This week, the media spotlight fell on the small island nation of Seychelles, a former French and British colonial possession off the east coast of Africa. On Monday, China’s Ministry of National Defense announced that Beijing was considering using the port on the main island of Mahe for naval purposes, in response to an offer from Seychelles. On the same day, an American MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), part of a detachment that carries out regional counterpiracy and counterterrorism orbits from the airport near the harbor on Mahe, crashed on approach (although the recent loss of a more sophisticated UAV in Iran made headlines, this happens surprisingly often.) Meanwhile, Gen.