Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Tuesday, 08 November 2022.
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- Inside the Beltway
- Geopolitics Brief
INSIDE THE BELTWAY
DEMOCRATS PLAN COMBINED OMNIBUS BILL, NDAA: Democrats are floating a combined omnibus spending bill and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and leaders in both parties are reviewing lists of potential riders for the must-pass bills. Top Senate aides stated a combined bill would expedite work and overcome political opposition. Riders being considered include CHIPS funding, the NOPEC bill, Medicare and Medicaid extension, and additional Ukraine aid.
REPUBLICANS PLAN TO REOPEN CAPITOL AFTER ELECTION: House Administration Committee ranking member Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) stated that the GOP plans to fully reopen the Capitol if the GOP wins the House. Davis lost his primary race but a senior GOP House Administration staffer stated that the other two Republicans currently on the panel agree with Davis and would work to fully reopen the Capitol.
WHITE HOUSE: Nothing Significant To Report (NSTR)
CONGRESS: NSTR
STATE: Secretary Blinken will meet with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi.
DOJ: The Justice Department will monitor polls in 24 states for compliance with federal law.
GEOPOLITICS BRIEF
MERCEDES-BENZ CEO: INCONCEIVABLE TO DECOUPLE FROM CHINA: The CEO of German car manufacturer Mercedes Benz, Ola Kallenius, spoke out Monday against western industry distancing itself from China, saying it was “absolutely inconceivable” to decouple from the Asian manufacturing giant. His comments appear to support German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s meeting last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the meeting, Scholz advocated for closer economic ties between Germany and China. Kallenius was speaking at Berlin’s ESMT business school and said he was deeply convinced of the benefits of globalization. Kallenius added that “to back away from China because something might happen would be the wrong direction.”
ALGERIA APPLIES FOR BRICS MEMBERSHIP: Officials from the Algerian Foreign Ministry announced the country has filed an official application to join the BRICS economic bloc. Algeria, a large oil and gas producer with 12.2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, exports 540,000 barrels per day, or roughly half its total production. Algeria is also Europe’s third largest supplier of natural gas, after Russia and Norway. (AC: The announcement was somewhat expected after Algeria’s president attended the July BRICS summit where he praised the bloc as a way to avoid participation in “bilateral conflicts”. The BRICS capture of Algeria and other resource-rich nations, like Saudi Arabia, may ultimately enable the Eastern China-Russia alliance to economically outmaneuver the U.S.-led liberal rules-based order. -M.M.)
UNREST ROCKS PERU AS PROTESTERS DEMAND PRESIDENT’S RESIGNATION: Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Peru marching on the National Congress in the capital of Lima today. The protesters demanded the resignation of controversial leftist President Pedro Castillo, prompting riot police to use tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowds. Castillo and his government are the targets of numerous corruption investigations. Inaction by the Peruvian congress to address the corruption charges has reportedly resulted in protestors denouncing the government saying Castillo wants to create “one more Venezuela”. Castillo has declared the protestors and those who oppose his government to be “reactionaries” and “enemies of the people.” The protests follow several opposition party attempts to impeach Castillo and the Peruvian Attorney General’s filing of a constitutional complaint seeking his removal from office.
KOSOVO ACCUSES SERBIA OF DESTABILIZATION ATTEMPTS AS ETHNIC SERBS WALK OFF GOV JOBS: Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, accused the Serbian government of deliberately “sabotaging dialogue” and attempting to destabilize the country amid the growing spat over license plates that have set the Balkans on edge. The accusations come as ethnic Serbians employed by the government of Kosovo have walked off their jobs in protest of the license plate mandates, including 10 members of parliament, 1- state prosecutor, and 576 police officers. Serb politician Goran Rakic denounced the Kosovo government saying “We are on our land and we will not give up, There is no withdrawal. Long live Serbia!” Representatives from NATO say it has urged calm between the countries but added the alliance’s KFOR Peacekeeping Mission “stands vigilant” to respond to any escalations.
In today’s Early Warning, the team covers potential disruptions to the energy supply in the northeast this winter as priorities shift. Get access to the full brief here: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe