UN earthquake rescue system blocked in Syria and Iran by US sanctions

The second commentary in our ongoing symposium on Katharine Millars Support the Troops: Military Obligation, Gender, and the Making of Political Community. Pinar Bilgin is a professor of International Relations at Bilkent University, Ankara. She is the author of The International in Security, Security in the International (Routledge, 2016) and Regional Security in the Middle East: A Critical Perspective, 2^nd ed. (Routledge, 2019). www.pinarbilgin.me

Support has emerged as the new service following a moment of disconnect with the troops in the UK and the US, we learn from Kate Millars book, Support the Troops. How about other parts of the world that apparently experienced no such disconnect? Support the Troops makes no claim to explain what happens outside the US and UK cases. But I wonder if, by missing aspects of the international, were missing a part of the condition of possibility of all this? In what follows, I will consider the international that has allowed for support to emerge as the new service in some parts of the world, even as others continue to serve and support in some other parts of the world.

Millar acknowledges that StT discoursesalmost uniformlyfail to engage with the international in that Iraqi, Pakistani, and Afghan civilians killed by the wars are rarely mentioned (175). But then, inter-state wars do not exhaust the international. The author also considers the colonial background. These states the US, UK, and others with pervasive support the troops practices, notably Canada and Australiaare also unified by their status as colonial states, she notes (177). Indeed, following Tarak Barkawis argument in Soldiers of Empire, colonial military relations have shaped post-colonial military relations. Yet again, post-/colonial relations do not exhaust the international.

The international in Support the Troops can also be located in post-World War II relations between Europe and non-Europe. When I write Europe, I refer to Western Europe and North America as the geographies that are put at the centre by those who are carriers of this particular w...

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• On July 25, the Russian Ministry of Defense recorded no cases of hostilities and ceasefire violations in the Idlib region in the past 24 hours;
• On July 24, unknown gunmen killed two persons affiliated with SAA in the town of Sanamayn;
• On July 24, Turkish authorities deported 140 Syrian people to Idlib via Bab al-Hawa border crossing;
• On July 24, Turkish authorities deported 60 Syrian people to Aleppo via Bab al-Salama border crossing;
• On July 25, a motorcycle reportedly exploded in the Sayyida Zaynab area of Damascus.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Military Situation In Syria On July 24, 2023 (Map Update)
• Military Situation In Syria On July 23, 2023 (Map Update)

The post Military Situation In Syria On July 25, 2023 (Map Update) appeared first on South Front.

Turkey supports Palestinian cause in 'strongest way', Erdogan says in meeting with Abbas

By Ilya Tsukanov Sputnik 25.07.2023

The second Russia-Africa Summit and Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum will take place in St. Petersburg on July 27-28, with President Putin expected to meet with the leaders and representatives of 49 different African countries which have confirmed plans to take part.

Russia will be offering African countries an alternative to the defunct Black Sea Grain Deal to ensure the continents continued food security, Russian Foreign Ministry ambassador-at-large Oleg Ozerov has said.

Of course, it will be not only a discussion as such, but the discussion with solutions for African nations so that they leave St. Petersburg with clear understanding how these issues will be resolved, the Russian diplomat, who heads the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, told Sputnik.

Russia has already provided assistance to some African countries earlier, including gratis fertilizer shipments to countries including Malawi and Kenya, Ozerov added.

Moscow suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain deal last week, citing Western countries failure to facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports, and pointing out that just 3 percent of the grain shipped out of Ukraine under the agreement actually went to countries in need in Africa and Asia, with the vast majority instead ending up in Europe and Turkiye.

Failure to Bully Africa Into Submission

Western powers have failed to bully African countries into submission and to persuade them not to attend the upcoming summit in St. Petersburg, Ozerov said.

Pressure is being exerted. It is of a permanent character. This pressure was exerted through various channels through the diplomatic corps of Western nations, which literally on a daily basis are trying to dissuade representatives of African states from traveling to Russia, and which demand that African countries firmly pick a camp, Ozerov said.

The Wests demands look very strange, the diplomat said, as theyre coming from those countries which publicly proclaim democracy and freedom of choice, but in practice demand submission to their dictates.

There are also other forms of pressure besides politics and diplomacy, the ambassador-at-large said, including economic and financial coercion, with political conditions put in place for the provision of economic assistance to a number of states both through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where the United States uses its dominant position to put forward political conditions.

Similar conditionalities are being set up by the European Union, when the allocation of...

In the midst of the protracted conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a significant diplomatic achievement was realized in July 2022: the Black Sea grain deal. This accord, meticulously brokered by the Trkiye and the United Nations, facilitated the export of commercial food and fertilizers from three pivotal Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi.

This agreement was not merely a testament to the efficacy of diplomatic negotiations, but also a crucial intervention in the global food market, which had been severely impacted by the ongoing conflict. By ensuring the export of grain and fertilizers, the agreement offered a potential solution to the escalating food insecurity crisis, exacerbated by the persistent hostilities.

However, this diplomatic triumph was ephemeral. In 2023, the Russian Federation unilaterally decided to terminate the agreement. This abrupt cessation of the Black Sea grain deal had far-reaching implications that extended beyond the immediate geographical confines of Ukraine and Russia. The termination of the agreement disrupted the precarious equilibrium that had been established and had a profound impact on the global food market. The reverberations of this decision continue to be felt, underscoring the intricate and complex interplay between geopolitics and global food security.

The Black Sea Grain Deal: A Brief Overview

The Black Sea grain deal, conceived as a strategic initiative, was a meticulously designed solution to a complex problem. It aimed to ensure the export of Ukrainian grain via the Istanbul Strait, a critical waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. This initiative was necessitated by the limitations and logistical challenges associated with alternative methods of transport. Road or rail transport through Poland, or canal and river transport through Romania, were deemed less efficient and more susceptible to the vagaries of the ongoing conflict.

The deal was a remarkable testament to the diplomatic prowess of Trkiye, the United Nations, and the Russian Federation. It was a beacon of hope in a landscape marred by conflict, promising to alleviate the escalating food insecurity that had been exacerbated by the ongoing hostilities.

The agreement facilitated the export of food and fertilizers from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea: Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi. In a display of intricate planning and coordination, ships were guided into the international waters of the Black Sea, skillfully avoiding areas that had been mined. This ensured the safe passage of these vessels, carrying their precious cargo to markets beyond the immediate conf...