RADHIKA DESAI: And today we are going to continue the discussion we started in the last Geopolitical Economy Hour, entitled “NATO Out of Bounds: War Against Russia, War Against China”. It’s an enormous pleasure to be with you guys again. RADHIKA DESAI: And today we have once again Pepe Escobar, roving reporter extraordinaire. RADHIKA DESAI: Hello everyone and welcome to the Geopolitical Economy Hour, a program that discusses the political and geopolitical economy of our time. You can find more episodes of Geopolitical Economy Hour here. Itno was in the capital Niamey "to see what he could bring to solving the crisis," Aziz Mahamat Saleh said, adding that the trip was on the initiative of Chad, which neighbours Niger.įormer colonial ruler France and the European Union have already suspended security cooperation and financial aid to Niger.Political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson are joined by geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar to discuss how the war hawks’ drive to expand NATO into Asia to contain China may destroy the Western military alliance. The president of Chad, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, was in Niger on Sunday to help resolve the crisis in the country following a coup, a Chad government spokesman told AFP. The statement was read out on national television on Saturday evening by Amadou Abdramane, a member of the junta which this week ousted President Bazoum and declared itself in charge. Speaking ahead of the ECOWAS crisis summit, the junta said: "The aim of this meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger, in the form of an imminent military intervention in Niamey, in cooperation with African countries who are not members of the regional body and certain Western nations." The leaders of Niger's military coup said earlier on Sunday that they believed regional body ECOWAS was on the point of staging a military intervention in the capital of the Sahel country. "The same applies to their family members and the civilians who accept to participate in any institutions or government established by these military officials," said the statement, which was read out at the end of the crisis meeting by Nigerian president and ECOWAS chairman Bola Tinubu. It said it was freezing Niger's assets in ECOWAS central and commercial banks and imposing a "travel ban and asset freeze for the military officials involved in the coup attempt". For this effect, the chiefs of defence staff of ECOWAS are to meet immediately," the bloc said in a statement after its summit in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday.ĮCOWAS announced the "suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger", which is part of the bloc, as well as halting energy transactions. Such measures may include the use of force. "In the event the authorities' demands are not met within one week (ECOWAS will) take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) demanded the "immediate release and reinstatement" of elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held by the military since Wednesday.
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