Ukraine war intensifies; Bangladesh announces next election date: The week that was in international affairs
Welcome back to another edition of My Take 5, your weekly round-up of international news. It has been a while so let's quickly get to the top global developments over the past week:
Ukraine war intensifies:
Recent weeks have seen the war intensify with Russia sending waves of drones and missiles to Ukrainian towns and cities spread across almost all regions of the country.
This comes after Ukraine's stunning Operation Spiderweb on June 1, when Kyiv's intelligence service SBU was able to send covert drones deep into Russia – concealed in trucks – and take out Russia's strategic bombers across at least four airfields.
A total of 41 aircraft were seriously damaged or completely destroyed, representing 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet, which also represents one leg of Moscow's nuclear triad.
Ukraine says the bombers were specifically targeted because they were being directly used to hit Ukrainian cities, civilian infrastructure and people. Russia, after all, has not differentiated between civilian and military targets in this war.
Hence, the Russian attacks since Operation Spiderweb are being dubbed as part of Moscow's retaliation. In fact, Trump spoke to
Putin
after Spiderweb where the Russian leader said that he had to retaliate.
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But the thing is it's not as if Ukraine wasn't being bombarded by Russia every day before Spiderweb. It wasn't as if Ukrainian civilians, hospitals, residential buildings, schools, playgrounds, cafes, offices and nursing homes were being spared before the SBU operation. Russia has refused to accept a ceasefire proposal since March despite Ukraine agreeing to it.
And Trump's kid-glove approach towards Putin is clearly not working.
Trump, ironically, but perhaps not surprisingly, has put all the pressure on Ukraine and none whatsoever on Russia, except for some vague threats of sanctions that remain in his head. And now comes the news that US has diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally intended for Ukraine to American forces in the Middle East.
Unless Trump actually does something to put Putin under pressure, this war will continue. Inaction will only confirm what Kamala Harris said of Trump during the presidential election debate last year: 'Putin will eat you for lunch'.
Poland's presidential election:
Poland elected a new conservative President in Karol Nawrocki in a narrow vote, complicating matters for its centrist government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Apart from internal tensions in Polish politics, there is the added matter of Nawrocki opposing Ukraine's accession to Nato and EU. Nawrocki is also backed by Trump. This presents a delicate situation for Kyiv. Poland, no doubt, has done a lot to support Ukraine during the course of the war, taking in a huge number of Ukrainian refugees in the initial months.
But fissures have arisen over historical issues such as the Volyn massacre and agriculture exports from Ukraine. In fact, Polish farmers have long been protesting against the flow of Ukrainian grains over the land border after trade through the Black Sea was disrupted, thanks to Russia. All these issues had animated the Polish presidential polls.
However, policy-making is still the primary prerogative of the Polish government led by the PM.
And in that there is hope that Polish policies of support for Ukraine won't end. PM Tusk has called for a vote of confidence in his government. And Nawrocki, at the very least, supports Ukraine's fight against Russia. Polish-Ukrainian solidarity in the war is vital for Kyiv.
Bangladesh announces next election date:
The interim government of Muhammad Yunus has announced that the next general election in Bangladesh will be held in April 2026.
This will be the first polls in Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina's ouster in August last year. Since then, elements of the new regime have been systematically cleansing Bangladeshi institutions of all vestiges of the erstwhile Awami League dispensation. In fact, Awami League itself has been banned and Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal that was set up by Hasina in 2009 to try Pakistani collaborators, or razakars, during Bangladesh's Liberation War is now trying Hasina for crimes against humanity.
Considering all this, there are serious doubts whether the next Bangladeshi polls will be free and fair. And minus Awami League, one of the two main political parties in Bangladesh and the flag-bearer of Bangladesh's liberation, there can be no credibility to any polls.
Chinese spying ring in Taiwan:
In a shocking case, Taiwan last week was rocked by a Chinese spying scandal, implicating people who were connected to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
Taiwanese authorities found a specially developed app used to communicate with Chinese intelligence operatives on the cellphone of former DPP staffer Huang Chu-jung. Along with Huang, former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu, former DPP staffer Chiu Shih-yuan and former foreign ministry assistant Ho Jen-chieh are suspected of spying for the Chinese Communist Party while working for the Taiwanese government.
This is a serious intelligence breach and Taiwanese prosecutors have determined that the alleged culprits had sent information to Beijing about President William Lai's itinerary during the 2023 presidential campaign and separate information about Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim. This information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party could have had disastrous consequences.
The episode goes to show the kind of constant multidimensional threats Taiwan faces from China.
The latter's 'united front' tactics are operational 24x7 to undermine Taiwan through espionage, disinformation, influence operations, etc. Add to this naked Chinese military threats through aggressive military manoeuvres around Taiwan. Therefore, Taiwan needs to be extra careful, shore up its defences further, and strictly prosecute those living in Taiwan but working for the Chinese government.
Beijing is trying to win by sowing chaos in Taiwanese society.
