Gender based violence (GBV) is a global epidemic. Deeply rooted in unequal power relations, GBV remains the most oppressive manifestation of gender inequality. It is most often perpetrated against women and girls. GBV comes in many forms, but intimate partner violence (IPV) and non-partner sexual violence remain especially pervasive across economies, cultures, ethnicities, socio-economic groups, and age groups.
Addressing Gender-Based Violence To Accelerate Gender Equality
World Bank Group
Collective efforts and coordinated action to find solutions to the 70+ million internally displaced globally is urgent. PROGRESS analyses data, amplifies voices and experiences of IDPs, returnees and host communities, and asks new questions to find solutions to prolonged internal displacement.
Progress 2023 Periodic Global Report on the State of Solutions to Internal Displacement
Relief Web
From 21 August to 1 September 2023, delegates debated a zero draft of the United Nations Treaty on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes, or more succinctly referred to as the ‘cybercrime treaty’, at a UN session in New York.
Cybercrime Treaty Summary of the GI-TOC's key positions
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
As the existential threat of climate change continues to intensify, the future of fossil fuels has been thrust into the international spotlight. Reducing hydrocarbon production and consumption, known as fossil fuel phase down, has gained traction in international climate talks during the last two years amid warnings that the window to avoid catastrophic warming is closing quickly.
In the eye of the storm: The battle over fossil fuels at COP28
Middle East Institute
So when Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Lebanese Hezbollah and the most powerful non-state actor in the world, says that he doesn’t wish to broaden the war in Gaza to help his Palestinian ally Hamas, the region should breathe a sigh of relief – because his words matter.
The closer Israel gets to destroying Hamas, the more likely war with Hezbollah becomes
Chatham House
India’s G20 presidency spotlighted the pivotal role of digital public infrastructure in fostering sustainable and inclusive development. Such a network is crucial for Africa’s rapidly expanding digital landscape. Yet without strategic actions the continent risks succumbing to a new type of resource curse — the digital one.
Reading of the Week: How to Achieve African Digital Sovereignty
The South African Institute of International Affairs
In October this year, Africa’s air force chiefs of staff and air force industry representatives gathered in Senegal. They agreed the continent urgently needed to develop sophisticated air defences in response to a growing threat – the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones.
Drones as weapons. Africa needs better data to anticipate risk
Institute for Security Studies
The paid care economy plays a crucial role in employing women. This sector also acts as a mechanism to reduce care work within households, which disproportionately affects women. This paper examines the evolution of the paid care economy in Egypt, over the period 2009-2021, drawing on three different data sources to assess trends in employment and working conditions.
Working Conditions in the Paid Care Economy in Egypt. Improvement or Deterioration?
Economic Research Forum
The United States Is Building Out New Clean Energy Industries. Building out new clean energy industries and securing the necessary supply chains to sustain them are major priorities for the United States. The combination of key mineral endowments in African countries and U.S. objectives to reorient clean energy supply chains away from competitors like China can serve as the foundation for a new economic and strategic relationship.
How Can African Countries Participate in U.S. Clean Energy Supply Chains?
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Southern Iraq, once known as the Garden of Eden, is poised to become a scorching wasteland in the forthcoming decades. A study, led by this author in collaboration with the chief researcher of the Israel Meteorological Service, Dr Yoav Levi, projects that in the not-too-distant future, residents of this region will endure hours daily with temperatures soaring above 55°C.
Reading of The Week: The other looming crisis in the Middle East - Climate change
Observer Research Foundation
At present, five different scenarios for how the situation in Gaza could develop seem most plausible. These scenarios are not mutually exclusive and could well overlap or follow one another.
Five scenarios for Gaza and how the international community can shape its future
Middle East Institute
Possession of legal identity is a link between citizens and the myriad government services and social, economic and legal rights available to them. However, around 50% of Africa’s population do not have a legal identity, making it increasingly difficult for people to access vital government services such as healthcare and social grants, and to set up bank accounts, register SIM cards, and apply for other important documents such as passports.
Digital Identification and Biometrics In East Africa: Opportunities and Concerns
South African Institute of International Affairs
President William Ruto of Kenya recently announced that Kenya’s borders would be open to visitors from the entirety of Africa, with no visas required, by the end of 2023.A few days later, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda followed suit, saying all Africans would be able to enter Rwanda without visas.
Visa-free travel for Africans: why Kenya and Rwanda have taken a step in the right direction
The Conversation
La dernière série de coups d’État en Afrique subsaharienne cache-t-elle un spectaculaire retournement contre les processus politiques fondés sur le principe électoral qui avaient été engagés dans les années 1990? Pour sept pays concernés (Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinée, Mali, Niger, Soudan, Tchad), la prise du pouvoir par les militaires signe la fin d’un cycle, celui de la tentative de démocratisation par l’élection, et l’entrée dans un nouveau cycle, à l’issue inconnue.
En Afrique, des coups dÉtat, signes de lépuisement prématuré de la démocratie importee
Policy Center For The New South
Africa’s mounting debt crisis could undermine the continent’s economic progress and stability. The problem has worsened with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Europe, and the impacts of climate change. The current debt situation in Africa has reached alarming proportions and could have severe consequences for human security.
Reading of the Week: Navigating the complex terrain of China-Africa debt relations
Institute for Security Studies
In recent years, much attention has focused on the impact of global shocks and crises on African countries. This has included an analysis of the COVID-19 shock (Raga and te Velde, 2020, 2022). Other work examines the impact of food price shocks on food security in African countries (Wiggins, 2022). Our understanding of the impact of the Russia–Ukraine war (RUW) and how it affects Africa’s economic recovery and threatens long-term productivity and social development is currently evolving.
Building resilience in African countries
ODI Emerging Analysis
America’s inability to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program after exiting the 2015 nuclear deal — to halt the Islamic Republic’s subsequent accumulation of fissile material and to forge a “longer and stronger” deal — should prompt Washington to reassess its Iran policy. Such a reckoning should acknowledge that the United States has never used all of the implements in its policy toolkit to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions, while the tools it has generally relied on — diplomacy, sanctions, and (to a much lesser extent) the threat of force — are less effective today due to a shifting geopolitical landscape.
Americas Failing Iran Nuclear Policy: Time for a Course Adjustment
War on the Rocks
Initial reactions to Hamas’s October 7 bloody attack on Israelis and Israel’s declaration of war focused on the short term: how strongly would Israel react and what would its war aims be? It was precisely such short-term thinking—on the part of Israeli, Palestinian, American, and other leaders who sought to postpone rather than address issues—that contributed to the current crisis. Israel has finally spelled out war aims, but they are very ambitious: to oust Hamas from governance and to destroy its military capability. That new, yet limited, clarity has pushed public discussions and private, official meetings to begin arrangements for the day after.
