Congrats to my many friends in Gov’t and people of #Ethiopia 🇪🇹 on your national day. It has been wonderful to witness the extraordinary progress made in the 33 years since the downfall of the Derg & end of the Red Terror. Best wishes for continued peace, development & prosperity!

Prayer for #MemorialDay (BCP 1928): “Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence,

In an exclusive interview with the Financial Times’s Andres Schipani, #Somaliland Pres. Muse Bihi Abdi makes a cogent case against critics that his country’s deal to grant #Ethiopia 🇪🇹 access to the sea in exchange for recognition enhances regional security & stability. ft.com/content/c45939…

Collect for #TrinitySunday : “Everlasting God, who hast given unto us...grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and...to worship the Unity: We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith and evermore defend us.”

Puzzled by Secretary Antony Blinken’s statement yesterday on the 33rd anniversary of #Eritrea 🇪🇷’s independence — 33 years without a constitution or even sham elections. What “shared goals of peace and stability” does he think the #USA 🇺🇸 has with this benighted regime?
state.gov/eritrean-natio…

A report from the #UAE 🇦🇪’s EPC warns of the growing peril of an #IslamicState affiliate expanding in #Puntland , near #ISIS , #Houthi & other terrorists in #Yemen 🇾🇪. The rump #Somalia 🇸🇴 regime & allies should focus on this threat, instead of obsessing about #Somaliland .

My #WeekendRead this #MemorialDay weekend is Prof. Victor Davis Hanson’s new book on four ancient civilizations that perished because they failed to appreciate the threat posed by new adversaries & adapt accordingly because they deluded themselves that they were somehow magically exempt.🤔

Writing about the president of #Kenya 🇰🇪’s state visit to Washington — the first by an African head of state since 2008 — the Financial Times’s david pilling notes that William Samoei Ruto, PhD “has also benefited as other #USA 🇺🇸 allies have faltered.” As I told him, “Who else is there in #Africa ?”

On this I agree with President Biden: strong #USA 🇺🇸- #Kenya 🇰🇪 relations aren’t just in the interests of both countries, but can also be a force for good in #Africa & the world. If so, however, why did the Biden admin kill the #freetrade deal that President Trump was closing with Kenya?

I am quoted by POLITICO’s Alex Ward on the elevation of #Kenya 🇰🇪’s formal standing as a #USA 🇺🇸 ally: “If any country in #Africa that does not already have the status has a prima facie case for being designated a major non-NATO ally, it is Kenya.” politi.co/4btKuoG

Sobering piece by The Wall Street Journal’s Jon Emont about how, despite recent efforts by the #USA 🇺🇸 & its allies to break #China 🇨🇳’s dominance of #CriticalMinerals for defense & #EnergyTransition tech, Beijing’s edge is growing as it floods markets to swamp rivals.
wsj.com/finance/commod…

Excellent overview by ⁦Dr. J. Peter Pham 🇺🇲⁩ of how America’s future framework for Africa should look. In addition to his insightful suggestions I would add staffing our embassies at levels reflecting Africa’s global importance. Will Washington listen? defenseone.com/ideas/2024/05/…

AAD member Dr. J. Peter Pham 🇺🇲 discusses the strategic importance of Africa to the U.S. & its allies, and outlines several ways 'they must adapt their approach to the continent and its nations to make themselves more relevant to the priorities of Africans.' defenseone.com/ideas/2024/05/…

At #GSF2024 in Doha, #Qatar 🇶🇦, great to see #Africa feature prominently in discussions of the global geopolitics of competition & interdependence, with African voices, including Moussa Faki Mahamat, Paul Kagame of #Rwanda 🇷🇼, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar of #Nigeria 🇳🇬 & Robert Dussey of #Togo 🇹🇬.

Thanks to Global Security Forum for the opportunity of a robust “fireside chat” with Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of #Togo 🇹🇬 at #GSF2024 on the changing geopolitics of #Africa and, given the multiple options that Africans have, the importance of cultivating new strategic models of partnership.

The United States and its international partners must adapt their approach to the continent and its nations to make themselves more relevant to the priorities of Africans writes Amb. Peter Pham in this important new article defenseone.com/ideas/2024/05/…

#NOW #GSF | H.E. Professor Robert Dussey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration, and Togolese Abroad for Togo, and Ambassador J Peter Pham, Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council discuss the current geopolitical landscape in Africa.

Dr. J. Peter Pham 🇺🇲 Robert Dussey

Dynamic discussion of the geopolitical landscape in Africa between Dr. J. Peter Pham 🇺🇲 & Robert Dussey at Global Security Forum The Soufan Center

'Washington should foster coalitions that can offer a better value proposition than competing revisionist powers.'

In cooperation with our #GSF2024 media partner Defense One, a piece by Ambassador Dr. J. Peter Pham 🇺🇲.

defenseone.com/ideas/2024/05/…

Accord reached between #Niger 🇳🇪’s Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie & #USA 🇺🇸’s Department of Defense 🇺🇸, represented by HON Chris Maier, for the withdrawal of U.S. forces by Sept. 15. Unlike the last high-level U.S. delegation to visit Niamey, the tone was much improved with references to “perfect mutual respect.”