Here you were thinking diplomacy is all champagne and trophy real estate and private jets, but... oh actually yes that's exactly what we're writing about today, as we brief you on four of the latest top ambassadorial flexes , starting with...
Read this story23 July
22 July
16 July
UNITED NATIONS
Germany’s Annalena Baerbock moderated the first public town hall debate for UN secretary-general candidates in New York last night, ahead of an initial secret straw poll due in the all-powerful UN Security Council next week. The matchup included a sixth new candidate, Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett (ambassador to the UN). (UN Web TV)
UNITED STATES
President Trump has announced new 10%+ tariffs on 60 countries, including allies like Japan and Korea, key players like Europe and India, plus swing powers like Nigeria and Indonesia. (FT $)
SOUTH KOREA
It turns out unknown hackers just spent 10 months inside South Korea’s online diplomatic training system, yoinking the personal data of past and present Korean diplomats. (TOI)Comment: Mapping a diplomatic corps is classic intelligence work, so it’s hard to see how hacker-happy North Korea hasn’t played a role here. Also, show your HR department this story next time they pester you about completing that mandatory online training haha.
EUROPEAN UNION
Brussels has handed down a giant $1B fine to Google, accusing it of favouring its own apps in anticompetitive behaviour. (EuroNews)Comment: The most interesting part of this fine is maybe not the size but the tool, being Google’s first fine under Europe’s new Digital Markets Act. Interestingly, Brussels has paired the fine with some conciliatory rhetoric (praising Google’s constructive vibes), perhaps hoping Trump doesn’t again weigh in and threaten another broader trade war of attrition.
UKRAINE
After firing his defence minister (Fedorov) to placate his top commander (Syrskyi), then firing Syrskyi to placate citizens angry over his firing of Fedorov, it turns out the young, popular, and tech-savvy Fedorov is now refusing President Zelensky’s offer to return in another capacity! Fedorov’s preferred defence minister job is now with a former top spy (Khmara). (BBC)Comment: It’s unclear what happens next, but Fedorov’s public profile only seems to rise each day this remains unresolved. Ditto the claims that President Zelensky’s real weakness, for all his wartime strengths, has always been managing the homefront politics.
PHILIPPINES
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has used this week’s ASEAN foreign ministerial in Manila to reassure Southeast Asian allies that DC isn’t walking away from the region while it tries to stabilise ties with Beijing. (Reuters)Comment: Manila (a US ally) needs that kind of explicit reaffirmation, but the broader ASEAN regional bloc will be more sceptical after years of shifting US strategy, from Obama’s “pivot” to Trump’s “constructive relationship of strategic stability” — a term coined by China, which reacted to Rubio’s ASEAN cameo by again water-cannoning Philippine sailors.
ANGOLA
A local court has convicted two Russians of espionage, finding they used cash and other means to stir up anti-government and anti-West protests, plus even intervene in next year’s elections. One told the court he was merely a businessman in town to establish a Russian cultural centre. (BBC)Comment: Angola, a major oil producer, is a key prize for East-West competition in Africa, but the current president (Lourenço) has been quietly moving Angola out of Moscow’s Cold War-era orbit. No doubt the Kremlin sees this as a strategic loss, hence the attempted ✌️cultural centre✌️.
BRAZIL
Brazil’s oil output just reached an all-time high of 4.5 million barrels per day in June, a 19% increase (YoY). (Oilprice.com)
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23 July
22 July
16 July
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