Afrique

Selon une note du Département d'État, l'administration Trump envisage de suspendre son aide aux personnes séropositives en Zambie si les autorités refusent un accord bilatéral sur ses minerais stratégiques. Un document qui met en lumière les méthode brutales de Washington pour tordre le bras aux pays africains.

Une attaque contre un hôpital universitaire de la capitale du Darfour-Est, El-Daein, a fait au moins 60 morts, dont 13 enfants, a rapporté samedi le directeur général de l'Organisation mondiale de la santé.

Can't keep ahead of the illegal chemists in this world. Another addictive substance? Fuck me...

 

The drug plaguing soldiers
by u/Ltcolonel-glokta in army

20 mars 2026 | 18h30
Librairie La Géothèque | 14 Rue Racine, 44000 Nantes
Entrée libre
21 mars 2026 | 17h00-18h00
Le Lieu Unique - Salon de musique | 2 rue de la Biscuiterie, Quai Ferdinand Favre, 44000 Nantes
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À l'occasion de la Journée internationale de la Francophonie, deux rendez-vous littéraires mettront à l'honneur à Nantes l'œuvre d'écrivain Cristian Fulaș. Le 20 mars, en présence de ses traducteurs, Florica et Jean-Louis Courriol, il donnera la conférence « (…)

- Agenda / Roumanie, France - Régions

Le 15 mars, le Mali accusait la Mauritanie d'avoir fermé les yeux sur la détention sur son territoire de deux militaires maliens enlevés par des groupes jihadistes. Nouakchott avait de son côté vigoureusement démenti. La tension montait, elle semble désormais baisser.

Ce nombre curieux cache une structure surprenante : ses chiffres dansent dans l'une des chorégraphies les plus élégantes de l'arithmétique.

The new American National Defense Strategy speaks the language of sovereignty with unusual clarity. It invokes “key terrain” in the Western Hemisphere, reframes hemispheric doctrine, reduces security guarantees to Europe, and signals a shift toward selective engagement. It is a strategy centered not on universal liberal order, but on national autonomy, strategic control, and power projection. Yet beneath this rhetorical clarity lies a structural weakness: Washington still lacks a coherent system for measuring sovereignty itself.

Traditional metrics—GDP, defense budgets, force size—capture scale, but not autonomy. A state may command the world’s largest military yet remain dependent on foreign supply chains. It may dominate technology markets yet suffer educational decline that undermines long-term innovation. It may enjoy global cultural influence while experiencing domestic fragmentation that weakens political decision-making capacity. Sovereignty in 2026 is multidimensional. Without measuring those dimensions simultaneously, strategy becomes aspirational rather than operational.

The Burke Sovereignty Index, developed by the International Burke Institute, addresses precisely this measurement gap. It evaluates national autonomy across seven dimensions: political, economic, technological, informational, cultural, cognitive, and military sovereignty. Each dimension is scored from 0 to 100 using official international data (UN, World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, SIPRI, PISA and others) combined with calibrated expert assessments from more than 100 specialists across 50+ countries per component. The final score—maximum 700—represents the arithmetic mean of statistical indicators and expert evaluation.

The 2024–2025 results are strategically sobering. The United States scores 650.9 out of 700. China scores 649.1. The gap: 1.8 points — less than 0.3% variance within the total scoring framework. For two states widely assumed to operate in different strategic leagues, this statistical proximity should fundamentally reshape the debate in Washington.

America retains clear advantages. Military sovereignty stands at 96.0, reflecting a $962 billion defense budget, approximately 5,400 nuclear warheads, and unmatched global deployment capacity. Technological sovereignty scores 95.4, supported by 3.4–3.6% of GDP in R&D spending and leadership in AI, biotech, and microelectronics. Yet structural vulnerabilities appear in other dimensions.