There Might Be No Day After in Gaza
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Gulf states are key lenders of last resort, playing a significant role in rescuing distressed states in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond since the 1960s. This new report examines in depth how the Gulf states have pursued bailout diplomacy to cultivate influence and shape their wider region.
Gulf Bailout Diplomacy: Aid as Economic Statecraft in a Turbulent Region
International Institute for Strategic Studies
15 October marked six months since the conflict between the SAF and the RSF first broke out in Sudan. The conflict has gradually expanded from the capital Khartoum to Sudan’s provinces, drawing in new actors as rebel groups and ethnic militias choose allies or pursue independent agendas. Peace talks between the SAF and the RSF have thus far failed to contain the fighting, with at least nine ceasefire agreements failing since April due to repeated violations.
Sudan: RSF Expands Territorial Control as Ceasefire Talks Resume in Jeddah
ACLED
An estimated 82 percent of the record 149 million Africans facing acute food insecurity are in conflict-affected countries underscoring that conflict continues to be the primary driver of Africa’s food crisis. An estimated 149 million Africans are facing acute food insecurity—an increase of 12 million people from a year ago. This equates to a risk category of 3 or higher (Crisis, Emergency, and Catastrophe) on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale of 1 to 5.
Conflict Remains the Dominant Driver of Africas Food Crisis
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Recognizing the urgency of addressing humanitarian needs for all people affected and displaced by Storm Daniel including immediate needs of all vulnerable migrants, IOM is implementing all its operations ensuring respect for human rights and dignity on-the-ground. The Organization is supporting local authorities and is working closely with its partners, complementing and upscaling the relief and response efforts to alleviate the suffering of the affected population.
IOM Flash Appeal: Libya-Storm Daniel
International Organization for Migration
Human rights and anti-crime regimes are grounded in two distinct but interconnected legal frameworks. While human rights frameworks aim to protect individuals from the state (and other violators), the legal framework designed to combat organized crime – the UNTOC and its protocols – aims to protect the state from criminal interests.
Four reasons why organized crime is a human rights issue
Global Initiative Against Organized Crime
In the year 2000, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women and peace and security stressed the link between gender equality and international peace and security. The resolution underscored the importance of the full and equal participation of women in all efforts towards the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, including UN peace operations.
Women in multilateral peace operations 2023: what is the state of play?
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
To provide an updated overview of the illicit trafficking of Tabernanthe iboga (‘Iboga’) from Gabon. According to several sources, criminal networks involved on Iboga illicit harvesting, trafficking, selling and distribution are composed mostly of nationals from Gabon and Cameroon with connections to Europe and North America, facilitating the flow of Iboga to satisfy the global demand.
Illicit trafficking of natural psychotropics from Gabon: special focus on Iboga
Enhancing Africa’s response to transnational organized crime
That is one of many questions that have arisen in the days since Hamas’ Oct. 7 incursion into Israel and attacks on Israeli forces and civilians. The absence of early warnings from data collected via sensors, cameras, and surveillance drones along the border’s “smart fence,” as well as the penetration of the Iron Dome missile defense system, has led to a sense that Israel experienced a tragic “high-tech failure.”
The October 7 Hamas attack: An Israeli overreliance on technology?
Middle East Institute
Solving Iraq’s demographic crisis will require immediate and comprehensive action at both the state and individual level.
Without these solutions, we risk extensively harming our future generations.
Adressing Iraqs Environmental Challenges: Population Growth
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
There have been three major waves of coups in post-independence Africa. The first, between the 1960s and 1970s, saw the overthrow of liberation leaders whose political visions conflicted with the interests of major colonial powers. The second wave from 1990 to 2001 followed the failure of 1980s African leaders, mostly military, to embrace democracy and meet citizens’ needs. Since 2021, the third wave – in Sudan, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon – has differed from those in previous decades.
Reading of the Week: Africas three waves of coups
Institute for Security Studies
Since August 2022, the Somali federal government has engaged in a counter-insurgency campaign against al-Shabaab. Somali troops achieved some successes, including dislodging the militants from hundreds of locations previously under al-Shabaab’s control in Hirshabelle and Galmudug states in central Somalia. Clan militias and local power brokers provided active support to the counter-insurgency, sharing operational information with the government and giving legitimacy to government forces.
Somalia Al-Shabaab Strikes Back at Local Administrators
ACLED
Africa has shown resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced fiscal space, debt burdens, climate change, and economic headwinds. Over the past decade, we as a continent have continued to reduce poverty and grow the middle class. We are poised to embark on a transformation journey to help us reach our fullest economic potential. Now is the time for Africa to accelerate its evolution as a single market, a valuable player in value chains, and a destination for investment, particularly in the green economy.
Marrakech Framework: An African Agenda for Global Financial Architecture
African Center for Economic Transformation
The European Union has always devoted strong attention to humanitarian issues in the Sahel, especially as regards the food crisis. Since 2010, the EU has helped more than 100 million people lacking access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food, making it one of the world’s major donors in this area. In the Sahel region, the EU has been the second biggest donor after the United States with 850 million euro of aid, 35 per cent of which was allocated to the food security livelihoods (FSL) sector and 25 per cent to nutrition.
Beyond humanitarian aid: The EUs approach to alleviating food crisis in the Sahel at a time of global insecurity
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Solange Adelola Faladé (1925–2004) was a French-Beninois doctor, anthropologist and psychoanalyst. The first woman Franco-African
psychoanalyst in France, she founded her own psychoanalytical society, l’École freudienne, in 1983. The aim of this article is twofold:
on the one hand, to introduce Faladé’s life and works, and on the other, to discuss her theory of multiracialism.
A lesson for the world: Solange Faladés anticolonial multiracialism
Taylor & Francis Online
On the Horizon offers a snapshot into emergent conflicts and crises in the next three to six months in a clear, accessible format, identifying triggers, key dates to watch and potential behaviour of conflict actors, to support global conflict prevention efforts. This edition includes entries on Bangladesh, DR Congo, Ethiopia and Somaliland.
On the Horizon: October 2023-March 2024
International Crisis Group
A senior Houthi delegation arrived in Riyadh on September 14, the first such trip since the outset of the conflict. Bilateral Saudi-Houthi talks began in earnest after a failure to extend a UN-sanctioned truce last year and accelerated after a Beijing-brokered détente between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the spring. Talks appeared to stall over the summer, but the visit suggests progress on a deal could be shortly forthcoming.
Houthis Make Official Visit to Riyadh for Talks with Saudi Arabia
Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies
Together, the Arab Gulf states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - have become a global power. Led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and to some extent Qatar, they have a major influence on the world’s energy, financial, political, and, consequently, environmental affairs. This gives rise to the question: How big a role do the Arab Gulf states play in steering the global climate change agenda?
