Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Monday, 07 October 2024.
- RUSSIAN “MERCHANT OF DEATH” BACK IN BUSINESS: Russia’s “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout returns to arms trading business and is allegedly brokering arms sales to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
- The Kremlin denies reports that Bout is selling arms again, but according to European security officials, he was involved in an arms deal in Moscow in August, in which the Houthis sought to negotiate the purchase of $10 million worth of automatic weapons.
- Bout’s first sale to the Houthis was primarily small arms, and shipments are expected to begin this month under the cover of food supplies.
- Houthi attacks on commercial shipping and U.S. and Israeli military vessels have steadily increased over the past year, with both attacks and counterattacks increasing voyage costs and insurance premiums for global shipments, while drastically reducing the volume of trade through the Red Sea.
Why It Matters: While Bout’s alleged weapons deal does not involve anti-ship missiles, it still represents a significant Russian intervention in the ongoing Red Sea crisis and will likely exacerbate tensions in the region, further disrupt shipping and increase costs, and possibly lead to more sophisticated weapons entering the conflict. – M.N.
- Global Rollup
- Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reports they will collaborate with the United States to produce weapons for Taiwan’s self-defense. The report also announced more U.S. Presidential Drawdown Authority to accelerate Taiwan’s weapons acquisition.
- President Biden publicly discouraged Israel from attacking Iran’s oil fields during a White House press conference. Meanwhile, Israeli media claims U.S. officials are offering diplomatic protection and weapons if Israel refrains from hitting certain targets, such as nuclear and oil infrastructure.
- Poland’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Wieslaw Kukula said the country “must build a much larger army” in order to deter or fight a war with Russia. These comments reportedly referred to reviving a compulsory service law, which has been inactive since 2008.
- The Ukrainian government took credit for a cyber attack against Russian state media company VGTRK. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the company had been targeted. Ukraine also claims to have struck a major oil terminal in Crimea in order to reduce the Russian army’s fuel supply.
- An oil tanker explosion outside the Karachi Airport targeted Chinese nationals, killing two and injuring eight. This is the latest in a long string of bombings carried by the Baloch Liberation Front against Chinese nationals in Pakistan.
- Pakistan signaled its intention to continue its application to the BRICS economic alliance, despite opposition from India. Russia and China have expressed support for Pakistan’s membership request, although BRICS membership must be approved unanimously. This year’s BRICS conference is scheduled for 22-24 October.
- The Republic of Georgia’s parliament announced it would launch another round of impeachment proceedings against the country’s pro-Western president, over unauthorized travel to meet with officials from France, Germany, and Poland.
THAT’S A WRAP: This does it for today’s edition. Thank you for reading. If you know folks who would also like to receive this email, would you please forward it to them? We appreciate you spreading the word. – M.S.