In Geopolitics Today - Wednesday, February 16th
Sweden Reaffirms Neutrality by Rejecting NATO Membership, US Bans Avocado Imports from Mexico, Study Finds Vulnerabilities in US Missile Defence
Sweden Reaffirms Neutrality by Rejecting NATO Membership
Sweden has reiterated its non-aligned position by once again rejecting formal NATO membership. The Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ann Linde, presented the 2022 Statement of Foreign Policy to the Riksdag in which she outlined Sweden’s foreign policy stance going forward. Sweden will remain a non-aligned country, but will aim to combine its neutrality together with active efforts at increasing combat readiness through international defence cooperation.
The Statement on Foreign Policy 2022 made clear that the Swedish government does not “intend to apply for NATO membership,” emphasizing that Swedish security is better served by “non-participation in military alliances” which directly contributes to “stability and security in northern Europe.” Nevertheless, the statement suggested increased engagement with international organizations to maintain Sweden’s security needs, with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe named as one of such security tools at the disposal of the Swedish government. Active regional engagement remains a key foreign policy priority for Sweden, and the country has made clear its intention to militarily act if another EU Member State or Nordic country suffers some form of disaster or attack.
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US Bans Avocado Imports from Mexico
The United States has suspended all avocado imports from the western Mexican state of Michoacán, the only region in Mexico from which the country is legally permitted to send shipments of avocados to the US. It remains unclear how long the suspension will last, although Mexican authorities have expressed a semblance of optimism that it will be lifted promptly. Nevertheless, the move is a significant threat to the economy of Mexico, accounting for almost $3 billion in annual exports.
The halt on avocado imports from Michoacán, a coastal state west of Mexico City, went into effect on February 11th. The stated reason for the ban given by the US has been an apparent ‘‘threatening phone call’’ which was received by a US inspector, but the Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has outright dismissed the justification by suggesting that political and economic interests were at play in the decision. The US Department of Agriculture has made clear that the suspension will remain in place for as long as necessary to ensure the “appropriate actions are taken” to secure the “safety of staff” in Mexico. In the US, where 80 percent of all avocados consumed are sourced from Mexico, even a two-week long ban could threaten availability and increase prices. Whereas in Mexico, the ban may prove highly damaging for officials as public opinion may turn hostile as a significant source of revenue is shut off.
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Study Finds Vulnerabilities in US Missile Defence
A new study conducted by the American Physical Society (APS) has concluded that no missile defence system currently in service with the armed forces of the United States is effective against credible ICBM threats. The detailed study examined scenarios where US missile defences were tasked with defending against both a single ICBM launch and a salvo of 10 such missiles. The study found that current US missile defence architecture would not be effective at thwarting a limited ICBM attack from North Korea today or in the next 15 years.
The study is the first such report on US missile defences from the APS since 2003 and 1987. In previous studies, similar conclusions were reached — both concluded that US missile defence systems were an ineffective means of countering ICBM attacks. In their latest study, the APS examined ground-based mid-course defence systems which are designed to destroy an incoming warhead in the middle of its flight as it travels through space, and found current missile defence capabilities to be wholly inadequate at preventing attacks from an ICBM missile attack. A concerning element plaguing current US missile defence systems are found to be ongoing reliability issues, which are vulnerable to radar-targeting attacks, opening vulnerabilities to the entire US missile defence matrix via simple anti-electronic countermeasures.
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