A proper game of football, this one, berween a team that should have wrapped up the title already and another which should have been demoted to League One a long time ago.
Posts by Bjørnar Østby
The current state of world politics.
Rwanda og DR Kongo signerte nylig en fredsavtale i Washington, D.C. Jeg håper at jeg tar feil, men jeg er foreløpig skeptisk til at avtalen vil bane vei for fred med det første. Jeg drodler litt om dette i en ny tekst på Afrikansk politikk-substacken. open.substack.com/pub/maren930...
This will be carefully followed in the Sahel
YESSSS!!!
Jeg har begått en liten kommentar om Ibrahim Traoré - Burkina Fasos juntaleder som har blitt den nye politiske superhelten på TikTok. Følg Afrikansk politikk på Substack for å få oppdateringer fra @marensa.bsky.social og meg direkte i innboksen din!
maren930.substack.com/p/traore-og-...
I går hadde @marensa.bsky.social og jeg en hyggelig prat med utviklingsminister Åsmund Aukrust i podkasten vår Afrikansk politikk. Samtalen svingte innom alt fra amerikanske bistandskutt og et FN-system i pengekrise, til Norges mulige rolle i en turbulent verden. open.spotify.com/episode/7eeY...
I think another way of looking at this is that the court of a corrupt and distracted mad king has always been fertile ground for opportunistic dealmaking by those in attendance.
Trump catalyzes this opportunism, but it's unclear who are the beneficiaries of any deals that are actually closed.
Jeg har svart Asle Toje i Aftenposten. Han forveksler antiamerikanisme med antitrumpisme. www.aftenposten.no/meninger/deb...
Demonstrations in Central African Republic against #Wagner and President's bid for a third term:
“We’re here to say no to a third term..But more than that, we want to protect our sovereignty, which Touadera and the Wagner have trampled upon,”
#Russia #CAR #Africa
apnews.com/article/cent...
Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen
Historians are going to have better records from the 19th century than the 21st, is my most medievalist futurist prediction.
A video obtained by @nytimes.com clearly refutes the Israeli military's narrative on the aid convoy attack: Israeli troops opened fire on clearly marked ambulances that had their emergency lights on. 15 aid workers were killed. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/w...
Seriously this Bible exchange goes on even longer than I'm able to clip here.
BREAKING — Nearly all employees at the US Institute of Peace (USIP) received an email tonight informing them they were fired effective immediately, multiple staffers confirmed with me.
Just a few HR and IT staffers are being kept on to assist DOGE’s illegal dismantling of the independent nonprofit.
If this were an *actual* war this opportunistic photoshoot would be a violation of the Geneva Convention.
Abu Ghraib as photo op.
Det har gått raskt utfor i Sør-Sudan. Med arrestasjonen av visepresident Riek Machar er fredsvtalen fra 2018, i realiteten revet i stykker
Hate to say I told you so, but...
This is the wildest story I have literally ever read. In any normal circumstances, a half-dozen senior officials would be forced to resign over this—starting with the National Security Advisor. And I doubt anyone will face any accountability at all.
I'd frame this as part of what I've called Trump II's war on words. In this case, they've hollowed the word "terror" out of its accepted meaning and inserted "migrant" in its place.
... That last I take from @nescio13.bsky.social. So segregationist managed democracy at home, and mercantilist monopoly patronage guiding economic and foreign policy. This is an indefensibly awful social and economic system, nothing to endear it unless you are a politically well-connected sycophant.
Elon Musk hevder USAs bistandsfrys ikke har kostet liv. Det er nok ikke sant i Sør-Sudan. I en leir for internt fordrevne i Unity nord i landet har man sluttet å tømme latriner som følge av kuttene, og det midt i en koleraepidemi. www.panoramanyheter.no/sor-sudan-us...
Absolute insanity