Tougher tone on Israel, steady on NATO: how a Harris foreign policy could look

US Vice President Kamala Harris listens during a roundtable discussion at the NAACP National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, US, July 18, 2022. (REUTERS)
US Vice President Kamala Harris listens during a roundtable discussion at the NAACP National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, US, July 18, 2022. (REUTERS)
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Updated 22 July 2024
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Tougher tone on Israel, steady on NATO: how a Harris foreign policy could look

Tougher tone on Israel, steady on NATO: how a Harris foreign policy could look
  • Harris could also be expected to hold firm against Israel’s regional arch-foe, Iran, whose recent nuclear advances have drawn increased US condemnation
  • On China, Harris has long positioned herself within Washington’s bipartisan mainstream on the need for the US to counter China’s influence, especially in Asia

WASHINGTON: Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to stick largely to Joe Biden’s foreign policy playbook on key issues such as Ukraine, China and Iran but could strike a tougher tone with Israel over the Gaza war if she replaces the president at the top of the Democratic ticket and wins the US November election.
As the apparent frontrunner for the nomination after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her on Sunday, Harris would bring on-the-job experience, personal ties forged with world leaders, and a sense of global affairs gained during a Senate term and as Biden’s second-in-command.
But running against Republican candidate Donald Trump she would also have a major vulnerability — a troubled situation at the US-Mexico border that has bedeviled Biden and become a top campaign issue. Harris was tasked at the start of his term with addressing the root causes of high irregular migration, and Republicans have sought to make her the face of the problem.
On a range of global priorities, said analysts, a Harris presidency would resemble a second Biden administration.
“She may be a more energetic player but one thing you shouldn’t expect – any immediate big shifts in the substance of Biden’s foreign policy,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Democratic and Republican administrations.
Harris has signaled, for instance, that she would not deviate from Biden’s staunch support for NATO and would continue backing Ukraine in its fight against Russia. That stands in sharp contrast to a pledge by former president Trump to fundamentally alter the US relationship with the alliance and the doubts he has raised about future weapons supplies to Kyiv.

STAYING THE COURSE ON CHINA?
A lawyer by training and a former California attorney general, Harris struggled in the first half of Biden’s term to find her footing, not helped by being saddled early on with a major part of the intractable immigration portfolio amid record crossings at the US-Mexico border.
That followed a failed 2020 presidential campaign that was widely considered lackluster.
If she becomes the nominee, Democrats will be hoping Harris will be more effective at communicating her foreign policy goals.
In the second half of Biden’s presidency, Harris — the country’s first Black and Asian American vice president — has elevated her profile on issues ranging from China and Russia to Gaza and become a known quantity to many world leaders.
At this year’s Munich Security Conference she delivered a tough speech slamming Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and pledging “ironclad” US respect for NATO’s Article 5 requirement for mutual self-defense.
On China, Harris has long positioned herself within Washington’s bipartisan mainstream on the need for the US to counter China’s influence, especially in Asia. She would likely maintain Biden’s stance of confronting Beijing when necessary while also seeking areas of cooperation, analysts say.
Harris has made several trips aimed at boosting relations in the economically dynamic region, including one to Jakarta in September to fill in for Biden at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During the visit, Harris accused China of trying to coerce smaller neighbors with its territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.
Biden also dispatched Harris on travels to shore up alliances with Japan and South Korea, key allies who have had reason to worry about Trump’s commitment to their security.
“She demonstrated to the region that she was enthusiastic to promote the Biden focus on the Indo-Pacific,” said Murray Hiebert, a senior associate of the Southeast Asia Program at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies.
While she could not match the “diplomatic chops” Biden had developed over decades, “she did fine,” he added.
However, like her boss, Harris has been prone to the occasional verbal gaffe. On a tour of the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea in September 2022 to reassert Washington’s support for Seoul, she mistakenly touted a US “alliance with the Republic of North Korea,” which aides later corrected.
If Harris becomes her party’s standard-bearer and can overcome Trump’s lead in pre-election opinion polls to win the White House, the Israel-Palestinian conflict would rank high on her agenda, especially if the Gaza war is still raging.
Although as vice president she has mostly echoed Biden in firmly backing Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas militants carried out a deadly cross-border raid on Oct. 7, she has at times stepped out slightly ahead of the president in criticizing Israel’s military approach.
In March, she bluntly criticized Israel, saying it was not doing enough to ease a “humanitarian catastrophe” during its ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Later that month, she did not rule out “consequences” for Israel if it launched a full-scale invasion of refugee-packed Rafah in southern Gaza.
Such language has raised the possibility that Harris, as president, might take at least a stronger rhetorical line with Israel than Biden, analysts say.
While her 81-year-old boss has a long history with a succession of Israeli leaders and has even called himself a “Zionist,” Harris, 59, lacks his visceral personal connection to the country.
She maintains closer ties to Democratic progressives, some of whom have pressed Biden to attach conditions to US weapons shipments to Israel out of concern for high Palestinian civilian casualties in the Gaza conflict.
But analysts do not expect there would be a big shift in US policy toward Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East.
Halie Soifer, who served as national security adviser to Harris during the then-senator’s first two years in Congress, from 2017 to 2018, said Harris’ support of Israel has been just as strong as Biden’s. “There really has been no daylight to be found” between the two, she said.
IRAN NUCLEAR THREAT
Harris could also be expected to hold firm against Israel’s regional arch-foe, Iran, whose recent nuclear advances have drawn increased US condemnation.
Jonathan Panikoff, formerly the US government’s deputy national intelligence officer for the Middle East, said the growing threat of “weaponization” of Iran’s nuclear program could be an early major challenge for a Harris administration, especially if Tehran decides to test the new US leader.
After a series of failed attempts, Biden has shown little interest in returning to negotiations with Tehran over resuming the 2015 international nuclear agreement, which Trump abandoned during his presidency.
Harris, as president, would be unlikely to make any major overtures without serious signs that Iran is ready to make concessions.
Even so, Panikoff, now at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, said: “There’s every reason to believe the next president will have to deal with Iran. It’s bound to be one of the biggest problems.”