The Arab Gulf Helps Fuel the Global Economy. What It Means for the Energy Transition
Baker Institute for Public Policy
Over 180 kidnappings were recorded in the war-torn countries of Mali and Burkina Faso in the first half of 2023, an average of one a day. This aligns with the trend in recent years, which has seen the kidnapping industry expand since 2019, with about 400 victims in each of the two countries every year. Most victims are Sahelian, as communities are caught in the crossfire between conflicting parties.
Reading of the Week: Kidnappings in the Sahel - a favoured weapon of war
Institute For Security Studies
A lack of strong security sector oversight institutions in Africa has hampered efforts to improve military professionalism, enabled corrupt officials, and hobbled defense and security forces on the continent. Nine military coups d’état in seven countries since 2020 underscore the continued politicization and lack of professionalism plaguing certain defense forces.
Oversight and Accountability to Improve Security Sector Governance in Africa
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Covid-19. The Russian invasion of Ukraine. Commodity price volatility. The rise of global inflation and interest rates. Currency depreciations among indebted middle-income economies. And now, natural disasters. As a sequence of events, the consequences can be both tragic and long-lasting. After analyzing the macroeconomic prospects of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, this edition of the regional Economic Update assesses the human toll of macroeconomic shocks in terms of lost jobs and deteriorating livelihoods of the people of MENA.
Balancing Act: Jobs and Wages in the Middle East and North Africa When Crises Hit
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
In 1950, approximately 128.2 million people were aged 65 and older, just 5.1 per cent of the world’s population.
Today, the world has 807.8 million older people, a sixfold increase accounting for 10 per cent of the global population. Since women outlive men by an average of 5.2 years, they comprise a greater share of older persons.
Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals The gender snapshot 2023
UN WOMEN
With the United States shifting its security focus from the Middle East to the AsiaPacific, other major powers are seen as potential players that might fill the void in Middle East security. The fact that India is one such player is further manifested in the recently announced India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor.
India Looks West while the MENA Region Turns Eastwards
Middle East Institute
Over the last month, we have seen three summits – the BRICS, G20 and inaugural Africa Climate Summit – converge on three key areas for development: climate finance, the just transition and global financial reform. At the recent BRICS summit, the world watched as the BRICS group added six members, including three energy powers – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran.
The Expanded BRICS Can Be a Force to Be Reckoned With in Shaping a New World Energy Order
The South African Institute of International Affairs
Thus far, October’s exchanges of fire between Hizbollah and Israel have stayed within the sides’ red lines. Still, with an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza looming, risks are tremendous. A Gaza ceasefire, while improbable, is the only way to rule out a broader war.
Deterrence between Israel and Hizbollah Must Hold
International Crisis Group
In an official government statement submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference on September 25, Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman wrote, “The Kingdom has decided recently to rescind the Small Quantities Protocol and implement the full Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. The Kingdom is working, within the framework of its national ecosystem, to establish the necessary mechanisms for this full implementation, following best international practices and experiences"
Saudi Arabia Signals It Will Accept Stricter Nuclear Inspections
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Africa faces a serious challenge of youth unemployment, which affects millions of young people and hampers the continent’s economic transformation potential. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), about 13 million young people in Africa are unemployed, and around 60 million young African people are not engaged in employment, education, or training as of 2022. By 2050, Sub-Saharan Africa will have twice as many people as it has today, and more than half will be under 25 years old.
Reading of the Week: Creating More and Better Jobs for African Youth through School-to-Work Transition Programs
African Center for Economic Transformation
In countries throughout Africa, including Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone, gangs play a pivotal role in political violence. When they are not perpetrating political violence, the same gangs often engage in a range of illicit markets. Yet, so far, analyses have not adequately scrutinized the link between gangs, political violence and illicit markets, predominantly understanding them as separate phenomena. The intersection between them has been understated, with important implications for response strategies.
Do not come out to vote
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Africa faces a serious challenge of youth unemployment, which affects millions of young people and hampers the continent’s economic transformation potential. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), about 13 million young people in Africa are unemployed, and around 60 million young African people are not engaged in employment, education, or training as of 2022. By 2050, Sub-Saharan Africa will have twice as many people as it has today, and more than half will be under 25 years old.
Guinée-Bissau - Mobiliser les financements du secteur privé en faveur du climat et de la croissance verte
African Center for Economic Transformation
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies started researching the role of hydrogen in the energy transition in 2020. Since then the interest in hydrogen has continued to grow globally across the energy industry. A key research question has been the extent to which clean hydrogen can be scaled up at reasonable cost and whether it can play a significant role in the global energy system. In April 2022, OIES launched a new Hydrogen Research Programme under the overarching theme of ’building business cases for a hydrogen economy’. This overarching theme was selected based on the observation that most clean hydrogen.
Clean Hydrogen Roadmap: Is Greater Realism Leading to More Credible Paths Forward?
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
The increasing frequency and magnitude of climate-exacerbated hazards, coupled with the growing vulnerability of societies worldwide, are raising the financial costs of disasters. Governments finance a larger share of these costs through post-disaster measures. However, reducing risk and optimizing the allocation of pre-disaster resources can reduce the negative financial impact on governments.
Managing Disaster Costs
ETH Zurich
On 7 October, Hamas carried out a massive assault on Israel, drawing immediate comparisons to the 1973 conflict, when the Egyptian and Syrian armies similarly breached Israeli defences. In this Q&A, Crisis Group lays out what happened and where the fighting may be headed.
A Second October War in Israel-Palestine
International Crisis Group
Thirty years after the signing of the Oslo accords, the Middle East peace process has given way to a one-state reality of inequality and open-ended conflict. Palestinians are now living under modern-day apartheid. In the absence of any prospect of reaching a negotiated end to Israeli occupation, violence is escalating across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, reaching levels not seen since the second intifada.
House in disorder: How Europeans can help Palestinians fix their political system
European Council on Foreign Relations
During the summer of 2023, al-Shabaab’s operations along the Kenya-Somalia border have significantly increased, raising concerns over a possible flare-up of cross-border activity. Between June and early August, ACLED records over 90 political violence events involving al-Shabaab militants in the border area, over half of which occurred in the Lower Juba region of Somalia (see map below). Increased al-Shabaab activity in the border area has resulted in a marked surge in attacks targeting security forces and civilians in northeastern Kenya and coastal Lamu county since June 2023, and a parallel surge in al-Shabaab activity recorded in neighboring Jubaland state in Somalia in July.
