Germany’s rising military power
After his election at the head of a conservative/social democrat coalition a year ago, an early policy promise of chancellor Frederich Mertz was to build up Germany’s military. In 2027, the country is projected to spend £9.1bn on defence with overall spending reaching 3.1% of GDP. This is against a background of the US withdrawing 5,000 US troops from Germany. In this article, Dr Liana Fix, a senior fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations, looks at the perils of Germany becoming Europe’s largest military power.
Sectarian politics in Lebanon
Sectarian politics in the Middle East, not least the principle religious divisions between Sunni and Shia Muslims, has always been a weakness exploited by Western imperial powers. The Sunni/Shia split was a factor in the Iran/Iraq war and sectarian conflict has also been very evident in post-Assad Syria. Lebanon under attack is also not immune to this issue and an interesting article the New Arab describes how a mere Angry Birds-type video has aroused Lebanese sectarian feelings and got the US Ambassador into trouble.
Sudan civil war’s enduring impact
The impact of the Sudanese civil war in its third year has resulted in large movements of people, with an estimated 3.5 million people fleeing the country. This has impacted neighbouring Chad, which continues to suffer from a cholera epidemic due to an estimated one million refugees. In an interesting account from September 2025, Alima (Alliance for International Medical Action) sets out the epidemiology of the outbreak and gives an account of its response in the area which is still ongoing.
Press freedom declining due to authoritarianism
The UN’s World Press Freedom Day on 3 May this year highlighted that press freedom has experienced its steepest decline since 2012. The World Press Freedom Index, which assessed 180 countries, has found that established journalism is ‘being asphyxiated’ as a result of growing authoritarian pressure. In an article in the Guardian, Michael Savage looks at some of the reasons for this.
