In Geopolitics Today: Friday, January 13th
Damaged Pipelines Impact Nigerian LNG Exports to Europe, Chinese Quantum Researchers Claim Decryption Breakthrough, and other stories.
Turkey Summons Swedish Ambassador
An inquiry has been launched by Turkish prosecutors in the incident in Stockholm in which an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was strung up, adding further diplomatic strain to Sweden’s bid to win Turkey’s approval to join NATO. The incident was filmed and shared on Twitter by the Swedish Solidarity Committee for Rojava, a group that supports the Kurdish cause.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the act as “extremely serious” and considered it an act of sabotage against the NATO application. NATO member Turkey summoned the Swedish ambassador on Thursday over the incident. The investigation was launched after Erdogan’s lawyer filed a legal petition. The lawyer, Huseyin Aydin, said it was understood to have been organized by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a “terrorist” organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Read more about this story here.
Brazil’s Potential as a Rising Great Power
Brazil is a unique and relatively new national state in the global geopolitical chessboard, but it has been aspiring to become a great power for centuries. It has a diverse economic structure and a large population, and it has managed to upgrade its profile through the development of several economic sectors related to industrial manufacturing.
However, the country is not without its challenges, having experienced coups, military dictatorships, foreign covert interventions and bitter internal political rivalries in its relatively short existence. Nevertheless, Brazil has not fallen apart and is considered by many as having a promising future, as it possesses several resources and capabilities that can be harnessed for strategic purposes. It's located far from the Eurasian heartland and the rimland's contentious flashpoints, and it has direct access to the Atlantic.
Read more about this story here.
Damaged Pipelines Impact Nigerian LNG Exports to Europe
Nigeria LNG, a company that exports liquefied natural gas from Nigeria, has cancelled several shipments due to vandalism on gas pipelines that disrupted operations. Reports indicate there could have been as many as 10 cargoes cancelled, and the company has declared a force majeure on export cargoes and scrapped at least 2 loadings scheduled for January.
The disruption in Nigeria LNG's exports comes as Europe continues to look for LNG shipments to replace the lost Russian pipeline supply. Despite the recent plunge in the European benchmark gas prices to below the North Asian benchmark, Europe continues to attract most US exports of LNG as demand in Asia remains weak. Nigeria accounted for 7% of Europe’s LNG supply in 2022.
Read more about this story here.
The United States Signs Deal with Palau to Build Radar Sites
The US Department of Defense has awarded a $118 million contract to build a special radar installation in the Republic of Palau. The Tactical Mobile Over-the-Horizon Radar, or TACMOR, is a new sensor that will support air and maritime domain awareness in the Western Pacific region for the United States and its allies.
The installation will have two sites, one in northern Babeldaob and the other on Angaur, and will feature a sub-scaled over-the-horizon radar. Over-the-horizon radar is used to detect objects beyond the horizon by bouncing radio signals off the ionosphere or using low-frequency signals along the surface. TACMOR will track different threats from the Soviet-era radar which was designed to warn of nuclear launches.
Read more about this story here.
Chinese Quantum Researchers Claim Decryption Breakthrough
Quantum researchers in China claim to have an algorithm capable of breaking public-key encryption, which serves as a reminder that quantum breakthroughs are possible in the near term. Quantum information science (QIS) uses the laws of quantum physics to advance the processing, analysis, and transmission of information.
The first country to operationalize quantum technologies will possess a toolkit of capabilities that can overwhelm unprepared adversaries, and will also have an upper hand in establishing market dominance and developing quantum governance models. The United States maintains superiority in the development of quantum computing and quantum sensing capabilities, but China is gaining momentum, already leading in the development of quantum communications and total number of quantum technology patents.