 


UN chief warns against regional war over DR Congo at Africa summit

UN chief warns against regional war over DR Congo at Africa summit
Updated 6 sec ago
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UN chief warns against regional war over DR Congo at Africa summit

UN chief warns against regional war over DR Congo at Africa summit
  • UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday demanded that the Democratic Republic of Congo’s “territorial integrity” be respected and a regional war avoided

ADDIS ABABA: UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday demanded that the Democratic Republic of Congo’s “territorial integrity” be respected and a regional war avoided, at an African summit the day after Rwandan-backed fighters seized a second DRC provincial capital.
With international pressure mounting on Rwanda to curb the fighting in eastern DR Congo (DRC), the conflict was set to dominate the African Union summit as it opened in Addis Ababa.
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was seen attending meetings at the gathering, but DR Congo’s president Felix Tshisekedi was absent from the summit as the M23 advanced through his country’s territory.
Having routed the Congolese army to capture the key provincial capital of Goma in North Kivu last month, the Rwandan-backed armed group pushed into neighboring South Kivu.
It took a vital airport there before marching virtually unchecked into another key city, Bukavu, on Friday, security and humanitarian sources said.
“The fighting that is raging in South Kivu — as a result of the continuation of the M23 offensive — threatens to push the entire region over the precipice,” Guterres told leaders in an address to the summit, without mentioning Rwanda.
“Regional escalation must be avoided at all costs. There is no military solution,” he added.
“The dialogue must begin. And the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC must be respected.”


With the spectre of a regional conflagration rising in eastern DRC, the AU has been criticized for its timid approach and observers have demanded more decisive action.
The European Union on Saturday said that it was “urgently” considering all options following the news from Bukavu.
“The ongoing violation of the DRC’s territorial integrity will not go unanswered,” it warned.
East and southern African leaders on February 8 called for an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire within five days, but fresh fighting erupted on Tuesday.
Outgoing AU commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told AFP on Friday that there was a “general mobilization” among African nations to stop the clashes.
Summit host Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, insisted on Saturday that “conflict resolution, diplomacy and peace building must remain at the heart of our efforts.”
A meeting of the AU’s Peace and Security Council dedicated to the conflict ran late into the evening on Friday, with neither Kagame nor Tshisekedi attending.
A government source told AFP that Tshisekedi would not attend the summit over the weekend either as he had to “closely follow the situation on the ground in DRC.”
AFP journalists in Bukavu reported sporadic gunfire there on Saturday, with the streets deserted as residents sheltered inside after reports of overnight looting.
Across the nearby border in Rwanda, AFP reporters in the town of Rusizi said on Saturday that the situation was calm but some gunshots could be heard.
Tshisekedi, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, urged nations to “blacklist” Rwanda, condemning Kigali’s “expansionist ambitions.”
Rwanda has not admitted backing M23 but has accused extremist Hutu groups in DR Congo of threatening its security.
DR Congo accuses Rwanda of plundering valuable minerals in its eastern provinces.
Neighbouring Burundi has also sent thousands of troops to support DR Congo’s struggling army.


