In Geopolitics Today: Tuesday, August 16th
Protests Threaten Libya’s Oil Output, US Bases in Syria Targeted by Drone and Missile Attacks, and other stories.
Protests Threaten Libya’s Oil Output
The Libyan oil sector is once again being threatened by insecurity and political turmoil. Protests have broken out in the oil-rich southern region of the country organized by the Fezzan Anger Movement, largely consisting of local youth and tribesmen. The oil-rich southern region of Fezzan is lacking development, which is a source of marginalization that regularly triggers popular unrest.
The latest round of escalation between authorities and protesters in southern Libya follows a fuel tanker explosion earlier this month in Sabha city, the capital of Fezzan province. The explosion killed 22 people and injured dozens, all of which required medical attention that authorities were unable to provide. This absence of hospitals in the south of the country has fed into local anger, prompting popular protests that now threaten to disrupt the country’s oil sector.
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US Bases in Syria Targeted by Drone and Missile Attacks
Two US bases in Syria have come under attack. The US base at al-Tanf on Syria’s southern border with Iraq and Jordan came under attack by armed drones, while two rockets are said to have landed near a US-led base in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province. No casualties or damage was reported in either incident.
After nearly two years of relative calm, US forces deployed on Syrian territory are seeing an increase in the number of drone and missile attacks targeting their positions. While no one has claimed responsibility for these latest attacks, the Syrian government and its allied militias are likely to have been involved as they seek to push out foreign forces from Syrian territory. The al-Tanf garrison is particularly valuable as it sits on Syria’s southern border with Iraq and Jordan, occupying a key location on the Baghdad-Damascus highway.
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German Troops Redeploy to Bosnia
Germany has redeployed troops as part of the European Union's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. This marks the first time that German forces deploy to the Western Balkans in a decade as instability from the war in Ukraine raises tensions elsewhere.
Bosnia faces an increasingly assertive Bosnian-Serb separatist movement that threatens to upend the regional status quo built upon the Dayton Agreement. Bosnian-Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik has said that German troops are not welcome in Bosnia and has previously expressed regret for agreeing to extend the mandate of the EUFOR peacekeeping mission. EUFOR's mandate runs out in November, when the UN Security Council will decide whether to extend the mission for another year. However, given the state of relations between the permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, agreement seems unlikely.
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US Space Force Assumes Control of Military Satellite Communications
The United States has completed the process of transferring satellite operations to the US Space Force. The US Army transferred the bulk of all US military satellite operations to the Space Force, marking the latest move to reorganize and grow the youngest US military branch.
All US Department of Defense military satellite communications have now been consolidated under a single military service. In addition to control of the communication satellites, 500 people will transfer from the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command to the Space Force Base in Colorado. Other branches of the US military have also gradually transferred their satellite communication responsibilities over to the Space Force. Naval satellite operations have already been placed under the jurisdiction of the Space Force, with more than 670 soldiers, sailors and Marines selected to be transferred into the US military's newest branch.