In Geopolitics Today: Thursday, September 15th
Kenya Supports Morocco on Western Sahara Issue, Eurasian Powers Meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and other stories.
Kenya Supports Morocco on Western Sahara Issue
Kenya’s new president has upended the country’s decades-long policy of siding with the African Union on the status of Western Sahara by revoking support. Nairobi has now decided to ally with Morocco in a drawn-out international issue that has seen European actors switching their support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Within days of coming to power, the new Kenyan president has come out in support of Morocco’s efforts to garnering support for its claims to Western Sahara. At the same time, Rabat has simultaneously worked to weaken the Polisario Front and boost military capabilities. The Kenyan government’s decision can partly be explained by the fact that Morocco occupies a key position as a major provider of fertilisers. Shortly before announcing Kenya’s change of policy on Western Sahara, the Kenyan government announced that cheaper fertiliser would be arriving in the country before the end of the month.
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Turkey Looks to Russia for Energy amid Currency Crisis
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is looking to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to help ease Turkey’s foreign exchange shortfall during an energy crisis. Turkey is likely to receive a credit line from Gazprombank in rubles and use it to pay for gas while the Russian government would provide the bank with guarantees for the loans.
Such a scheme would ease Turkey’s demand for foreign currencies such as the dollar, while lowering the risk of frozen assets for Russia. The two powers continue to find avenues of common interest for cooperation while actively competing in the Caucasus, Libya, Syria, and elsewhere. This compatible relationship between Erdogan and Putin is irritating Washington over the evasion of sanctions on Russia, with US officials occasionally protesting at Ankara accommodating Moscow.
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Germany and Japan Commit to a Ban on Anti-satellite Tests
Japan and Germany have declared they will not conduct direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile testing, joining a US-driven initiative aimed at establishing a set of international norms for space. Destructive ASAT missile tests pose a threat to peaceful space programs, and the lack of international norms in this domain fails to constrain states.
Germany stated that the country is strongly committed to the peaceful use of outer space, which has to remain safe, stable, secure and sustainable. Germany commended the United States and the other nations joining the initiative and expressed support to the United Nations for its efforts to reduce threats affecting space systems. Similarly, the Government of Japan has also decided not to conduct ASAT missile tests to on the basis that such an initiative would promote discussions on the development of norms of responsible behaviour in the space domain.
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Eurasian Powers Meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are meeting this week to to hold bilateral and multilateral meetings at the summit. Eurasian leaders are expected to review the organization's activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation. Topical issues of regional and global importance are also expected to be discussed at the meeting.
ven as Russia and China are expanding the SCO with new and old fans in South Asia and the Middle East, core states in the organization such as Kazakhstan are increasingly alienated from Russia as the war grinds on. At the summit, Iran signed a Memorandum of Obligations to become a permanent member of the SCO. With Iran as a full member, the SCO will comprise of nine member states — China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.