Overview:
The Global Affairs team share some of the most important weekly headlines that you may otherwise have missed.
The Editor’s Note
Is that? It can’t be…the sun? After 5 pm? Miracles are, indeed, possible it seems.
Welcome back to this week’s Outside OX1, the first of February 2025!
Whereas the ice of winter may be melting here in Oxford, things are getting frosty for trade relations across the Atlantic, where US President Donald Trump has slapped tariffs on imports from its neighbours, Canada and Mexico, as well as China. Though many have called this the start of Trump’s trade war, it seems like the leaders of Canada and Mexico have negotiated a delay…
This was not the only thing that caused the US president to hit headlines this week. Once a property developer, always a property developer it seems, with Trump suggesting that the US should take control over Gaza to create the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Looking south to someone who may have used the US president as an inspiration for his policies (and also his haircut), Argentinian president, Javier Milei, has announced that Argentina will be withdrawing from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Back over in the Palestinian Territories, IDF-led operations have escalated across the north of the Occupied West Bank, leading to questions over the scale of the offensive from organisations within Israel and beyond.
As you can see, a lot happens Outside OX1, and the Global Affairs team has condensed this week’s big stories into an article you can read before you reach the front of the queue at Najar’s…
Trump’s Tariffs: A Summary of This Week’s Emerging Trade Turmoil
Orla McMahon
On February 1st, US President Donald Trump formally announced tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China. Initially, President Trump had intended to impose a 25% tariff on imports from both Mexico and Canada respectively (with a lower tariff of 10% on Canadian fuel) and a 10% tariff on imports from China on February 4th.
According to the White House, the tariffs were motivated by President Trump’s efforts to hold these countries “accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration,” and to encourage stricter control over the movement of drugs across borders.
Canadian President Justin Trudeau announced retaliatory tariffs of 25% on approximately C$155 billion worth of American goods. The move was supported widely among Canadians, with reports of individuals boycotting certain American-made products in protest.
On February 3rd, however, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that she had negotiated a month-long delay on the implementation of Trump’s tariffs. This comes with the stipulation that Mexico will immediately provide 10,000 members of their National Guard to aid the United States’ efforts to control drug trafficking at the border. In particular, President Trump is concerned with preventing the flow of fentanyl into the United States. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), synthetic opioids, primarily illegally manufactured fentanyl, contributed to approximately 68% of overdose deaths in the US in 2022.
Later that day, President Trudeau also announced that his government had agreed with President Trump to delay the introduction of tariffs for 30 days. Like Mexico, Canada is required to reinforce their borders to prevent fentanyl trafficking and curb immigration.
China, however, did not negotiate delays, resulting in the tariffs officially going into effect on 4 January. In response, China introduced its own set of tariffs against goods imported from the United States (including a 10% tariff on crude oil), alongside an “anti-trust” investigation into Google.
President Trump has suggested that he will also place tariffs on the European Union “pretty soon”, with the justification that the current trading relationship between these global powers is more beneficial to the EU than it is to the US. At the time of writing, however, tariffs have yet to be imposed on the trading bloc.
Trump announces plan for US to assume control over Gaza Strip
Sophia Giblett
On February 4th, President Donald Trump announced a plan for the US to assume control over the Gaza Strip during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He proposed relocating and displacing the 2.1 million Palestinian residents to neighbouring countries, though both Jordan and Egypt have rejected this proposal.
President Trump predicts reconstruction and economic development for Gaza, potentially turning it into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East,’ and creating thousands of jobs.” Netanyahu has expressed his support for Trump’s proposal, praising his ability ‘to puncture conventional thinking’ and to ‘see things others refuse to see.’
Trump has indicated that he would not consider potential military involvement and the deployment of US troops to secure the area.
His announcement has elicited a range of responses, with widespread international condemnation. Trump’s national security adviser, a US diplomat, and the US House Speaker are among those who have supported Trump’s ‘bold and decisive action’.
On the other hand, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called this plan ‘practically incomprehensible,’ and other countries including the United Kingdom, China, and Saudi Arabia have criticised the plan.
The proposed takeover carries significant geopolitical and ethical concerns. His proposal may violate established international legal frameworks including Article 49 of the Geneva Convention. This prohibits an occupying power from deporting or transferring a population from an occupied territory. Under the definition in the Commission of Experts report on the former state of Yugoslavia to the UN Security Council in 1994, critics have pointed out that Trump’s proposal could be classified as ethnic cleansing.