The 55-nation AU is meeting as Africa faces another devastating conflict in Sudan and after US President Donald Trump cut US development aid, hitting the continent hard.
Leaders opened the summit by calling for progress on securing reparations for historic abuses by colonial powers — a growing issue in international talks.
The AU leaders represent around 1.5 billion people in a body that observers have long branded as ineffective, most recently over the DRC violence.
“Kagame has clearly calculated that his best approach is to push forward, and he does have some support,” International Crisis Group’s Great Lakes project director Richard Moncrieff told AFP.
“Some African leaders have trouble defending Congo because they don’t defend themselves.”
Angolan President Joao Lourenco, involved for several years in futile mediation between Tshisekedi and Kagame, took over the rotating presidency of the AU in Saturday’s session — a ceremonial role that changes hands annually.
A new chairman of the body’s executive commission — the AU’s top job — will also be chosen by vote on Sunday.
Three candidates are vying to replace Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat, who has reached the two-term limit.
They are Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Kenyan opposition veteran Raila Odinga and Madagascar’s ex-foreign minister Richard Randriamandrato.


Pope spends quiet first night in hospital, continues drug therapy and reads papers, Vatican says

Pope spends quiet first night in hospital, continues drug therapy and reads papers, Vatican says
Updated 7 min 39 sec ago
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Pope spends quiet first night in hospital, continues drug therapy and reads papers, Vatican says

Pope spends quiet first night in hospital, continues drug therapy and reads papers, Vatican says
  • The Vatican says Pope Francis slept well during a quiet first night in the hospital after being admitted with a respiratory tract infection

ROME:Pope Francis slept well during a quiet first night in the hospital after being admitted with a respiratory tract infection, and was up eating and reading Saturday, the Vatican said.
Francis, 88, ate breakfast Saturday morning and read the newspapers while continuing his drug therapy, spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. It was his fourth hospitalization since his 2013 election and raised questions about his increasingly precarious health.
Preliminary tests showed he had a respiratory tract infection and a slight fever. The Vatican canceled his audiences through Monday at least.


Large fire tears through luxury London hotel known as a celebrity hotspot

Large fire tears through luxury London hotel known as a celebrity hotspot
Updated 14 min 42 sec ago
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Large fire tears through luxury London hotel known as a celebrity hotspot

Large fire tears through luxury London hotel known as a celebrity hotspot

LONDON: A fire broke out at a luxury London hotel and restaurant known as a celebrity hotspot, engulfing the historic building and forcing about 100 people to be evacuated, fire services said.
More than 100 firefighters and 20 fire engines spent hours fighting the blaze that ripped through Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone on Friday, the London Fire Brigade said.
The red brick building, a former fire station dating to the late 19th century, is known as a favorite with celebrities, with numerous stars including Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Tom Cruise among the hotel and restaurant’s customers.
The hotel was reportedly due to host the Netflix party after the BAFTA awards ceremony on Sunday.
No injuries were reported and the fire was contained late Friday.
The fire brigade said the blaze began mid-afternoon in ducting in the ground floor of the building before spreading all the way up to the roof of the four-story hotel. The cause of the fire was not known.
“Crews worked hard over a number of hours in challenging circumstances in a complex historic building and successfully contained the fire,” it said.
The hotel’s owner, Andre Balazs, said the venue would remain closed until further notice.


New standards, leisure infrastructure as Philippines taps into Muslim travel market

New standards, leisure infrastructure as Philippines taps into Muslim travel market
Updated 15 February 2025
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New standards, leisure infrastructure as Philippines taps into Muslim travel market

New standards, leisure infrastructure as Philippines taps into Muslim travel market
  • Govt plans special halal tourism packages, tourism undersecretary says
  • To draw more visitors, Philippines tries to improve air connectivity with Gulf states

MANILA: Recognizing the growing significance of the global halal travel market, the Philippines is adapting its tourist infrastructure and introducing new standards to receive more visitors from Muslim countries.

Although the Philippines is predominantly Catholic, it is home to a sizable Muslim minority. Islam, the oldest monotheistic religion in the region, has more than 600 years of history that is reflected in the country’s cultural heritage.

The government has been working to combine this rich history with the Philippines’ famous white sandy beaches, diving spots and warm hospitality to expand its tourism markets, particularly targeting visitors from the Middle East.

“It has only been recently that Muslim-friendly initiatives and efforts have gone full throttle. However, the DOT already has a number of programs in place to attract Muslim travelers, to include the Middle East market,” Department of Tourism Undersecretary Myra Paz Abubakar told Arab News.

