If Lithuania did not enter the EU with specific objectives in mind, it has clearly benefited from its membership. Membership has allowed the country to catch up economically, to join the Single Market and expand business opportunities. Its adoption of the euro in the midst of the Eurozone crisis is another evidence of Lithuanian keenness to participate actively to the EU.

Dramatic changes in the Russian energy strategy and energy-based political alliances are to be expected due to the evolution of the domestic oil and gas market resulting from the economic crisis and sanctions linked to the annexation of Crimea.

The recent discovery of the giant Zohr's gas field will drastically change the energy future of Egypt, which is today increasingly dependent on imports to meet its growing domestic demand.

On 16 January, the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a double victory over the ruling party, the Kuomintang (KMT). DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen was elected president with 56% of the vote, and for the first time the party won a majority in the Legislative Yuan – Taiwan’s parliament – with 68 of the 113 seats.

Although the United States is less active in Africa than France, their security policies on the continent often have shared objectives and are sometimes pursued jointly. While the urgency of humanitarian crises has been at the centre of foreign interventions for a long time, now it tends to give way to the terrorist threat. 

The European leaders are gathering this week to agree on a new settlement for the United Kingdom. The sudden peak of political interest, however, is coming late in the negotiations. The UK question has always been a European question despite the lackluster interest from European capitals. A failure to properly address the consequences of Britain remaining or leaving the EU would be very detrimental for the future of the Union.

Japan’s public diplomacy (PD) profile rests almost exclusively on the promotion of its cultural soft power. Today, in the complex geopolitical setting of Asia, in which national rivalries are reviving competing wartime history narratives and territorial disputes, this approach is no longer sufficient to advance Japan’s own national interests and gain favorable opinion abroad. Under the Prime Minister Abe, Japan has begun to transform and upgrade its public diplomacy. However, the country is still facing a number of challenges.