The use of recreational cannabis became legal in the States of Colorado and Washington in January and July 2014 respectively. The regulations, based on the examples of the tobacco and alcohol markets, intend to tackle the black market and to protect minors more efficiently. How do these two pioneering experiments inform the ongoing debate in France?

The acceleration of the digitization of energy infrastructure has brought many economic benefits, including  greater efficiency in the rationalization of energy consumption. However, this has also increased the risk of cyberattacks, where malicious software is able to take advantage of the increasing digitization of energy equipment. 

Assessing the state of democracy in Asia is a challenge. While some countries, such as Japan and India, have been showing the way from early days, some others, such as in Southeast Asia are still struggling to ensure stable and sustainable democratic institutions and practices.

Attitudes vis-à-vis Russia expressed in the public sphere are heterogeneous, in France more so than in Germany. In both France and Germany, the general public is by and large skeptical of Vladimir Putin and his policies. The picture is more diverse in the political realm. In Germany, there (still) is an approach that might be qualified as “mainstream”. The French debate, in turn, is highly fragmented.

The European Union (EU) is facing what the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, calls a ‘polycrisis’. The EU is under increasing pressure to deliver and address citizens’ concerns.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of the most resource-rich countries in the world, but successive governments have failed to put the country on a stable development track.

Following difficult years for the European gas industry, natural gas is back to the front stage.

President Trump’s administration is characterized by its systematic denial and repealing of measures from his predecessor, be it in foreign policy or domestic policy. This is particularly the case for the energy and environmental policies. There is however a continuity from one administration to another: the steady rise of US hydrocarbon production and the development of the US as a global leader in oil and gas production and in the near future, their exports to global markets.