“Most of our efforts focus on developing and institutionalizing standards that will protect the interests of Muslim travelers, ensuring that their travels to the Philippines will be enjoyable without compromising their faith.”

One of the key steps taken by the DOT is the introduction of the Muslim-friendly accommodation establishments program, which encourages hotels and resorts to meet specific standards that cater to Muslim travelers.

“From the reception areas to the guest rooms, to the availability of prayer rooms . . . we want our Muslim visitors to feel at home,” Abubakar said.

“The Department of Tourism has a training module on understanding Muslim travelers, as well as on halal and Muslim-friendly tourism. Beyond this, the DOT also developed standards for Muslim-friendly accommodation establishments ... currently, there are 17 accommodation establishments officially recognized as DOT Muslim-friendly.”

Thirteen of the properties are operated by the Megaworld Group, the largest hospitality chain in the Philippines, which last year also opened Marhaba Boracay, a cove area dedicated to Muslim women travelers in Boracay, the country’s top resort island.

“Beyond this, we are also exploring the creation of tailored halal tourism packages for Muslim travelers, including Saudi Arabians. This is in coordination with the different tour operators and travel agencies in the Philippines,” Abubakar said.

“Since the Philippines has a rich history in Islam, there are a number of destinations, activities, and offerings that align with the cultural and religious values of Arab visitors, and Muslims in general.”

One of the most iconic sites is the Sheikh Karimul Makdum Mosque in Tawi-Tawi province. Sitting on the island of Simunul, the mosque is surrounded by coastal waters. Constructed in 1380 by the Arab trader and missionary Makhdum Karimul, it is the oldest mosque in the Philippines.

Besides the mosque, there are also numerous sites throughout Tawi-Tawi related to the Sulu Sultanate, whose rulers played a key role in the spread of Islam in the southern Philippines. Established in the 15th century, the sultanate played an important role in regional trade networks and was a center of resistance to Spanish and later American colonial powers.

While DOT records show steady growth in tourist arrivals from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, one of the major challenges in expanding the Philippines’ appeal in the region is increasing air connectivity to key cities such as Dubai and Riyadh.

Warren Palacio, chief of the DOT’s Routes Department, said that negotiations with airlines from the Gulf states were underway to address these issues.

“There is a pending request from the UAE to hold air service agreement negotiation talks,” he told Arab News.

“Maybe within the next two or three months, I think we will have the air negotiation, the air service agreement to be scheduled. Then that’s where we’ll move forward when the flights will be increased and more seat capacity will be in place.”


One thousand South Africans gather for pro-Trump rally

One thousand South Africans gather for pro-Trump rally
Updated 15 February 2025
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One thousand South Africans gather for pro-Trump rally

One thousand South Africans gather for pro-Trump rally

PRETORIA: About a thousand people gathered outside the US embassy in Pretoria on Saturday to show their support for President Donald Trump after he hit out at the “injust” treatment of white South Africans.
Denouncing a recent law on land expropriation and murders committed against farmers, 1,200 people took part in the rally, according to the South African police.
“It’s the first time we’ve seen in my lifetime that a foreign president stands up for the Afrikaner people like what we’ve seen him do, so we have to support this,” said Walter Wobben, a 52-year-old owner of a cattle farm in the Western Cape province, referring to the descendents of Dutch settlers.
He handed out “Make Afrikaners Great Again” caps to the all-white crowd, which included bikers in black leather, fans of the local Bulls rugby team and farmers wearing traditional beige shirts and shorts with leather boots.
“Less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from here my uncle and aunt were brutally attacked, and my uncle died in hospital after being in emergency care for about three weeks,” he said.
“My aunt is still in a wheelchair. She’s never recovered, she can’t walk. And she’s got brain damage. Two elderly people in their 80s.”
The country, which had a population of 62 million according to the 2022 census, suffers from one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with nearly 28,000 murders recorded in the year from February 2023 to February 2024, according to the latest annual statistics released by police.
“There are so many other things happening in South Africa, but nobody gives specific attention to farm killings,” said Rose Basson, 64. “No one other than Trump talks about what’s happening. They ignore it.”
Between rows of motorbikes and pick-up trucks, Basson, a doctor of psychology turned chess teacher, said she believes that there are “too many racial laws.”
Whites represented a little more than seven percent of the population but owned 72 percent of agricultural land in 2017, according to government figures. Laws passed since 1994 aim to roll back the legacy of expropriation of black-owned land under colonization and then apartheid.