The Zambakari Advisory

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The Zambakari Advisory

The Advisory provides sustainable solutions to complex problems facing societies around the world in the areas of peace, security and economic development.

The Zambakari Advisory LLC’s vision is to provide leading consulting and advisory services to individuals, businesses, and organizations nationally and regionally in Africa and in the Middle East. The firm provides strategic analysis, technical capacity support with transitional processes, forecasting, political and economic analysis that minimizes risk and exposure to volatile events nationally, regionally, and internationally. The firm uses nationally recognized analyst based in each region to conduct analysis and provide advisory services that allows clients to anticipate future events, maximize opportunities, and minimize risks. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Christopher Zambakari, the firm seeks to leverage local talents and complement it with international topical experts from around the world to deliver customized and tailored services that maximizes existing knowledge and resources to deliver new approaches to conducting business in Africa and in the Middle East.

11/02/2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney reports a “good conversation” with President Trump, with teams now working toward a trade deal in the coming weeks. This is what I have argued all along: geography and economics bind Canada and the U.S. far more than political rhetoric divides them. The volume of trade says it all—the two economies are deeply integrated, and the bulk of Canadian exports still flows south. Talk of Canada joining the EU was mostly talk. Diversification is prudent, but no market can replace the U.S.—least of all one an ocean away.

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https://tinyurl.com/4z679awb

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says he had a constructive conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump about a potential trade deal.

11/02/2026

Ukraine’s President Zelensky has stopped courting Washington, according to The Wall Street Journal—18 months after his disastrous Oval Office meeting with Trump. It is a calculated risk, and a steep one. Kyiv still depends on U.S. intelligence for targeting and early warning, and on Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites to keep its forces connected in a war zone. Zelensky would not take this gamble lightly; something else may be shaping the relationship behind closed doors.

But what if Trump simply holds his course? Then the burden falls on Europe, which must be ready to replace intelligence, funding and communications quickly—something it has struggled to do at scale.

The Ukrainian leader is calling out the White House for relaxing pressure on Russia, drawing more ire.

11/02/2026

Zelensky now says he is open to freezing the war along current front lines as a first step toward peace, The Hill reports — The offer is pragmatic, but it collides with two competing demands. Russia is unlikely to accept a freeze without a broader political settlement that addresses Ukraine’s future and NATO’s role.

Kyiv, in turn, wants firm American security guarantees. A freeze that ignores these underlying causes risks becoming a pause, not a peace — a ceasefire that buys months before the fighting resumes. If the White House can address the root causes alongside the ceasefire, Trump could pave the way to a durable resolution. That is the real test.

For a deeper look at the prospects for peace in Ukraine and the risks of rushing NATO membership, see my analyses here: https://tinyurl.com/5dtechzb

https://tinyurl.com/2j549tj8

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11/02/2026

In “The End of Primacy Without Pain” (Carnegie Endowment), Stephen Wertheim revisits NATO’s post–Cold War expansion: “The Clinton administration did all it could to downplay the costs of admitting the first three post–Cold War members.”

Joe Biden is a revealing figure. A key backer of enlargement, he nonetheless conceded at the time: “There is very little consensus about why this is in the vital interest of the United States.” He added that the public had not given its “informed consent.” https://tinyurl.com/449hnsym

Decades later, as president, Biden chose not to prevent Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but to weaken Russia through it. As I have written, George Kennan, Jack F. Matlock and others foresaw the coming confrontation decades in advance. Yet even those who understood played along. Prevention was possible; it was never the priority.

For a deeper look at the prospects for peace in Ukraine and the risks of rushing NATO membership, see our Spring 2023 special issue, “The Great Power Competition in Eurasia,” which features my analysis alongside leading voices: https://tinyurl.com/2uzrnd4m and https://tinyurl.com/5dtechzb

https://tinyurl.com/449hnsym

Unlock exclusive members-only ad-free content, members discussion, content, and updates directly from the SWJ Team, for only $10/yr.

11/01/2026

In Foreign Affairs, Stephen Biddle, Sam Winter-Levy, and Yuri Zhukov puncture a dangerous illusion: “All modern wars end in negotiated settlements.” Military victory is invoked constantly but rarely carefully defined. https://tinyurl.com/44c2u6vf

Germany is the hardest test, and it proves the point. As the authors show, even N**i Germany’s surrender was not unconditional; when the Morgenthau Plan to deindustrialize Germany leaked in 1944, Goebbels used it to stiffen resistance, and the Allies softened their terms.

This matters enormously for Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran today.

In my 2019 Contemporary Justice Review article, I traced the parallel debate over justice. Churchill, Morgenthau, and the Soviets favored harsh, summary measures. Henry Stimson and Robert Jackson argued for due process, warning that “the world yields no respect for courts that are organised merely to convict.” https://tinyurl.com/4uanst8n

Washington’s choice of trials over vengeance, and later reconstruction over ruin, built a durable peace in Europe. Where no side wins outright, as in most wars, negotiated settlement is the only path.

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African countries continue to experience civil wars and other low-level violent conflicts. An issue relating to the intractable nature of postcolonial violence and how it should be resolved, is wha...

11/01/2026

Russia struck Kyiv with jet-powered drones hitting two petrol stations, railway infrastructure, and warehouses on Wednesday, killing one and injuring seven — the sixth such fuel facility hit in recent weeks.

This is exactly the dynamic I flagged after the NATO summit: with decisive battlefield victory unlikely and expanded Western production not materializing until 2027, escalation now functions as leverage for the negotiating table, not a path to military resolution. Russia is testing whether pressure on energy infrastructure extracts concessions before that 2027 window even opens.

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Russia pounded Kyiv with drone strikes on Wednesday, hitting railway infrastructure, warehouses ‌and fuel stations as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned the UN General Assembly a hard winter lay ahead.

11/01/2026

What can we tell people about Alzheimer’s risk today?

According to Dr. Gayatri Devi in JAMA, quite a lot — and much of it is within reach. The Lancet Commission links up to 45% of dementia cases to 14 modifiable risk factors, including physical inactivity, high blood pressure, hearing loss, and social isolation.

Dr. Devi’s patient came in asking for a blood test and left with a plan: exercise, better sleep, and tighter control of blood pressure and cholesterol. After 15 years in memory care, we find this frontier genuinely exciting.

Through The Memory Frontier, we are working with leading neuroscientists and dementia care experts to bring these insights to families in plain language. Prevention starts long before diagnosis.

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https://tinyurl.com/245tvj3r

Why I’m Launching What in the World?

11/01/2026

Writing in Foreign Policy on August 5, Stephen M. Walt — the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard — cuts against the usual explanations for America's record in foreign wars. It isn't money, firepower, or valor; the U.S. has all three in abundance. Korea ended in a draw. Vietnam, the 2003 Iraq War, and Afghanistan were clear defeats. Kosovo was no triumph — Serbia got better terms after the war than before it. The current Iran war has achieved none of its stated objectives and may leave Iran stronger. (The 1991 Gulf War is the genuine exception — and arguably the wrong lessons drawn from it shaped the failures that followed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Iran.) Walt's explanation: these are wars of choice against opponents defending survival itself — asymmetric resolve the U.S. cannot match.

This brings us to the confrontation with China. The lessons drawn from U.S. foreign intervention aren't helping against a near-peer adversary.

Washington has a long record of fighting the wrong war for the wrong objective.

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