Kenya-Somalia Border: Rising al-Shabaab Threat in the Wake of ATMIS Drawdown
Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project
Physical and electronic infrastructure must be in place to support digital identification, document exchange, payment and online trade in Africa. Physical or ’hard‘ infrastructure includes a reliable power supply, internet connectivity and secure data-storage facilities. This infrastructure enables broadband internet access, providing a foundation for individual and business participation in the digital economy.
Strengthening Africas Digital Infrastructure for Greater Economic Resilience
The South African Institute for International Affairs
The mysterious plane crash in which the head of the Wagner Group and nine other people were killed has immediate political and military implications. What is the likely future of the infamous mercenary organization, and is the Putin regime more stable in the aftermath of the event?
The Death of Prigozhin: A Short-Term Threat Removal for Putin?
The Institute for National Security Studies
Over the years, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) committed as a tactic of terrorism has taken various forms, notably: forced recruitment; rape; forced marriage, pregnancy, and abortion; sexual slavery; and the use of women and girls to carry out suicide attacks. Numerous terrorist groups, including ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, Ansar Eddine, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda, are known to commit such crimes in the states where they operate. In 2016, an emerging focus on the linkages between terrorism and SGBV resulted in the UNSC’s affirmation that victims of sexual violence committed by terrorist groups should be recognised as victims of terrorism.
Time for a victim-centric approach in prosecuting sexual and gender-based violence committed by terrorists
International Center for Counter Terrorism
After more than a decade in which it was preoccupied with the civil war, the Syrian military, while turning increasing attention toward its old enemy, Israel, seeks to regain its former strength. How is the Syrian military fortifying itself on both the conventional and nonconventional levels, and what should Israel do?
Rebuilding the Syrian Military: The Threat to Israel
The Institute for National Security Studies
In recent months Iran has been engaged in a campaign to improve its standing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in various countries that are not aligned with the West. Will this help Iran mitigate its international isolation and alleviate the sanctions regime?
Irans Global Diplomatic-Economic Campaign
The Institute for National Security Studies
Motorbikes are one of the most widely trafficked commodities in the Sahel, deeply embedded in the Sahelian criminal economy. These trafficking networks are a crucial source for armed groups, particularly in the face of growing restrictions on trade.
Reading of the Week: Motorbikes and armed groups in the Sahel
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Nguen Monytuil Wejang is one of the longest serving governors in South Sudan. In Unity state, he has maintained his rule by fragmenting the opposition, violently displacing the population, and assembling a diverse political coalition. However, with elections postulated for 2024, and electioneering in full swing, cracks are appearing in Monytuil's control of Unity, with the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps of Rubkona county transformed into the frontline of a political competition for the state.
The Body Count: Controlling Populations in Unity State
Small Arms Survey
What are the motivations for internal migration, and how do social relations influence the migration process? In answering these questions, this paper focuses on internal migration to Accra, the capital of Ghana. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 migrants in different areas of the city and analysed using narrative analysis. We found that livelihood and lifestyle dimensions work in tandem as motivations for migration. While the main reasons for moving to Accra, according to the interviewees, are related to livelihood, they are reflected and performed in culturally bound lifestyles. Furthermore, while social relations are rarely the main motivator to migrate, the social networks of migrants constitute an important enabling (or disabling) factor in shaping both livelihood and lifestyle dimensions of the migration process. Finally, we found that different ties – including emotional and economic – have different meanings across the migrants’ social network throughout the migration process.
The cake is in Accra: a case study on internal migration in Ghana
Taylor & Francis Online
This report summarises the key results of the closed-door roundtable, held in Rome on 8 June 2023 and organised by the IAI. Joined by a diverse group of experts, practitioners, policymakers and civil society representatives from Europe and the MENA region, the workshop provided an opportunity to reframe the nature and objectives of the EU–Tunisia relationship, moving from a short-term emergency focus to a more comprehensive appreciation of the multiple political, economic and governance challenges facing Tunisia in the short and medium term.
Reframing EU–Tunisia Relations: Democracy, Governance, Migration
Istituto Affari Internazionali
There are many ways in which technology could help to counter the diversion of conventional weapons. Yet despite some discussions in international meetings on conventional arms control, we see limited evidence of technologies being used to strengthen or enhance efforts to prevent, detect, and investigate the diversion of conventional arms, their ammunition, and parts and components.
Technologies to Counter the Diversion of Small Arms and Light Weapons, and Components of Conventional Weapons
UN Institute for Disarmament Research
A zero draft of the United Nations Treaty on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes, or more succinctly referred to as the cybercrime treaty, has been produced and will be debated in an August 2023 UN session in New York. In this context, states are debating the first global cyber-treaty, with a focus on criminality and state powers to address crime.
Closing Pandoras box: UN Cybercrime Treaty negotiations
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
What Washington considers de-escalation, Tehran sees as an opportunity to consolidate its nuclear gains, avoid accountability, and position itself to cross the nuclear weapons threshold at a time of its choosing.
Irans Nuclear Diplomacy: Feint and Advance
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Unlike with the Abraham Accords, the Palestinian issue is expected to assume center stage in any possible arrangement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Why is that, and why should Israel realize the opportunity to distance itself from the steep slope leading toward a one-state reality?
The Palestinian Authority is Playing on the Normalization Court
The Institute for National Security Studies
This policy brief examines the prevalence of online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA) in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cape Verde, highlighting key risk factors. Data on OCSEA indicates an acceleration in uploads since 2019. The case studies reveal gaps and shortcomings in victim identification, protection and prosecution. Urgent action is required to prevent devastating consequences for individuals in West Africa.
Reading of the Week: Online child sexual exploitation and abuse in West Africa
ENACT Africa
With increasing frequency of disasters and consequent damages, the need for high-quality, accessible and timely information on the likelihood and impacts of hydrological hazards cannot be overemphasized. ClimDev Africa Special Fund (CDSF) facilitates the development and use of climate services to effectively address the growing challenges of climate and weather disasters in Africa. The Fund has contributed to strengthening the capacities of regional, national, and local institutions as well as communities to enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning systems.
Strengthening the Capacity to Reduce Africas Vulnerability to Climate and Weather Disasters
African Development Bank Group
Peacekeeping is getting more dangerous. Illicit arms, ammunition, and explosives are key factors in this increasingly hostile environment. The United Nations needs to adapt to ensure the safety of peacekeepers and their ability to implement mandated tasks. The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) illustrates both the possible dangers to current missions as well as lessons learned in efforts to mitigate the impact of illicit arms. This brief reviews MINUSMA’s experiences in these regards.
