Hello, everyone. Today at WPR, we’re covering how the tactics employed by anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis could help prevent the outbreak of a broader civil conflict, and the deadly consequences of the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization. | The top story will return tomorrow. | | With the second high-profile killing of a U.S. citizen by federal officers on the streets of Minneapolis in late January, several observers have claimed in the past two weeks that the United States is on the brink of a civil war. In some ways, the actions of the people in Minneapolis could be viewed as a dress rehearsal for civil war or even an acknowledgement that the militarization of their city already borders on a siege. But it is also important to understand the dynamics that keep civil wars at bay, many of which are on display in the tactics used by residents of Minneapolis to protect their neighbors from ICE raids, WPR columnist Charli Carpenter writes. | | | When the United States joined the World Health Organization in 1948, then-President Harry Truman framed the move not in terms of idealism, but as a clear-eyed strategic interest. “In view of the long history of international cooperation in the field of health,” he said, being part of the WHO might “spare us the haunting fear of devastating epidemics.” Now that logic has been all but abandoned as President Donald Trump’s administration announced last month that it had completed the process of withdrawing from the WHO—a decision that puts American lives at risk, Matthew M. Kavanagh writes. | | | Mali: The ruling military junta has arrested a prominent journalist for criticizing the leader of neighboring Niger, according to Human Rights Watch. The journalist, Youssouf Sissoko, is the editor-in-chief of L’Alternance, a weekly newspaper in Mali’s capital, Bamako. The weekly newspaper had run an article on Feb. 2 questioning accusations by Niger’s military ruler that the governments of France, Benin and Ivory Coast provided support to the Islamic State in the Sahel Province, an extremist group that attacked an airport in Niger’s capital in January. | The arrest is part of a larger trend of the Malian government cracking down on civil liberties in the country. Meanwhile, the United States under President Donald Trump has begun to renew its engagement with the governments of the Sahelian states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, all of which have witnessed coups in recent years. “The Trump administration’s openness to accommodation with the Sahel’s juntas is a reminder of the United States’ broader retreat from promoting democracy and good governance globally,” Lesley Anne Warner wrote in WPR in November. | | European Union: The European Parliament approved changes to the EU asylum system on Tuesday that will allow EU countries to transfer asylum seekers to a list of “safe” countries outside the bloc. The list of “safe” countries includes those like Tunisia and Egypt with spotty human rights records. See Gaia Mastrosanti’s WPR briefing last month for more on changes to the EU asylum system that are making it easier for European governments to turn down asylum applications. | | The paid edition of today’s newsletter includes additional On Our Radar items on the Ethiopia and Portugal. | Purchase your all-access subscription now to make sure you don’t miss important news and analysis. | If you believe you are already a paid subscriber and are receiving this free edition by mistake, please reply to this email and we’ll make sure you receive the paid edition going forward. | | More from WPR | James Bosworth on whether Mexico’s Sheinbaum can maintain her status as “Trump whisperer.” Jared Ward on the implications of Maduro’s ouster for China’s influence in the Caribbean. Paul Poast on whether Trump is a realist president. Fenja Tramsen on the private sector’s role in filling the development aid gap.
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Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.