Societies
The existence of an international civil society is the subject of theoretical debate. But beyond these debates, the study of societies remains essential to understanding how the world works.
Defining the Middle Class in the Global South. A Quantitative Perspective from South Africa
What makes you middle class? Is it your income, occupation, or education? Your family background or maybe the house and neighbourhood you live in? It is probably all of these things.
ASEAN at 50: Half a Century of Unique Experience
In its fifty-year existence, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has developed a complex, progressive and balanced approach to regional integration. Rather than the European Union’s far-reaching statements of ever-closer union, ASEAN combines highly diverse economic and political strategies of different States whose main priority is to safeguard sovereignty.
Political Targets: Womenomics as an Economic and Foreign Relations Strategy
This paper provides an overview of the womenomics strategy launched by Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and shows how a plan designed to mitigate Japan’s demographic crises and labor shortages also evolved into a foreign relations strategy to help manage Japan’s reputation abroad on gender equality.
Alternative für Deutschland: right-wing populism or extreme right?
An interview with Fabian Virchow, professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf and head of the extreme right Program at Hans-Böckler Foundation. M. Virchow came to Paris in April to speak at a conference on the German parti AfD -Alternative for Germany- organised by the Study Committee on French German relations.
Populism: In the Heat of the Moment
The UK leaving the EU. Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. The crushing defeat of Italy's prime minister in a national referendum. 2016 was a year of massive change led by populism. The roots of this trend are widespread, and they involve the ideological divide between the elites of current political systems and ordinary citizens, as well as the widening gaps in social inequality that can be attributed to growing globalization.
Are African Middle Classes Coming Together? The Case of Telecommunications Employees in Kinshasa
For many observers, a change in perception of the African continent occurred in the 2010s. Attention has focused on the relatively high rates of economic growth and a high population growth associated with urban expansion; both indicators interpreted as promises of economic “emergence” leading to potential new markets.
Alternative für Deutschland: What risks for Germany?
The AfD - Alternative for Germany – founded in opposition to Angela Merkel’s policy line of supporting southern European countries, has quickly become part of the political family of "right-wing populism" in Europe, with whom it cultivates close ties.
Madagascar Dealing with Multi-Faceted Crime
Has Madagascar really emerged from the crisis which started in 2009? In purely formal terms, it is customary to consider that the December 2013 presidential election ended a political sequence of relative institutional paralysis since the coup in March 2009 and the transitional regime then put in place.
Germany: with AfD the extreme right will enter the Bundestag
The Netherlands and France are not the only founding member states of the European Union that see extreme right party’s on the rise. The “Alternative für Deutschland” gathers 10 percent of voting intentions in Germany – especially in the East. Some of its leaders don’t hesitate to use vocabulary banished since 1945.
Trump and the Crisis of American Democracy
Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election is an expression of the crisis of American democracy.
Democratic Deconstructions
Today’s democratic governments appear less legitimate and their longevity less assured than ever.
AfD and National Front converge ahead of elections
The right-wing spiral of Germany’s anti-EU Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) has brought it shoulder to shoulder with France’s National Front (NF). The two parties see eye-to-eye on a number of issues, including Russia.
The introduction of the minimum wage in Germany: a first assessment
Germany introduced a minimum wage on January 1st, 2015 – a first in a country that had hitherto left it to the social partners to agree on salaries. This introduction came after vivid debates between those who fought against ever deeper inequalities and those who defended the nation’s competitiveness.
Berlin attack : Merkels Germany is facing populism
The leaders of the extreme right-wing AfD party, Alternative for Germany, intend to take advantage of the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin to challenge the German Chancellors welcoming policy : 1 million refugees arrived between 2015 and 2016, they argue that in welcoming them, she imported violence.
South African Local Elections 2016. From One Party Dominance to Effective Plural Democracy
The South African political landscape experienced a shock from an unlikely source; the country’s local government elections on August 3, 2016 representing the last tier of government and often overlooked in favour of national and provincial polls.
State of Emergency in Ethiopia: New Far East, Old Far West
Up until recently, little attention has been paid to the crisis which the Ethiopian regime has nonetheless been sinking into for more than two years. The rare spotlights focused on this country have praised its economic performance, describing it as a new “Far East” or even an “African lion”. The violence and imprisonment aimed at activists, journalists, and a good many citizens have remained hidden.
The "alt-right" votes for Trump
Donald Trump's xenophobic rethoric draws the support of white supremacists.
Will Germany be ungovernable after the elections in 2017?
One year before the general elections and even if Angela Merkel remains a favourite, the political scene in Germany seems more fragmented than ever.
Germany: populists weaken Angela Merkel
The party Alternative für Deutschland founded only three years ago against the Euro unites Germans against Berlin's open-door policy. And on the eve of new elections, more and more of those that normally don't vote are joining them.
"Angela Merkel betrayed German traditional values according to some conservatives"
Will Angela Merkel still be chancellor in a years' time? Hans Stark gives an overview over the German political landscape. According to him, the rise of the right wing populists and eurosceptics will continue, but won’t hinder the forming of a government coalition.
The Politics of Amnesty in the Niger Delta : Challenges Ahead
Armed groups, many affiliated to the Niger Delta-wide political organisation MEND, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, proliferated throughout the oil producing states, particularly from early 2006 onwards. In January 2006, MEND declared war on the oil industry pending the resolution of long term political grievances relating to poverty and underdevelopment, the poor regulation of an environmentally polluting oil industry, and the alienation of local people from rights to land and resources in the Niger Delta.
‘‘I'm Not a Feminist, But…'', a Comparative Analysis of the Women's Movement in the United States and France
The emergence of a feminist thought in the 18th century gave rise to steady and regular exchanges between French philosophers and American activists. They illustrate in a very particular sector the wealth of the relation between both countries. This dialogue continues on renewed bases today: both in universities (with the exploration of the concept of gender) and in the militant world (with the defense of precise and limited causes).
Trafficking in the Sahel-Saharan Zone: Features and Stakes
On November 5th 2009, a cocaine-loaded Boeing 727 aircraft arriving from Venezuela was discovered torched and emptied on a makeshift airstrip in the Malian desert (Gao region). The Sahel-Saharan area is clearly a contact zone between very distant worlds.
Controlling Trafficking or Losing the North : Notes on Trafficking in Mauritania
Our interest in this topic stems both from our annual visits to Mauritania which started fifteen years ago, and the tiny amount of research noticed on trafficking in this country.
Arabs and Tuaregs in Colonial and Malian Armed Forces: A Story in Trompe-l'Oeil
This contribution consists in analyzing the unifying or opposing relations between the central State-power and the southern part of central-Saharan populations, mainly Arabs and Tuaregs, within the relational framework of colonial and Malian armed forces. The French Colonial State and the Malian independent State (from the 1960 independence movement) are both considered by Arabs and Tuaregs as external entities, whatever the form of their relation, good or bad.
Ifri, a foundation recognized as being of public utility, relies largely on private donors – companies and individuals – to guarantee its sustainability and intellectual independence. Through their funding, donors help maintain the Institute's position among the world's leading think tanks. By benefiting from an internationally recognized network and expertise, donors refine their understanding of geopolitical risk and its consequences on global politics and the economy. In 2026, Ifri partners with over 90 French and international companies and organizations.