Peacekeeping in hostile environments: The Impact of illicit arms on MINUSMA
UN Institute for Disarmament Research
Cocaine trafficking through West Africa, following the well-established route from Latin America to the European consumer market, appears to be in a phase of sharp growth. Since 2016, the majority of consignments transiting West Africa begin their journey in Brazil. The Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) the largest criminal organization in Brazil – is pivotal to understanding Brazils newfound importance for cocaine in West Africa.
Reading Of The Week: Atlantic connections. The PCC and the Brazil-West Africa cocaine trade
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
This report reviews and examines the use of risk mitigation and transfer (RMT) instruments in private utility-scale renewable energy investment. The trillions of dollars needed to achieve global climate goals are more than an abstract number. They need to be channeled through viable projects that result in desirable outcomes, such as renewable energy infrastructure in developing countries.
Risk mitigation and transfer for renewable energy investments: a conceptual review
Stockholm Environment Institute
China is the largest developing country. Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. The China-Africa economic relationship has developed rapidly over the last two decades. China has increased its investment in Africa over the last four decades. Flows surged from $75 million (2003) to $5 billion (2021).This has had both positive and negative impacts on Africa. Infrastructure improvement, job creation, and overall economic growth can be listed as positive results, leading to improved connectivity, trade, and transportation in a continent where infrastructure integration has always been challenging. Creating such opportunities in Africa has supported lower unemployment rates, particularly among young people, which is fundamental in a continent that enjoys a positive demographic bonus 2021.
The Impact of Chinese Investments in Africa
Policy Center for the New South
In the vast semi-arid expanse of West Africas Sahel, a series of military coups have dealt a heavy blow to the regions political stability and democratic transformation, and created a new era of uncertainty and insecurity.
Why West Africa and the Sahel are witnessing a resurgence in coups and political instability
Arab News
A number of MENA countries face high debt levels. Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia are in a precarious situation. Lebanon is already in default. These debt difficulties are rooted in persistent structural issues related to governance and regulatory frameworks and bloated public sectors. The situation has been exacerbated by global economic fluctuations, the pandemic, and Russias invasion of Ukraine. Unless reforms are made quickly, debt restructurings may become inevitable. If inevitable, it is preferable to do them preemptively, as part of a broader set of corrective actions.
Debt Clouds over the Middle East
Economic Research Forum
Of all the challenges to Saudi Vision 20301 Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans (MBS) high-stakes plan for life after oil arguably none is greater than Irans threat to Saudi national security. To succeed, MBS must protect the kingdom, which will require not only fortifying its defenses against further Iranian and Houthi attacks but also establishing a level of deterrence against Tehran.
Saudi Arabias Deterrence Options Against Iran
Middle East Institute
In the vast semi-arid expanse of West Africas Sahel, a series of military coups have dealt a heavy blow to the region’s political stability and democratic transformation, and created a new era of uncertainty and insecurity.
Why West Africa and the Sahel are witnessing a resurgence in coups and political instability
Arab News
This policy brief analyses the extent to which diaspora investment can support economic development and livelihoods, with a particular focus on fragile settings. Using the case study of Somalia, the brief explores some of the main advantages and risks associated with this tool. On the one hand, diaspora investment can channel finance into productive activities in the diaspora’s country of origin, supporting the creation of revenue streams, while also generating returns for diaspora investors. On the other hand, particularly in fragile settings, these investments can also undermine social cohesion and even increase the likelihood of violent conflict, especially if they are channelled along identity lines.
Promoting Diaspora Investment in Fragile Settings: The Case of Somalia
Clingendael
The evidence-informed policy ecosystem has evolved significantly over the past two decades. Alongside an increase in the number of impact evaluations, the community of researchers and organizations in low- and middle-income countries conducting these studies continues to grow. Locally immersed researchers can help increase the policy use and utility of impact evaluation and related evidence, bringing critical insight on the priorities of policymakers and windows of opportunity to inform decision-making. Still, despite their vital role, many locally immersed research organizations encounter chronic funding challenges and other institutional and professional barriers.
Taking Stock of Organizations with Impact Evaluation Capacity Headquartered in sub-Saharan Africa: A New Database and Landscaping Analysis
Center for Global Development
The BRICS coalition is underpinned by three foundational pillars, relating to financial and economic collaboration, political and security cooperation and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. The 15th Summit, centered on the ‘BRICS and Africa’ theme, decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as new members of the group.
BRICS: 15th Summit and Beyond
Manohar Parrokar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses
The Typology of Online Harms aims to provide a foundational common language, facilitating multistakeholder and cross-jurisdictional
discussions to advance digital safety. Developed by a working group of the Global Coalition for Digital Safety, comprising representatives from industry, governments, civil society and academia, this typology serves as a foundation for facilitating multistakeholder discussions and cross-jurisdictional dialogues to find a common terminology and shared understanding of online safety.
Toolkit for Digital Safety Design Interventions and Innovations: Typology of Online Harms
World Economic Forum
This report assesses the environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices of Chinese financed infrastructure projects in Africa, within the context of substantial investment needs for African nations to achieve the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Elevating ESG: Empirical Lessons on Environmental, Social and Governance Implementation of Chinese Projects in Africa
Global Development Policy Center
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022, deepened the economic crises that many countries in the Arab world were already facing, while helping others, especially in the Gulf region. Today, hydrocarbon-importing countries are having to deal with unprecedented increases in food and energy prices, as well as soaring levels of unemployment, debt, and inflation.
Reform or Recklessness? Which Path for the Arab Region?
Carnegie Middle East Center
The oil and natural gas industry has historically played a pivotal role in the economies and political power structures of Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, generating fortunes from the export of these fossil fuels and thus enhancing their international influence. However, as the world shifts toward a cleaner, more sustainable future, the GCC states are also embracing this proud transition, moving from oil wells to power cells.
From oil wells to power cells: How Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors are securing their future through battery technology
The Middle east Institute
West Africa has become a hotspot for the trafficking of medical products, with estimations that the illicit market makes up to 80% of medical products in Burkina Faso and Guinea, the two case studies of this report. Despite its enormous scale, there are gaps in knowledge that this report seeks to address by providing a qualitative analysis of the market’s key characteristics and enablers (corruption and insecurity), and an assessment of national and regional responses.
Reading of the Week: Bad Pharma - Trafficking illicit medical products in West Africa
ENACT Africa
Accelerating the growth of the green economy should happen rapidly through policy actions. If the global green transition is left to market forces, it can have grave consequences for the world. Considering the varied levels of technological advancements among countries, some will be better placed to develop and push forward green technology, whereas others will simply be adopting these new technologies.
Egypts Green Transition: Nurturing a Sustainable Economy and Workforce
Middle East Council on Global Affairs
This policy brief analyses the extent to which diaspora investment can support economic development and livelihoods, with a particular focus on fragile settings. Using the case study of Somalia, the brief explores some of the main advantages and risks associated with this tool.