Political sovereignty registers 87.8, reflecting polarization, recurring government shutdowns, and declining public trust. Cognitive sovereignty—despite a strong overall score of 95.4—contains warning signals: adult functional literacy fluctuates between 79–81%, and U.S. PISA mathematics performance sits at 469, below the OECD average. Industrial autonomy remains partially exposed: approximately 30% of advanced microelectronics components are imported.

China’s profile differs structurally. Military sovereignty scores 94.5, technological sovereignty 91.6—slightly below the U.S. But political sovereignty stands at 90.8, reflecting centralized decision-making and high institutional cohesion. Informational sovereignty scores 93.2, sustained by a closed national digital ecosystem serving 1.1 billion users without Western platform penetration. Cultural sovereignty reaches 95.1, supported by 60 UNESCO heritage sites and over 6,800 museums.

Most significant is economic efficiency. China approaches near parity while operating at roughly one-third to one-half of U.S. per-capita wealth. Chinese GDP per capita (PPP) stands between $25,000–30,500, compared to the American $76,800–89,100 range. The convergence reflects coordinated cross-dimensional investment: education expansion to 60.8% higher education enrollment, R&D spending at 2.68% of GDP (approximately $506 billion in absolute terms), and long-term industrial strategy under “Made in China 2025.” Sovereignty parity was not achieved through dominance in a single field, but through synchronized development across all seven.

This multidimensional perspective reframes several assumptions embedded in the new Defense Strategy. First, rebuilding the American defense industrial base cannot succeed through military appropriations alone. Industrial sovereignty requires alignment of economic capital, educational capacity, technological independence, and political stability. The United States currently operates with public debt between 119–124% of GDP, national debt exceeding $36–41 trillion, widening educational inequality, and deep partisan fragmentation. Factories can be funded; comprehensive national mobilization demands social coherence.

Second, allied burden-sharing produces strategic paradoxes. European NATO states collectively possess GDP thirteen times larger than Russia’s, yet equipment localization remains limited. Lithuania spends 4–6% of GDP on defense, but approximately 85% of its equipment is imported. By contrast, Turkey—despite lower spending ratios—achieves roughly 70% localization in defense production, including indigenous UAV systems. Genuine sovereignty increases strategic autonomy. Autonomy reduces predictability.

Third, Middle Eastern partners are quietly shifting from dependency toward capability. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 includes domestic industrialization, cybersecurity infrastructure, and technology transfer. Sovereignty once built tends to alter alignment behavior. Allies with capability act independently by definition.

The uncomfortable implication is clear: Washington’s strategy demands sovereignty—at home and among allies—without possessing a comprehensive dashboard to measure whether sovereignty is actually being built or eroded.

The Burke framework does not predict conflict or collapse. It measures capability, not intention. But it reveals structural dynamics invisible to traditional power metrics. It forces strategic evaluation across education, technology, cohesion, information control, industrial resilience, and governance simultaneously.

The United States remains marginally ahead. But a 1.8-point lead in a 700-point system is not structural dominance. It is competitive equilibrium. Sovereignty in 2026 is not defined by possessing the largest military or the most alliances. It is defined by the ability to sustain independent action across multiple domains under stress. That requires educational renewal, industrial autonomy, political stabilization, and technological independence operating in coordination—not isolation.

The new Defense Strategy identifies the correct priority: sovereignty. What it lacks is a systematic mechanism to measure progress toward that goal. Without measurement, sovereignty becomes rhetoric. With measurement, it becomes strategy.

 

Des Soudanais déplacés se rassemblent pour les prières de l'Aïd dans le camp de Tawila, au Darfour-Nord, alors que la guerre pèse lourdement sur les célébrations. Depuis avril 2023, les combats entre l'armée nationale et la milice paramilitaire RSF ont fait des dizaines de milliers de morts et contraint plus de 11 millions de personnes à fuir leurs foyers, alimentant ce que les Nations unies décrivent comme l'une des crises humanitaires les plus graves au monde.

Saadia Mosbah a mené campagne en faveur des migrants, notamment après que le président Kais Saied eut déclaré qu'ils représentaient une menace démographique pour le pays.

