Ajjan Associates

05/29/2025

"IMF gonna IMF. And while all of us watching this program would generally agree with the reforms proposed, the political class needs to take account of the effects on people who buy sugar 50g at a time."

The governing All Progressives Congress party has endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s candidacy for a second term in office come 2027 as Opposition ramp up their strategy to present stiff competition.

03/27/2025

"The scramble for Africa is far from over. If the 20th century was about oil, then the geopolitics of the 21st century will be driven by access to minerals. And countries like Niger want their seat at the table."

Niger’s Junta leader, Abdourahamane Tiani, has been sworn in as president for a transition period of five years under a new charter that replaces the country’s constitution.

07/12/2023

Moderating panels on poverty reduction and labor migration at the “New Uzbekistan: Development, Innovation and Enlightenment” conference on 7 July

05/22/2023

George Ajjan, an international political strategist, downplayed the actual effects of the sanctions.

"Discussion of this type of irrelevant sanctions amounts to little more than inside baseball for political nerds," Ajjan told Newsweek. "Academics like Åslund take delight in dropping the sanctioned names of obscure think-tankers and former diplomats as if they were A-list movie stars banned from the red carpet, but in reality, the domestic political impact of Putin's latest move is zero."

In a new list of sanctions, the Kremlin penalized prominent adversaries of former President Donald Trump who have no known connections to Russian policy.

05/12/2023

George Ajjan, international political strategist, told Newsweek that if the report of the village is to be believed, Russia would likely not have too much trouble filling the village with conservatives.

"There are plenty of Americans who have made a choice to live abroad, whether borne of pragmatism and logistic ease, or ideological reasons," Ajjan said. "Out of 330 million, you could probably populate a small compound in Moscow suburbs with Americans as obsessed with their wokeness victimization narrative as they are willfully ignorant of the harsh realities of living in an authoritarian state."

A Kremlin-backed outlet reported on plans for a community designed for Western ex-pats looking to escape "radical values."

05/06/2023

International political strategist George Ajjan told Newsweek that "Carlson trivially equates his experience not personally being attacked on the basis of race with an absence of racism in America."

"It's a typical mechanism, like the positive vibes surrounding Obama's election, of convenient self-absolution from acknowledging, not to mention confronting, a systemic cultural problem," Ajjan said.

During his first public appearance since his departure from Fox News, Carlson spoke briefly about America's 44th president.

04/18/2023

George Ajjan, an international political strategist, told Newsweek that the campaign against Bud Light could be a future sign of trouble for the GOP.

"Ordinary Americans who tend toward conservative values have good reason to chafe under an ultra-left woke agenda, but too often the causes to which they devote so much attention seem like manufactured outrage," Ajjan said. "The fact that denouncing a beer brand's questionable choice of spokesperson has become a litmus test of conservative street cred doesn't auger well for a compelling and unified right-leaning agenda to rally Republican votes."

A GOP political committee that's taken donations from Bud Light's parent company is being criticized after it backed off its support of a boycott.

04/06/2023

George Ajjan, an international political strategist, told Newsweek that Graham's public pleas will have little effect on Trump's case.

"Unfortunately for Republicans, the tempest in a teapot surrounding Bragg's indictment of the former president exposes the extent to which conservative ideology continues to take a back seat to Trump's personal considerations," Ajjan said.

"Conservatives rightfully cite the 9th and 10th Amendments as a means of preventing big city liberals from ramming a woke agenda down the throats of their kids. But the inverse also applies—Manhattanites elected their own district attorney without the input of red states."

He added, "Lindsay Graham ought to wipe away his tears and move to New York to run against Bragg to avenge Trump, but until then, it's put up or shut up."

The Republican senator said he doesn't support the former president's call to defund top law enforcement agencies.

04/05/2023

"The chummy sentiments between Trump and Orbán have less to do with Putin and more to do with their membership in the same political tribe: Populists who skillfully manipulate right-wing sentiments in their quest to remain in power," Ajjan said.

He continued, "Each wears his respective anti-establishment credentials as a badge of honor: Trump brashly bucks Beltway consensus when it suits him, just as Orbán relishes the consternation he brings upon EU bureaucrats. In this context, Orbán's message of solidarity with Trump's legal troubles makes perfect sense, as Hungary has been singled out and sanctioned by Brussels under his leadership."

Viktor Orbán, Hungary's prime minister, tweeted words of encouragement to the former president ahead of his arraignment on criminal charges.

03/08/2023

George Ajjan, an international political strategist, told Newsweek that Fox News and McCarthy could both benefit from Carlson's segment.

"Speaker McCarthy's decision to give Tucker Carlson exclusivity of the January 6 footage is a win-win: McCarthy burnishes his own anti-establishment credentials by helping Carlson signal to the forever-Trump wing of the GOP that his show, and Fox News more broadly, retain their primacy in the world of right-wing media," he said.

However, Ajjan said there could be pitfalls for the California Republican.

"But with McCarthy's first big legislative push on the horizon, the current dustup over a problematic event from two years ago dangerously exacerbates preexisting fault lines among Republican factions," Ajjan said.

He continued: "Clearly, it didn't take McCarthy 15 ballots to get elected speaker because the GOP caucus finally agreed to avoid controversy, and if he cannot forge consensus on the upcoming energy bill, goodwill from Tucker Carlson will not save him."

Carlson aired clips of the Capitol riots provided to him by Speaker McCarthy, resulting in outrage from some members of McCarthy's party.

03/03/2023

George Ajjan, an international political strategist, told Newsweek that Trump's attacks on Fox News could result in negative consequences for his 2024 presidential campaign.

"When Trump was at the pinnacle of his power, he commanded near-universal loyalty on the political right and used the specter of questioning fealty to great effect," Ajjan said. "But the circumstances have dramatically changed and Trump has been met with growing resistance from a chorus of Republicans, even those formerly solidly behind him, who crave a forward-looking approach that will usher in victory once again."

Ajjan continued, "His efforts to re-litigate the 2020 election have fallen on increasingly deaf ears and antagonizing potential kingmakers at Fox News would seem more like self-sabotage than the substance of a viable candidacy."

The former president said, "Murdoch should apologize to his viewers and readers for his ridiculous defense of the 2020 Presidential Election."

03/03/2023

The main point I made in the CNBC Africa interview was this: Nigeria is on the right track. Not only does it have 2 stable parties, but frustration with those political options did not produce violence, coups, etc. It produced a compelling 3rd-party alternative that competed well. Bravo Nigeria! Shame on all the so-called democracy promoters who only celebrate African political progress when they are on the payroll (or are the paymaster) of anti-establishment parties.

In the build-up to Nigeria's election, quite a number of polls were released highlighting candidates' chances at becoming Nigeria's next President. The simil...