Promoting diaspora investment in fragile settings: The case of Somalia
Clingendael
Over the last decade, China has gradually expanded its presence in the Indian Ocean, combining its military modernization and cooperation with partners with active diplomacy towards the island and coastal states of the region. China’s presence and capabilities threaten the freedom and influence of other actors in the area, including India and the EU.
Reading of the Week: The battle for the Indian Ocean. How the EU and India can strengthen maritime security
European Council on Foreign Ralations
Emboldened by the rise of a multipolar world order, South Africa’s political elite is increasingly caught between its allegiance to traditional Western allies, whose values represent the national ambition and are enshrined in the Constitution of a liberal democratic order, and emerging powers such as China and Russia.
As South Africa looks to Russia, how do citizens see influence of foreign powers?
Afro Barometer
Steel, a vital material for human societies, enables progress in various sectors. However, the steel industry contributes about 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions due to its reliance on fossil fuels. The circular economy for steel can mitigate the detrimental impacts that arise from the steel industry. This report, prepared by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in close collaboration with India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, aims to facilitate the discussion on a circular steel industry under India's G20 Presidency.
Towards a Circular Steel Industry
International Renewable Energy Agency
Steel, a vital material for human societies, enables progress in various sectors. However, the steel industry contributes about 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions due to its reliance on fossil fuels. The circular economy for steel can mitigate the detrimental impacts that arise from the steel industry. This report, prepared by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in close collaboration with India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, aims to facilitate the discussion on a circular steel industry under India's G20 Presidency.
Towards a Circular Steel Industry
International Renewable Energy Agency
A struggle is underway for control of Area C (60 percent of the West Bank). The Palestinians are eager to control the area, which they see as essential to a contiguous and viable Palestinian state. In contrast, the Israeli government is working to push the Palestinians out of the area and prepare to annex it. Normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is an opportunity for a change of approach in the struggle to regulate the control over Area C and block an emerging, dangerous one-state reality.
The Struggle over Area C: Change Direction toward a Space for Understanding with the Palestinian Authority
The Institute for National Security Studies
Lebanon needs a new aid strategy. It will need generous support to recover when reforms are initiated. But it also needs all the help it can get now to alleviate its current misery. What is required is a donor strategy that walks on two legs: a first leg that offers a big reconstruction push conditioned on economic and institutional reforms and, in parallel, a second leg that provides urgent support to the Lebanese population.
Lebanon needs a renewed donor support strategy
Middle East Institute
Liberian President George Weah declared rape a national emergency in 2020, after signing a Domestic Violence Act the previous year. Despite these steps, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls persist, perpetuated by traditional social norms as well as social dislocations and a lack of accountability as a legacy of the country’s 14-year civil war.
Gender-based violence tops womens-rights issues in Liberia; citizens say it is a criminal matter
Afro Barometer
Despite some progress having been made, a large proportion of the African population is excluded from the digital economy due to physical infrastructure barriers.
Strengthening Africas Digital Infrastructure for Greater Economic Resilience
The South African Institute of International Affairs
Liberian President George Weah declared rape a national emergency in 2020, after signing a Domestic Violence Act the previous year. Despite these steps, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls persist, perpetuated by traditional social norms as well as social dislocations and a lack of accountability as a legacy of the country’s 14-year civil war.
Gender-based violence tops womens-rights issues in Liberia; citizens say it is a criminal matter
Afro Barometer
Libya’s political crisis took a new turn after its House of Representatives, based in the eastern city of Tobruk, approved a plan to appoint an interim government that would reunify the country’s two parallel executives as part of a roadmap to general elections. House members made this decision with backing from representatives of the rival Tripoli-based assembly, the High State Council, and from east-based military strongman Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Forming a Unity Government May be Libyas Best Bet for Healing Rift
International Crisis Group
On the morning of 22 May, 2023, an artificial intelligence (AI) generated image of an explosion at the Pentagon surfaced online and spread like wildfire throughout social media. Multiple news sources reported and shared the AI-generated image on their platforms. As a result, markets responded to the reports and image, and the S&P 500 index fell in just minutes after its reporting, causing a $500 billion market cap swing, even though this image was quickly proven as fake.
The Newest Weapon in Irregular Warfare. Artificial Intelligence
Irregular Warfare Center
Since 2006, “unspoken rules” have prevented tensions between Hizbollah and Israel from blowing up into large-scale conflict. But the mutual deterrence is fragile. In this video of our In Black & White series, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Lebanon, David Wood, explains how a misstep on one side could lead the other to respond forcefully.
Israeli-Hizbollah Mutual Deterrence Must Be Preserved
International Crisis Group
This paper examines debt sustainability in Jordan. First, it notes Jordan’s economic trajectory, which has been characterized by long stop-go cycles; real GDP per capita peaked in the early 1980s followed by a precipitous decline in 1992, then peaked again in the early 2010s and has since declined to levels last seen in the early 2000s. Second, these long swings have been associated with increasing reliance on international support. Much of this international support has contributed to increasing levels of public debt, the composition of which is shifting from domestic to external browning – something that should be examined against the exchange rate that has remained pegged for three decades. Third, due to unprecedented high rates of economic growth during the 2000s, the debt-to-GDP ratio was reduced by half during the 2000s even though the debt level doubled.
Assessing the Sustainability of Jordans Public Debt: The Importance of Reviving the Private Sector and Improving Social Outcomes
Economic Research Forum
This study explores the complex relationships between urbanisation and transnational organised crime, focusing on how illicit arms shape urban violence and are leveraged by criminal groups. It maps the nexus between arms trafficking actors and criminal groups operating in other organised markets in urban contexts and proposes interventions that engage with diverse layers of urban governance and stakeholders in the cities. The study focuses on Bamako and Lagos as urban centres in which arms trafficking and urbanisation intersect.
Reading of the Week: Silencing the guns in Bamako and Lagos
ENACT Africa
Benin is doing its part to minimise the adverse effects of climate change by adopting a stringent set of nationally determined commitments (NDCs). These include measures to reduce emissions in the agricultural, energy and forestry sectors. The government has made significant progress in meeting Benin’s NDCs since their inception. For example, major infrastructure investments have been made in both the energy and agricultural sectors. Overall, the objectives set out in the NDCs align well with the country’s national priorities, such as improving food insecurity and access to electricity. However, the government’s policy response to COVID-19 showed little overlap with the NDCs. Integration with future emergency policy responses could be achieved by aligning the government’s monetary policy with the NDCs. In particular, liquidity earmarked for the agricultural and microfinance sectors could be directed at projects that advance the achievement of the NDCs.