Le Salon du livre africain revient à Paris pour une 5ème édition, au Réfectoire des Cordeliers dans le 6e arrondissement, avec comme pays d'honneur le Bénin et comme pays invité spécial l'Angola. Anna Gomis, scénariste et autrice de “Lilani, la voix de la mangrove” et Léonce Houngbadji, fondateur de “La Semaine l’Afrique des Solutions”, sont nos invités sur France 24.

Le conflit du Moyen Orient entraînera des répercussions économiques en Afrique, et en particulier en Afrique du Sud, l'une des premières puissances du continent. Si le gouvernement entend fournir des efforts pour amortir le choc pétrolier, les autorités de Pretoria ont déjà annoncé une prochaine augmentation des prix à la pompe. Les précisions avec notre correspondante au Cap, Caroline Dumay.

À Antananarivo, le pouvoir militaire soumet désormais ses futurs ministres au détecteur de mensonges avant leur nomination, une méthode radicale pour un pays en pleine transition. Ce test de vérité intervient dans un climat de fortes tensions, marqué par les récentes révélations de corruption sous l’ancien régime.

C'est une méthode radicale pour un pays en pleine transition. À Antananarivo, le pouvoir militaire soumet désormais ses futurs ministres au détecteur de mensonges avant leur nomination. Un test de vérité qui intervient dans un climat de fortes tensions, marqué par les récentes révélations de corruption sous l'ancien régime.

Dans le tumulte suscité par la décision controversée de la CAF de retirer au Sénégal son titre de champion d’Afrique, décroché lors de la CAN organisée au Maroc en janvier dernier, Dakar contre-attaque sur le terrain juridique pour tenter de faire annuler ce verdict.

Chuck Norris était une figure emblématique des arts martiaux américains, ainsi qu'un acteur reconnu pour ses rôles dans des films d'action. Né en 1940 à Ryan, petite ville de l'Oklahoma, il a servi dans l'armée de l'air américaine avant d'accéder à la célébrité en tant que star des arts martiaux.