Taiwan must stand strong and become internally stronger.
UK recognised Morocco's Sahara Autonomy Plan:
In yet another victory for Morocco, UK became the latest country, and permanent member of the UNSC, to recognise Morocco's Autonomy Plan for the Moroccan Sahara. The latter, it will be recalled, is a long-festering issue from Morocco's colonial past. A separatist group called the Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, has tried to establish an artificial Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Morocco's Sahara region.
But in 2020, the US recognised Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara with the Autonomy Plan as the only credible solution to the issue. France followed suit last year. And now UK is legitimising Morocco's position. This means that now three members of the UNSC endorse Rabat on this matter. This is important because Morocco is a long-time US ally playing a crucial geopolitical role in North Africa. Algeria is allied to Russia. And given Moscow's Wagner operations in Africa, Morocco is at the forefront of ensuring stability in the Sahara and Sahel regions. Therefore, it's vital that Morocco's Western partners support Rabat's role as a regional stabiliser and uphold its just, historical and legal position on the Moroccan Sahara.
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Events were modest, such as a 2023 project inviting Americans to mail in loose-leaf tea that could be thrown into Boston Harbor during a Boston Tea Party re-enactment. An America250 event at the Library of Congress in 2021. Rios saw Trump's election as an opportunity to reset the project for the homestretch. After November's election, she sent Trump and first lady Melania Trump a memo with recommendations for making America250 a signature project for the new administration, according to the organization's annual report. 'I am very supportive of President Trump's participation in our 250th celebrations, as I would be for any president who has the same level of commitment that he has," Rios said in an interview, adding the commission had a mandate to be bipartisan. 'We've always intended to make space at the table for whoever was going to win the November election." Rios sits on the board of Ripple Labs, a crypto company that made the second-largest donation to Trump's inaugural celebration, $4.9 million. Rios said there wasn't a connection to the commission's work. Recognizing there needed to be Trump-affiliated advisers working with America250, Rios asked LaCivita to join as a special adviser, and a wave of Trump allies came aboard. Trump announced Justin Caporale, who orchestrated Trump's 2024 rallies, would work on production for America250 events. Caporale's production company, Event Strategies, was a contractor for the recent U.S. Army parade in Washington. Event Strategies was also listed on paperwork for the Stop the Steal rally ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Ari Abergel, a 25-year-old former Fox News producer who briefly served as a spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump, was tapped by the president to be executive director of the commission. 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At a closed-door meeting Tuesday, commission leaders said they were unhappy with unilateral changes Abergel had made to programming the commission had already approved, an America250 official said, adding the agency is working to get the programming back on track as approved by the commission. 'President Trump is the King of Patriotism. And when it comes to celebrating America, nobody goes bigger," said Abergel in a statement. 'A few disgruntled individuals won't stop us from making America250 the most patriotic celebration in American history." While Rios has been enthusiastic about the Trump administration's support for the celebrations and has been praised by Trump's advisers for her collaboration, some of Trump's allies have viewed the commission and Rios, a Democrat, with suspicion. Sen. Mike Lee, (R., Utah), accused America250 last year of 'serving as a taxpayer-funded vehicle to advance and promote radical ideologies" such as supporting Pride month and employing a DEI official, and wrote in a letter to Rios that he has 'grave reservations about the Commission's capacity" to host a successful event. At the White House, Trump created a separate group called Task Force 250, chaired by Trump and made up of cabinet officials and senior aides. An executive order signed by Trump his first week in office established the group, called for building the garden with statues of national heroes and directed the task force to coordinate federal government agencies' plans for the yearlong celebration. Efforts in the West Wing are being spearheaded by Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley and policy adviser Brittany Baldwin, and each agency has a Task Force 250 leader. White House officials meet virtually with state leaders each month to discuss planning. Trump's cabinet—in particular Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Burgum—are also involved in the planning of Task Force 250 events. The White House and America250 coordinated on the Army 250th Parade in Washington last month, where Trump donors were offered VIP packages for the parade and coming events. Spectators at the Army parade on June 14. 'The president's vision of having the greatest birthday celebration in American history will not be compromised or impeded by any corner," the official said. 'Right now, there's no impediment for getting things done at the moment, and hopefully there won't be." The White House has been working on plans to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Other ideas under consideration include a 1776 Presidential Award for students showing knowledge of history, a Patriot Games sports competition for student athletes and a 'Freedom Plane" similar to the 'Freedom Train" that crossed the nation with historical documents and memorabilia in celebration of America's Bicentennial. Administration officials are also considering organizing a ball drop in Times Square and said it would mark the first time a ball would drop in the famous New York tourist destination not on New Year's Eve. The White House is partnering with private organizations to create some of the materials and programming for the events, including PragerU, a conservative nonprofit that describes its mission as promoting 'liberty, limited government and Judeo-Christian principles" through short videos, telling a story of achievement from 'Moses to Trump," as co-founder Allen Estrin put it. 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