Benins Nationally Determined Contributions and its Economy
The South African Institute of International Affairs
Central Africa experienced accelerated growth in 2022, recording a real GDP growth rate of5.0% in 2022, up from 3.4% in 2021, according to African Development Bank statistics. This renew economic activity was driven by favourable commodity prices, particularly in a region with net exporters of not only crude oil, but also minerals and other commodities. This regional growth momentum was mainly sustained by the Democratic Republic of Congo which recorded a real GDP growth rate of 8.5% in 2022.
Central Africa Economic Outlook 2023
African Development Bank Group
Algeria is back. After years of self-imposed withdrawal from international politics under the leadership of geriatric former president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria now wants to reinvigorate its role as a regional power. But it is re-emerging amid heightened tensions with its rival Morocco and rapidly destabilising southern and eastern neighbours.
Power couple: How Europe and Algeria can move beyond energy cooperation
European Council on Foreign Relations
China has emerged as a key funder and builder of infrastructure in the Global South. While this has sparked development, concern about the debt impact of these projects has grown in China and around the world. This policy brief maps key trends emerging in response to this dilemma.. It first looks at the expansion and contraction of Chinese infrastructure finance to Africa and provides some background on the sharp decline in Chinese lending over the past few years. Then it highlights three emerging trends driven by both Chinese and African stakeholders: a diversification of partners, a focus on smaller projects and the emergence of new funding models.
New Trends in Chinese Infrastructure Lending to Africa
South African Institute of International Affairs
Capital investment is needed to fund the green transition. This means that the finance sector must be involved in combating the climate crisis in countries around the world, including Lebanon. This column argues that to ensure that these funding needs are met, policy-makers should work in harmony with other stakeholders to ensure that businesses are incentivized to de-carbonise their operations. Only by easing the process of the green transition through sustainable financing can countries like Lebanon meet their environmental pledges. Policy action to support such funding is needed urgently.
Reframing Sustainable Finance: Lessons from Lebanon
Economic Research Forum
This study investigates the causal relationship, if any exists, between external debt and inflation in Jordan over the period 1970 to 2020 within a multivariate framework by including other determinants of inflation. The study uses an ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration to test the existence of a long-run relationship between the inflation and its drivers. An error correction model is estimated to reveal the short-run dynamics between the series. The direction of causality is examined using Toda-Yamamoto Granger non-causality test. The results suggest a statistically significant long-term relationship between inflation and its drivers. The Toda-Yamamoto Granger noncausality test reveals a bi-directional causality between inflation and external debt, between the nominal effective exchange rate and inflation, and between money supply and inflation. Proper management of the exchange rate policy, money supply and external debt levels is crucial to control inflation rates in Jordan.
Estimating the Causal Relationship between External Debt and Inflation in Jordan: Evidence from an ARDL and Toda-Yamamoto Approaches
Economic Research Forum
As part of MONUSCO’s mandate renewal in December 2022, the UN Security Council called for the secretary-general to outline pathways for the mission’s transition and withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with possible options for the future reconfiguration of the UN’s presence in the country, by July 2023. This past year, the rise of the M23 and other non-state armed groups in eastern DRC has led to the deployment of regional and bilateral forces, while rising anti-MONUSCO sentiment has further restricted the UN’s operating space. Following widespread and lethal civilian demonstrations against the mission’s perceived ineffectiveness throughout 2022, the government of the DRC notified the UN Security Council of its intention to reassess the agreed timetable for the mission’s departure, citing the deep displeasure of the Congolese people.
Reading of the Week: Options for Reconfiguring the UN Presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
International Peace Institute
Niger’s role as a transit country for sub-Saharan migrants heading to Libya has been under intense scrutiny in recent years and the focus of significant international efforts to curb these movements since 2015.1 However, largely as a result of these efforts – including the adoption by the government of Niger, under EU pressure, of a 2015 law criminalizing human smuggling – the number of migrants transiting Niger drastically decreased.
Niger. Regional Migration and Gold Mining Consolidate as Smuggling to Libya Stagnates
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Somalia grapples with unique cultural, societal, and structural hurdles that hinder women’s access to political processes. Despite introducing a non-legally binding quota, the most recent federal elections in 2022 saw a decline in women’s parliamentary representation. Beyond this, women’s leadership in public spaces remains inadequate at all levels. Patriarchal norms, gender stereotypes, and cultural barriers hinder women’s full participation in decision-making, with women predominantly perceived as homemakers, with caregiving responsibilities.
Enabling Womens Representation and Participation in Political Dialogues in Somalia
Rift Valley Institute
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is a key driver of economic transformation and social inclusion in Africa. It equips young people with the skills they need to find decent work and improve their livelihoods. But TVET is not reaching its full potential, because half of the population does not have equal access.
Reading of the Week: Empowering Women and Girls through Technical and Vocational Education in Africa
African Center for Economic Transformation
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered employment and income distribution, impacting women and men differently. This study investigates the negative effects of COVID-19 on the labour market, focusing on the gender gap in five countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The study indicates whether women are more susceptible to losing their jobs, either temporarily or permanently, switching their primary occupation, and experiencing decreased working hours and income compared to men during the COVID-19 outbreak.
New evidence of gender inequality during COVID-19 outbreak in the Middle East and North Africa
Science Direct
Iranian-Chinese economic relations have grown steadily closer over the past four decades, with Beijing emerging as one of Tehran’s leading trade partners in recent years. Their economic relationship entered a new phase in the 1980s, when China started providing Iran with arms and technology during the Iran-Iraq War.
Obstacles and opportunities for closer Iranian-Chinese economic cooperation
Middle East Institute
In recent months, Saudi Arabia’s ambitious investments in sports – with a particular focus on football – raised tremendous international attention. In December 2022, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was transferred to Saudi football club Al-Nassr, followed by a number of other stars such as Karim Benzema, Jordan Henderson, and Sadio Mané. Within months following the Ronaldo deal, stadium attendance had jumped from 8,000 to 10,000, as had TV ratings, while the number of Instagram followers of his new club had risen from 850,000 to more than 9.7 million in a matter of days.
The Development of a Community Sports Sector in the Gulf: A Driver for Youth Empowerment
Brussels International Center
Even if much-needed prosecutions against Hezbollah members are deemed too dangerous at present, donors must still pressure Beirut to extradite other individuals charged with crimes abroad, starting with banking official Riad Salameh.
Lebanon Is a Global Sanctuary for Criminals
Washington Institute
Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in our daily lives. Having experienced considerable growth in recent years, artificial intelligence corresponds to technologies capable of processing hybrid sources, particularly unstructured data. The adoption and use of these modern technologies in the African context are currently low because of some emerging challenges. These difficulties may have a direct influence on African economic development. In this paper, we highlight the opportunities and challenges facing the adoption of AI technologies in Africa.