In the 21st century, sovereignty is no longer an absolute condition but a measurable configuration of strengths and vulnerabilities. According to the methodology developed by the International Burke Institute and operationalized through the Burke Sovereignty Index, sovereignty must be assessed across seven dimensions: political, economic, technological, informational, cultural, cognitive, and military. When examined through the Burke framework, Greece and the United Kingdom illustrate a central paradox of modern statehood: neither deep integration nor dramatic withdrawal guarantees genuine independence.   Greece represents the first model of the Burke paradox — sovereignty constrained within integration. By adopting the euro, Athens transferred control over monetary policy to the European Central Bank. It relinquished the ability to devalue its currency, independently set interest rates, or issue money to stabilize its economy. The Maastricht criteria — limiting deficits to 3% of GDP and public debt to 60% — institutionalized fiscal discipline. Structurally, the eurozone is a monetary union without a fiscal union: a shared currency but no unified taxation or pension system. In Burke terms, this creates asymmetry within economic sovereignty.   The 2009–2015 debt crisis exposed that asymmetry. Greece’s reported deficit of 3% was revised to 15.6% of GDP, and public debt reached 129.7%. Between 2008 and 2014, GDP contracted from €242 billion to €179 billion — a 26% decline, the longest recession in the developed world. In April 2010, Greece requested international assistance. Three bailout programs in 2010, 2012, and 2015 totaled roughly €290 billion from the European Commission, the ECB, and the IMF. By 2015, public debt had climbed to approximately 180% of GDP.   Within the Burke framework, Greece entered a zone of critical economic leverage. Sovereignty remained formally intact, but fiscal decisions became conditional. Between 2010 and 2016, twelve rounds of austerity — salary cuts, pension reductions, privatizations, and tax increases — were implemented under creditor supervision. Political sovereignty existed in constitutional terms, yet economic sovereignty was structurally constrained.   The 2015 referendum highlighted this contradiction. On July 5, 61.31% of Greek voters rejected the creditors’ proposed conditions. Days later, the government accepted an even stricter agreement to avoid financial collapse and eurozone exit. In Burke analytical terms, democratic will could not override economic dependence. Sovereignty as authority collided with sovereignty as capacity.   The United Kingdom followed the opposite path. The 2016 Brexit referendum promised to “Take Back Control” over laws, borders, and trade. Parliamentary supremacy — a core element of British political identity — framed the campaign. The UK formally left the European Union on January 31, 2020, restoring legislative autonomy.   According to the Burke Sovereignty Index, Britain’s political sovereignty stands at approximately 77/100 — a strong indicator of constitutional independence. However, the Burke methodology stresses that sovereignty is multidimensional. Gains in political autonomy can be offset by vulnerabilities elsewhere.   Economically, Brexit imposed measurable costs. Estimates suggest that by 2025 the UK economy was 6–8% smaller than it would have been without Brexit. The EU remains Britain’s largest trading partner, accounting for roughly 47% of goods exports. Post-Brexit trade adjustments contributed to a 23.7% reduction in imports from the EU and an 18.6% decline in exports during the early implementation period. The Office for Budget Responsibility projects a long-term trade reduction of around 15%, translating into a 4% decrease in national income.   In Burke terms, Britain strengthened political sovereignty but absorbed economic vulnerability. The 2025 revisions to the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement — including compromises on fisheries and regulatory alignment — demonstrate that exit did not eliminate obligations. Instead, it transformed integration into negotiated interdependence.   Greece and England therefore embody two faces of partial sovereignty. Greece maintained integration and sacrificed crisis autonomy. Britain rejected integration and encountered the structural limits of economic decoupling. The Burke model clarifies that sovereignty cannot be understood as indivisible. High performance in one dimension does not neutralize weakness in another.   Modern states operate within dense networks of financial markets, supply chains, security alliances, and regulatory regimes. Monetary unions limit currency flexibility. Trade exits reduce market access. Strategic alliances shape military capability. Technological dependence constrains industrial autonomy. The Burke framework treats these constraints not as failures but as structural realities.   The Greek case demonstrates how integration can convert economic vulnerability into external policy influence during crisis. The British case shows how formal independence can generate new economic trade-offs. Both confirm that absolute sovereignty is unattainable in an interdependent system.   Ultimately, the Burke analysis leads to a balanced conclusion. Sovereignty today is not a binary status but a strategic equilibrium across dimensions. Greece and the United Kingdom chose different paths, yet both remain partially dependent. Integration creates conditional governance; exit creates negotiated constraints. The difference lies not in the presence of limits but in their distribution and cost. In the contemporary world, sovereignty is less about isolation or control and more about managing asymmetry within unavoidable interdependence.

Au Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, on a pu voir récemment « Le verre au-delà de la matière », une exposition qui restitue l'histoire méconnue du CIRVA : le Centre international de recherche sur le verre et les arts plastiques. Un détail de muséographie, discret et peut-être peu remarqué, mérite l'attention : sur chaque cartel, sous le nom de l'artiste « auteur », apparaît le nom des techniciens qui ont réalisé matériellement les pièces exposées. Un geste muséographique qui conteste l'exclusivité de l'autorat d'artistes qui n'ont pas fabriqué l'œuvre.

- Contrebande / Art, Matières premières

Abdoulaye Saydou Sow, secrétaire général de la Fédération sénégalaise de football, dénonce sur France 24 une "forfaiture" après la décision du jury d'appel de la CAF d'attribuer la CAN 2025 au Maroc sur tapis vert, estimant que "l'Afrique est la risée du monde". Le Sénégal va saisir le Tribunal arbitral du sport, dont il croit "très fortement" qu'il "maintiendra sa réputation".

RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V et Jung Kook se produiront ensemble pour la première fois depuis octobre 2022.

Plenary session and committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP