
The United States has sent a diplomatic delegation to Haiti following a request by Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry for international military assistance to combat gang violence. At the same time, the United States also announced an increase in support for Haiti's police force and an increase in aid transfers.
Washington’s response to the situation in Haiti does not include the deployment of troops, thus falling short of Henry's request for military support. Although the US government may expand its presence in Haiti over the coming weeks, its current response is unlikely to be enough to improve Haiti's security, political and economic crises. Increased violence means that logistical and security challenges to business operations in Haiti are set to persist over the coming months.
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Russia Has Failed to Invest in Armed Drone Capabilities
Russia is lagging behind in the development and production of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). Its attempts to catch up through a variety of indigenous projects has not yielded successes, and Russia has found itself forced to turn to Iran for the acquisition of Mohajer-6 UCAVs and Shahed-131/6 loitering munitions.
While several more advanced UCAV designs are in the pipeline, the future of these systems is already in some doubt. Regardless of the continued course of their development, it seems certain that Russia has failed to capitalize on drone technologies. Going forward, this will be made more difficult now that Russia finds itself under severe international sanctions.
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Turkey and Russia to Jointly Establish Gas Hub
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Turkey and Russia will jointly establish a natural gas distribution centre in Thrace. Erdogan met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Astana, where the two leaders touted Turkey as the best route for redirecting gas supplies to the European Union after suspected blasts damaged the Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
Russia has reportedly floated the idea of exporting more gas via the TurkStream gas pipeline that runs beneath the Black Sea to Turkey after gas deliveries to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline were halted. Turkey and Russia have two active pipelines, one of which — TurkStream — goes across the Black Sea and through western Turkey near Thrace. Energy infrastructure projects associated with Russia are a risky venture at this time, as a number of persons have reportedly already been arrested for attempting to sabotage the TurkStream pipeline.
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Growing Cooperation Between Central Asian Powers
A recent meeting between the leaders of Central Asian countries saw agreement on two key documents: the Treaty on Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation to Promote Development in Central Asia in the 21st Century and the Roadmap for Regional Cooperation Until 2024. The Central Asian leaders agreed to develop a road map on regional security, create a regional centre for environmental protection, establish a regional television station, among other policies
Yet many roadblocks on the way to deeper regional cooperation remain, as evidenced by the fact that the five presidents signed a small number of proposals tabled. Nonetheless, following their meeting, concrete steps have been taken by each participant to implement the agreements and to deepen ties among the countries. Additionally, the Russo-Ukrainian War marks a renewed emphasis for improved regional cooperation as all Central Asian states have just cause to fear military coercion from Moscow.