The Namibian published on 28 June 2026 an article titled "Namibia in Numbers: Namibia's Uranium Output" by Ida Williams.
Namibia produces 12 percent of the world's uranium output and is the third ranking producer after Kazakhstan and Canada. The two largest mines in Namibia are owned by Chinese companies: the Husab mine by China General Nuclear Power and the Rossing mine by China National Uranium Corporation. An Australian company owns the third mine, which accounts for less production.
The Washington Post published on 28 March 2026 an editorial titled "Yet Another Step Toward State Capitalism."
The US International Development Finance Corporation has taken a 20 percent stake in a graphite mine in Mozambique to counter China's control of the world's supply of graphite. This is a tactic the Trump administration has used in other deals to control critical minerals. The editorial asks if this is the best use of taxpayer funding when they will be left holding the bag if the company fails.
Delaware-incorporated Farmonaut posted on 7 March 2026 a promotional piece titled "Cobalt Shares: China, Africa and the Global 2026 Refining Share."
In 2026, China will control over 75 percent of global cobalt refining capacity, although it mines less than 2 percent domestically. Africa, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, supplies more than 70 percent of the world's cobalt, but refines less than 5 percent of its own product. This promotion looks especially at the use of cobalt in the agricultural and forestry sectors.
The Diplomat published on 16 January 2026 an analysis titled "The New Age of Maritime Multilateralism in the Indian Ocean" by Gayathry Gopal, KCC Institute of Law, Greater Noida.
The Indian Ocean is not dominated by a single power but by a multitude of actors of varying capabilities and interests, thereby making the emerging order not only polycentric but also highly fragile. India is the resident and traditional security provider. The United States has a strong presence in the Indian Ocean.
No actor, however, matches China in the scale and pace of its expansion. It now has embassies in all Indian Ocean littoral states, participates in all regional organizations, has invested in some 17 ports around the rim of the Indian Ocean, and has a permanent military base in Djibouti.
Increasingly, smaller states are engaging in the region. This interplay of great power competition and small states' quest for influence has produced a polycentric security order that is dynamic and structurally fragmented.
The July 2025 issue of Asia Policy contains a book review roundtable of Darshana M. Baruah's book titled The Contest for the Indian Ocean and the Making of a New World Order (Yale University Press 2024). The focus of the book is great power competition and the role of the island countries in the Indian Ocean.
The roundtable consists of the following brief discussions:
--Power Asymmetry and Competition in the Indo-Pacific: The Island States of the Indian Ocean by Frederic Grare.
--Prioritizing the Indian Ocean in the Indo-Pacific by Nilanthi Samaranayake.
--The Agency of Island States in the Geopolitics of the Indian Ocean by Isabelle Saint-Mezard.
--The Island States Have Agency in the Contest for the Indian Ocean--But How? by Pradeep Taneja.
--Opening, Broadening, and Deepening the 'Geo' in the Geoppolitics of the Indian Ocean by Sanjay Chaturvedi.
--Author's Response: Reframing the Indian Ocean Debate by Darshana M. Baruah.
Foreign Affairs published on 7 April 2025 a commentary titled "America Needs a Real Indian Ocean Strategy" by Arzan Tarapore, Stanford University.
Chinese submarine activity will soon surpass India's ability to counter it in the Indian Ocean and India is ill equipped to offset China's growing naval presence. India's contributions to regional security are significant, but they will be dwarfed by what it will take to counter China's increasing naval capacity.
The author calls on the United States to craft a comprehensive strategy for the Indian Ocean because within a decade an expanding Chinese naval presence will be able to imperil global shipping lanes, extract more resources from countries in the region, and project force far beyond its current ability. The focus of this US strategy should be building collective military power.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies published on 25 March 2025 an analysis titled "How to Successfully Merge USAID and the Department of State" by Daniel F. Runde.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the State Department will administer what remains of USAID programs. The author notes that numerous other aid donor countries have followed this pattern, and the US could learn from them. The author then proposes a number of steps needed to merge State and USAID successfully.
Comment: This scenario makes some sense if done thoughtfully and in advance of the dismantlement of USAID. It holds little chance of succeeding after USAID has been dismantled and its personnel dispersed unless the goal is to retain virtually nothing of former American foreign aid programs.
At the turn of the last century, the United States Information Service (USIA) merged with State and became the public affairs division of State. It was done methodically, thoughtfully, and with great effort to preserve most of its former programs. But even in this case, the State Department public affairs division has never lived up to the success of the former USIA.
The US Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, hosted on 13 March 2025 a two-hour panel discussion titled "What Is China's Military Strategy--Is It for Global Power Projection?"
The panelists included Dr. Barry M. Stentiford, U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies; Lt. Col. Samuel Short, Australian Army, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; and me. Each panelist opened with 10-minute comments. Most of the session was Q & A. The focus was China's security relations with Africa, China-Thailand relations, and military strategy and reform of the PLA.
Australia's Lowy Institute has released its "2024 Global Diplomacy Index."
