World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The US launched an attack on a suspected al-Shabab location, hoping to kill Ahmed Abdi Godane.  Godane has been implicated in a devastating attack on a shopping mall in Kenya, an attack that was termed “retaliation” for Kenyan participation in an African Union operation that forced the terrorist group out of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.  Al-Shabab is an offshoot of al-Qaeda, and part of a growing number of similar groups that have emerged since the 1990s.  Godane is a very high-ranking person in the organization, and his death would be a serious blow to the group.  There has been, however, no confirmation that Godane was killed.  The US is centrally involved in a number of ongoing  anti-terrorist operations simultaneously, a very heavy intelligence and logistical burden.

NATO is going to meet this Thursday and the Islamic State and Ukraine are going to be the priority items for discussion.  NATO recently announced that it was reviewing plans to create a high-readiness rapid reaction force to counter the Russian threat in Ukraine, as well as possible future threats to the Baltic states and Poland.  In response, Russia announced that it would review its military plans to counter such a force.  There is, however, a split within NATO about which threat is more urgent.  The British and the Americans wish to focus on the Islamic State.  The other members of NATO (the continental powers) are more concerned with Russian moves in Ukraine.  It is likely to be a highly contentious meeting (although it is doubtful that NATO will air its dirty laundry in public).

The The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted a survey of Palestinians and found that Hamas is overwhelmingly popular in both the Gaza and the West Bank and would likely win any election pitted against its rival, Fatah which is currently led by Mahmoud Abbas.   The poll found that the Palestinians prefer the Hamas strategy of armed struggle over Fatah’s strategy of negotiations.  The poll reflects Palestinian perceptions of the outcome of the recent Gaza conflict, and it signals a sharp setback for the US preference for a negotiated peace.