President Javier Milei announces Argentina’s withdrawal from the WHO
Caroline Johnson
Argentinian president, Javier Milei, announced his decision to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on February 5th.
Manuel Adorni, a spokesperson for the president, stated at a news conference in Buenos Aires that the decision was due to “profound differences in health management, especially during the [COVID-19] pandemic” and commented that “we Argentinians will not allow an international organisation to intervene in our sovereignty, much less in our health.”
He added that Argentina would not experience a loss of funding from the withdrawal as the country “does not receive funding from WHO.” Argentina would therefore be given “greater flexibility to implement policies adapted to the context of interests that Argentina requires” instead.
The decision has received strong criticism in Argentina due to the role of organisations such as WHO in the coordination of international health policies. Past successes of Argentina’s health system under its previous relationship with WHO also include a higher satisfaction rate with public health care than in other South American countries and a reduction in the impact of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Argentina.
This announcement comes two weeks after US President Donald Trump began the US’s withdrawal from the international health body through an executive order on his first day back in office. The arguments behind the withdrawal of the two nations are similar – emphasising the COVID-19 pandemic response. The two presidents have also previously expressed admiration for one another, with Trump naming Milei ‘my favourite president’ and Milei being the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his election. Furthermore, the Argentinian president claimed that “new winds of freedom are sweeping through the world” following the election of Trump when he spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in December 2024.
The impact of Argentina’s withdrawal on the WHO will not be as large as that caused by the withdrawal of the US. The US is currently the leading donor to the WHO, with an expected contribution of around $988m to the organisation’s $6.9 billion budget for 2024-2025. In contrast, Argentina is expected to contribute $8m.
However, with Argentina becoming the second nation to withdraw from the WHO this year alone, the question remains whether other countries which have considered withdrawal, such as Italy and Hungary, will follow suit. If this pattern of withdrawal continues, the WHO’s funding and credibility will both be further damaged.
Israeli Defence Forces Escalate Operation ‘Iron Wall’ in the Occupied West Bank
Nick Marshall
Operations by the Israeli military in the Occupied West Bank escalated this week, starting on February 2nd, as Israeli forces target armed Palestinian groups and “terrorist infrastructure.”
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) launched Operation “Iron Wall” on January 21st, beginning in the Jenin refugee camp less than 48 hours after the Gaza ceasefire agreement came into effect. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the operation is necessary to “defeat terrorism” in the area.
Jenin refugee camp was set up for Palestinians fleeing during the Nakba of 1948 and subsequently has become a hub of Palestinian militant activity, gaining the nickname “the hornet’s nest” in Israel.
Mohammad Jarrar, mayor of Jenin, speaking on February 3rd, described the attacks on the cities as “similar to that of Gaza but on a smaller scale.” UN officials have described the Jenin refugee camp as a “ghost town,” with around 80% of the camp’s 20,000 residents being displaced and 120 buildings destroyed. Despite previous claims that the IDF is solely targeting terrorist infrastructure, Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reports that a senior military source claimed the destruction of buildings was a necessity as the “roads in the camp are too narrow for military vehicles.”
The operation has expanded to the nearby Palestinian cities of Tulkarem and Tubas. Consequently, a Palestinian gunman killed two IDF soldiers in a shooting at a checkpoint in Tayasir village, near Tubas. Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have praised this as an act of “resistance.” Neither group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Since the start of the operation, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has reported 50 fatalities, including a two-year-old girl. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has expressed concerns over deteriorating access to healthcare due to “severe” movement restrictions, including road closures and prolonged delays at checkpoints, with healthcare facilities only operating at 70% capacity.
This operation follows raids on the Jenin refugee camp started by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the government body with partial authority in areas of the West Bank, in December 2024. These raids targeted the Jenin Brigades, an umbrella formation affiliated with Hamas’ Qassam Brigades and the PIJ. These raids meant that freedom of movement was already restricted for many civilians, causing shortages of water, food, and electricity, which have only been exacerbated by the renewed operations.
Israeli NGO B’Tselem, which advocates for human rights in the Occupied West Bank, has criticised the raids as “an excuse and opportunity to ratchet up the oppression of West Bank Palestinians.” Furthermore, Thameen Al-Keetan, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed deep concerns over the “use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin” that is “in violation of international human rights law.”
Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that the IDF will remain in Jenin until it completes its military operation, but has not indicated an end date.
Thank you for making it to the end of this week’s Outside OX1, see you next week for more stories!