International Organizations and Multilateralism
Rhetoric on the crisis of multilateralism is frequent. International organizations (UN, WTO, etc.) remain no less important, while other forums (G20, BRICS, etc.) are asserting themselves.
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Iran’s allies are attacking the West. What happens next?
From Jordan to Lebanon to the Red Sea, attacks on U.S. and European interests are increasing.Tensions are rising in the Middle East after Washington vowed to respond to the drone attack that killed three American soldiers on the 28th of January, sponsored by Iranian-backed militants.
First Year of Lula: Overview of the Political Situation in Brazil
This Briefing offers an analysis of Brazil's political and economic situation and prospects at the end of 2023. It also examines Brazil's position on certain international relations issues, thirteen months after Lula's election.
Thorns and Alliances. German, French and European Agricultural Policy Between Food Safety and Respect for the Environment
Influences and developments within German agricultural policy have undergone significant transformations over the past 70 years, especially in the context of the dynamic Franco-German relations and the pivotal role both nations play in shaping the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The South versus the West?
In 2023, forums that amplify the voice of the “Global South” have proliferated and grown louder. As contradictory and divided as they may be, these forums (BRICS+, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), G20, the Group of 77, the European Silk Road Summit…) attest to the emergence of new power relations, and especially new directions in foreign policy, with states rejecting alignment with the dominant powers of the past in favor of putting their own interests first. A new world is taking shape, with changeable, still uncertain, contours.
BRICS: The Uncertainties of an “Alternative” Forum
Initially limited to the financial domain, the term BRICS is gradually becoming established in global economic governance.
Troubled Twins: The FCAS and MGCS Weapon Systems and Franco-German Co-operation
The FCAS (Future Combat Air System) and the MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) represent the latest chapter in a more than seven decades-long history of Franco-German defense co-operation.
Decarbonizing European Cities: How to Speed Up and Build Synergies?
Cities are on the front line for enabling governments to meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement. Although cities occupy only 2% of the earth’s surface, they are home to between 50 and 60% of the world’s population (70% by 2050 according to the United Nations), account for two-thirds of the world’s energy consumption and emit 80% of CO2. As an example, the CO2 emissions of the city of Berlin are equal to those of Croatia, Jordan or the Dominican Republic. New York’s total annual CO2 emissions are roughly equivalent to those of Bangladesh. Yet their central role not only for adaptation, but also mitigation, has been recognized lately.
COP28: A Tale of Money, Fossil Fuels, and Divisions
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, said the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the Climate Ambition Summit, in New York, in September 2023, three months before COP28. The sense of urgency that he conveyed seems shared across the international community.
The EU, the Indo-Pacific and the US-led IPEF: Which Way Forward?
The paper provides a European Union (EU) perspective on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
Ethics and Responsibility in Space Exploration: The Rise of Soft Law to Regulate New Practices
Asia-Pacific mega trade deals (RCEP, CPTPP): Which role for the US, and what are the implications for the EU?
While it has long been reluctant to engage in institution-based regional economic integration, East Asia is now home to two mega trade deals: the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Europe, Power and Finance
Finance has become an essential attribute of power. Its importance has grown given the substantial investments needed for the energy and digital transitions as well as the need to support economies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
France’s incoherent China policy confuses partners
On 21 July 2020, French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire participated remotely in the High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua.
Towards Tougher Bilateral Relations Between EU and China
When politics catches up to the economy. In the wake of the EU-China summit, what can we expect from the bilateral relations? 2020 was supposed to be the year of EU-China relations. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has quickly disrupted the positive expectations.
Economy and Diplomacy: China’s two Challenges in the Post-Covid-19 World
Will China rise stronger from the pandemic? A flow of media reports and op-eds have recently flourished, forecasting the decline of the West and the triumph of China on the world stage amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have declared the dawn of a “post-Western world”.
Japan in the 2019 G20 and G7 Summits: A Key Partner for Europe?
This essay offers a general assessment of Japan’s performance in the 2019 G20 and G7 Summits, held respectively in Osaka, Japan and Biarritz, France and looks at how Tokyo coordinated with its European partners (The European Union (EU) institutions and the EU Member States) in these international settings.
Saudi Arabia’s Policy in Africa : Vectors and Objectives
Until recently, Saudi Arabia was the country out of the Gulf countries that had the greatest number of diplomatic missions in Africa (27[1]).
China’s Ambiguous Positions on Climate and Coal
China’s 2018 energy consumption data capture the ambiguity of Beijing’s attitude toward climate change. Energy demand rose by 3.5% to 3,155 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe), with an increase of coal consumption (though its share in the overall energy mix is decreasing) and an expected greenhouse gas (GHG) emission surge of 2.3%, to 9.5 gigatonnes (Gt) for the same year.
The European Union in Crisis: What Challenges Lie ahead and Why It Matters for Korea
The EU is currently undergoing serious challenges from inside such as Brexit and strengthening Euroscepticism, rising populism and changing political geography, anti-immigration moods as well as retarded economic recovery.
China’s Belt & Road and the World: Competing Forms of Globalization
China increasingly sees its flagship foreign policy project as a tool for restructuring global governance and a vector for promoting a new form of globalization.
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