Chad, a country in north-central Africa, borders a lot of active geopolitical areas - Niger to the West, Libya to the North, Sudan to the East - but is scarcely discussed itself. I'm not really knowledgable enough to give anything like a decent history, but the recent gist is that the country was ruled for three decades by Idriss Déby until he was killed in battle in 2021 while fighting northern rebels. Idriss was part of a few wars - such as the one against Gaddafi in Libya, and also the Second Congo War. While he was initially elected democratically in 1996 and 2001, he then eliminated term limits and just kept on going.
After his death, Chad has been ruled by his son, Mahamat Idriss Déby. In early May 2024, elections began which were meant to result in the transition from a military-ruled goverment to a civilian-ruled one. Needless to say, Mahamat won the election - with 61% of the vote. Both father and son have been on the side of the French and the US, whereas the opposition is against foreign colonizers and has attempted to put pressure on the government in numerous ways to achieve a more substantial independence. France maintains a troop presence in Chad, and it's something of a stronghold for them - when French troops were forced out of Niger, they retreated to Chad. However, it's not clear even to the people inside Chad what precisely the French are doing there. I mean, we know what their presence is really for - imperialism and election rigging - but in an official sense, they don't seem to be doing much to help the country materially. What is clear is that they like to intervene on behalf of the ruling regime and against rebels a whole lot - the most interventions by France in any African country, in fact.
The United States, so keen on human rights and democracy in so many places around the world like Russia, Iran, and China, have - for some strange reason! - decided for the last 30 years that they can live with a couple dictators and wars in the case of Chad. In fact, various American state propaganda firms like the ISW and Washington Post have warned the current government about the Wagner Group interfering with the country and spreading anti-Western sentiments as in the rest of the Sahel.
Things are very tough for Chad. They are among the poorest countries in Africa and host about one million people fleeing from nearby conflicts, which is a pretty large number when Chad has a population of about 17 million.
With the French Empire fading, they are beginning to run out of places to retreat to in Africa. Macron, in January, said that his defense council had decided to reduce troop presence in Gabon, Senegal, and the Côte d'Ivoire, though has maintained troop levels in Chad and Djibouti. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet from France, anti-empire sentiments are boiling to the surface in New Caledonia/Kanaky, which is unfortunate for the French military as they really need that island, both for the massive nickel reserves, but also as an unsinkable aircraft carrier in the Pacific just in case a conflict with China pops off.
The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.
The Country of the Week is Chad! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section. Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war. Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language. https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one. https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts. https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel. https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator. https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps. https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language. https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language. https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses. https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
On May 31st, 2024, Malaysia and China will celebrate 50 years of successful relations. The written essay is still WIP so in the meantime I compiled headlines and quotes from across Malaysian and Chinese media highlighting the celebration.
Source of logo. They also released a song.
"It's more than just trade ties. It's more than economic linkages. It's an appreciation that we speak to common ideals, common aspirations and a shared future for the betterment of not just economy and GDP per capita alone, but the betterment of people-to-people connection," she said.
Bernama - Malaysia-China to mark golden jubilee, boost trade, diplomatic relations via MOUs — Zafrul
The Star - Chinese nationals who came, saw and conquered BM [Bahasa Malaysia, “Malaysian” or Malay, the national language]
“I feel close to the people here,” he said, attributing it to the similarity in culture with the Chinese community and the shared religion with the Malays.
“I never felt like a stranger or an outcast. Here, I feel like a Malaysian,” he said.
As for the 50 years of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations, Cui said he is proud of the close relationship between the countries.
“We are the direct beneficiaries because of the good ties. When Malaysians know that we are from China, there is so much warmth,” he said.
The Star - 50 years of enduring Malaysia-China friendship
But unlike previous Malaysian PMs and other world leaders, Anwar has always looked beyond economic and strategic opportunities.
His trips to China, from day one, have been about Chinese values and philosophy, especially the Confucian mind, and the positive commonalities with Islam.
…But his sentiment was reserved for Admiral Zheng He, or Cheng Ho as most Malaysians know him. Zheng He sailed to over 30 nations in Asia and Africa during his time. He made seven stops in Melaka, in the early 1400s. His ship was five times the size of the ship which Christopher Columbus used to cross the Atlantic.
Said Anwar: "There was a great difference between Zheng He and the others. He did not conquer the nations he visited. He sought friendship instead
…For the first time, [the academic] wrote, a Malaysian leader had displayed such a "highly appreciative outlook towards a Chinese culture and civilisational heritage’’ and had a life-long passion for Confucian-Islamic dialogue and efforts.
Malaysia became the first Asean nation to establish diplomatic relations with China at a time when China was in isolation.
As Tan Sri Nazir Razak put it, the handshake between the late Chairman Mao Zedong and the late PM Tun Abdul Razak was arguably "the most important diplomatic handshake in Malaysia’s history”.
SCMP - The Chinese eunuch who beat admiral Zheng He to Malacca, and the exchanges that followed between its rulers and China
Malacca in present-day Malaysia was once a sultanate ruling over an extensive territory. As such it had regular exchanges with China’s Ming dynasty court
With Portuguese invading, China, as Malacca’s protector, called on vassals to go to its defence in its hour of need, but in vain. Thus did colonial rule begin
CHINA DAILY - Ambassador: China-Malaysia relations at their peak
Xinhua - Chinese premier meets Malaysia's deputy PM
New Strait Times - Public university branch in China will strengthen Malaysia-China relations, says senator
There are a lot of events and other news articles on this but I'll stop here. The point I am trying to showcase here is that the basis Malaysia-China of relations are much more holistic than just economics. It is about history, culture and civilisation - something that Amerika lacks and will never understand.