China pulled ahead of the United States in global diplomatic missions in 2019 and maintained a small lead through 2023. Russia's war in Ukraine has resulted in a significant reduction in Moscow's diplomatic representation. Türkiye and India have significantly expanded their representation in recent years. There has been a recent focus on the establishment of diplomatic missions in Pacific Islands countries.
Development Reimagined published in November 2024 a study titled "Africa-China Cooperation in Critical Minerals: Centering Africa's Development in a Global Race."
Critical minerals account for almost 20 percent of Africa's total exports and contribute 28 percent of its GDP. By 2022, critical minerals represented about 24 percent of China's total FDI stock in Africa. Chinese mining companies account for 8 percent of Africa's total mining output and China ranks 5th in terms of mine ownership. China has substantial stakes in Africa's lithium, copper, and cobalt mining projects--key minerals for EV batteries.
It is essential that Africa develops strategies to protect and maximize the benefits from its critical minerals. Despite the significant role mining plays in Africa-China relations, Development Reimagined says China should specify and enhance its commitments to the minerals sector to include geoscience and geology cooperation, research and development in mining technologies, human resource training, infrastructure development, value addition, and supply chain upgrading.
The Washington Post published on 19 June 2024 an article titled "Futures on Hold, Dreams of Escape" by Malin Fezehai and Rael Ombuor.
In 1991, UNHCR established a refugee camp at Dadaab in neighboring Kenya for Somalis fleeing the conflict between government forces and the al-Shabaab terrorist organization. Today, Dadaab is still 97 percent Somali and houses 380,000 people. The refugees once dreamed of returning to a peaceful Somalia; now they dream of being resettled in North America or Australia by UNHCR. One of the few tickets out of Dadaab is superior performance in high school and admission to a university
S&P Global Commodity Insights published on 12 April 2024 an article titled "FACTBOX: China Set to Raise African Lithium Output in 2024 with Diversification Plans" by Lucy Tang.
China has been making substantial investments in the African lithium sector, making the region a key supplier and thereby helping reduce Beijing's heavy reliance on Australian lithium. China is the dominant player in Africa. Zimbabwe has become the second largest supplier to China after Australia, accounting in 2023 for 9 percent of China's spodumene import market share.
Global Witness published on 14 November 2023 a report titled "A Rush for Lithium in Africa Risks Fuelling Corruption and Failing Citizens."
Australia, Chile, and China dominate the world's lithium supply, accounting for over 90 percent of production in 2022. Africa is becoming a more important source of lithium and has been identified in the DRC, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, Mali, and Ethiopia. Chinese companies have been singled out by Global Witness for engaging in corruption or failing to meet contractual promises in the DRC and Namibia.
The Foreign Policy Research Institute published on 6 November 2023 an analysis titled "Australia and India's New Military Bases: Responses to China's Naval Presence in the Indian Ocean" by Felix K. Chang.
The article outlines steps India and Australia are taking to counter a growing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
The Australian Institute of International Affairs posted on 16 October 2023 a commentary titled "China's Western Indian Ocean Step Up" by Kate O'Shaughnessy, Perth USAsia Centre and former Australian high commissioner to Mauritius and Seychelles and ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros.
China has been steadily building its presence in the Western Indian Ocean. Beijing has the largest diplomatic presence in Seychelles and is the largest foreign donor in the Comoros. France and India are watching this development with concern.
The Washington Post published on 29 September 2023 an article titled "Sudan's Diaspora Sends Home Aid As World's Attention Drifts" by Miriam Berger.
About 70,000 Sudanese live in the United States, some of the largest communities are in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. The article describes some of the efforts by the Sudanese diaspora, especially in the Washington area, to raise funds for their countrymen to deal with the ongoing challenges of war.
The US Army posted on 22 September 2023 an article titled "Building the Quad: A Diamond of National Security" by Sarah Hauck.
The same article appeared on 28 September in the Fort Leavenworth Lamp.
The article summarizes a panel presentation on 14 September at the Lewis and Clark Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The panel discussed great power competition in the Indo-Pacific region with a particular focus on the role of the Quad (Japan, Australia, India, and US) for enhancing security and competition with China.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published in June 2023 a major study titled "Mapping the Indian Ocean Region" by Darshana M. Baruah, Nitya Labh, and Jessica Greely.
The study treats the Indian Ocean region as one continuous theater and looks at the major players, security challenges, and other factors that shape the region. It demonstrates how the Indian Ocean's economic, political, military, and geographic features interact to create a single geopolitical arena.
Coincidentally, the U.S. Department of State posted on 30 May 2023 a fact sheet titled "U.S. Relationship with the Indian Ocean Rim Association and Commitment to the Indian Ocean Region."
The release of the fact sheet was tied to the reopening after 27 years of the U.S. embassy in the Seychelles and the visit to Seychelles, Mauritius, and Comoros by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma.
The Stimson Center's South Asian Voices published on 31 May 2023 an analysis titled "India's Evolving Maritime Strategy" by Allah Nawaz.
India has moved from a policy of "using" Indian Ocean waters to "securing" them. China's rise and increased interference in India's perceived sphere of influence pushed New Delhi to modify its strategy in the Indian Ocean. In response to China's "string of pearls" theory, India is pursuing a "necklace of diamonds" approach.
