WAMU Podcast: Putting a Face on USAID

 WAMU, American University Radio, posted on 6 February 2025 a 40-minute podcast titled "Donald Trump and Elon Musk Are Targeting USAID."

Although the radio program aired a month ago and USAID is confronting a far more dire situation today, it is one of the few efforts that puts a human face on the dismantling of a proud and important aid organization.  

China's New Defense White Paper and Africa

China's State Council published on 24 July 2019 its first defense white paper since 2015. The most recent one is titled "National Defense in the New Era."

There are few references to Africa in the white paper and no surprises. There is mention of China's "support base" in Djibouti, a euphemism for its military base. The paper continues to commit China to support of UN peacekeeping operations in Africa and the anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden. There is reference to the first meeting in 2018 of the China-Africa Defense and Security Forum and China's military contribution to combating Ebola in West Africa in 2014.

China's Maritime Strategy

The Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University published in April 2015 a study titled "China Moves Out: Stepping Stones Toward a New Maritime Strategy" by Christopher H. Sharman, a US Navy officer studying at the National Defense University.  While the study focuses on China's maritime strategy in the Pacific Ocean, it also looks at future strategy in the Indian Ocean, which has implications for Africa and island nations in the Western Indian Ocean.