Artificial Intelligence Revolution in Africa: Economic Opportunities and Legal Challenges
Policy Center For The New South
In June, to the surprise of most UN Security Council members, Mali’s government called on the Council to pull UN peacekeepers out of the country “without delay”. Some diplomats briefly considered options for keeping the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in place, but most greeted the news with a resignation verging on fatalism. Although the precise timing of Bamako’s demand was unexpected, the Malian government had been frank about its loss of trust in the UN.
What Future for UN Peacekeeping in Africa after Mali Shutters Its Mission?
International Crisis Group
The IEA Announced Pledges Scenario estimates that increasing electric vehicles stock from 17 million units today to 808 million units by 2040 can contribute to reducing transport emissions by 36%. The benefits of transport decarbonisation are bolstered by the decarbonisation of power systems, which poses an opportunity for emerging and developing economies with ambitious variable renewable energy deployment targets.
Facilitating Decarbonisation in Emerging Economies Through Smart Charging
International Energy Agency
Artificial intelligence and systems need sufficient safeguards in place to avoid exacerbating biases in the nuclear security field.
New threats require innovative approaches to mitigation efforts and emerging technologies are a crucial part of nuclear security infrastructure. But embracing new tools comes with new considerations and risks. Responsible nuclear security practitioners must ask: what happens when the tools for protection begin working against those they are meant to protect? Such is the concern with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for nuclear security.
Dont Blame the Robots. Artificial Intelligence Bias & Implications for Nuclear Security
Stimson Center
While security concerns and military-technical capabilities continue to play a significant role in the complex nuclear decision-making processes undertaken by governments, the interplay between these factors and select normative components found within a country’s domestic political and foreign policy environment can, in certain situations, modify the direction of a state’s nuclear program. As such, while a state’s final nuclear-related decisions may or may not diverge from security predictions in the end, it nevertheless remains useful for scholars and policymakers to consider how other factors might impact how states arrive at their decisions.
Reading of the Week: Nuclear About-Face
The Belfer Center
Around 92% of Jordan’s citizens live in cities (World Banka, n.d.). The Kingdom also hosts a large refugee population from the conflict-ridden neighbouring states.
More than 80% of them live in urban areas. which are particularly sensitive to climate-related shocks and resource shortages. Jordanian cities are highly vulnerable to the disruption in critical food supplies, and climate change only exacerbates this vulnerability (The National Food Security Strategy 2021 – 2030, 2021). Moreover, climate shocks disproportionally affect the urban poor and vulnerable groups, such as older people, youth, people with disabilities and refugees, a large percentage of whom live in informal settlements (Alja’afreh et al., 2022) with limited access to viable livelihoods and precarious food and nutrition security, including the “silent hunger” of micronutrient deficiencies.
Urban Farming and Its Socioeconomic and Environmental Benefits for Ensuring Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Jordan
Euromesco
Traditionally, financial assistance emerged as a key driver for aid politicisation as indicated by the Gulf engagement in countries such as Egypt or Tunisia that faced political turmoil after the “Arab Uprisings” more than a decade ago. In both cases, the growing rivalry between pro-Islamist Qatar on the one hand and the status quo powers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) played out also in the aid dimension.
Shifting Gulf Foreign Aid: Prospects And Obstacles In EU Collaboration
Brussels International Center
Historically, the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda’s four pillars—prevention, protection, participation, and relief and recovery—have largely developed along separate trajectories. This has started to change with the UN Security Council’s recent progress in recognizing the link between women’s participation in peace and security and their protection, as well as the need to create “enabling environments” for women’s participation. Nonetheless, there is often a gap between international frameworks on participation and protection and the realities experienced by women, especially in conflict-affected contexts.
Full, Equal, Meaningful, and Safe: Creating Enabling Environments for Womens Participation in Libya
International Peace Institute
International support is needed to sanction businesses complicit in timber trafficking from the Central African Republic. Almost 37% of the 62 million hectares of land in the Central African Republic (CAR) is forest. The forestry sector represents an important source of income and employment for the country, contributing 13% of its export revenue.
CAR conflict drives illegal logging and timber trafficking
ENACT Africa
Renewed negotiations to reach a settlement on the disputed territory of Western Sahara could be within grasp after painstaking diplomatic spadework. But progress toward resolving the controversy over the area will prove hard to achieve without stronger U.S. backing. Widening differences between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front, as well as mounting tensions between Morocco and the Front’s main sponsor, Algeria, have narrowed UN Envoy Staffan de Mistura’s room for manoeuvre.
Paving the Way to Talks on Western Sahara
International Crisis Group
The JOINT Effectiveness Checklist provides a comparatively simple framework for policy-makers and researchers to analyse the effectiveness of the EU’s response to conflicts and crises. It adds value to existing evaluation tools by a) assessing effectiveness relative to the level of difficulty of the policy environment, and b) adapting and further developing existing standard policy assessment criteria/indicators specifically to the requirements of the multi-actor/multi-layered/multi-sector nature of the EU foreign and security policy.
JOINT Effectiveness Checklist for EU Foreign and Security Policy in Conflict and Crisis Situations
Istituto Affari Internazionali
The military use of space is not new, yet it has developed and become more advanced today. Major powers, such as the US, China, and Russia, now have their own military units specialized in space operations, indicating that space has become a new war-fighting domain. Although more nations develop and test sophisticated space capabilities, including kinetic and non-kinetic weapons, a conventional war in space is not expected. The stakes are high as the world has grown increasingly reliant on the information and connectivity that the military, civil, and commercial space systems provide, creating new realms of vulnerability. There are several weaknesses in the existing legal framework, looking at the Outer Space Treaty adopted during the Cold War.
Increased Militarisation of Space. A New Realm of Security
Beyond the Horizon
IDF Central Command is responsible for the ongoing campaign in a unique, complex reality in which it has both military control of territory and control over a population – an Israeli population alongside a Palestinian population with nationalist aspirations. The actions taken by the current Israeli government have significant potential to undermine Central Command’s facilitating parameters, which raises doubts as to its ability to maintain security stability in the West Bank.
Undermining the Status Quo in the West Bank: Implications of Government Moves from the Perspective of Central Command
The institute for National Security Studies
In March 2020, Lebanon opted for a “hard default” on $32 billion in sovereign debt, allowing the government to avoid negotiating with its Eurobond holders and investors. Beirut thereafter showed little interest in addressing the consequences of default, and the country’s economic meltdown worsened. As usual, the Lebanese people were the casualties, suffering amid what the World Bank has called a “deliberate depression.” This official negligence has cleared the way for a proliferating cash economy—which in turn has spawned a currency exchange scheme involving the central bank, foreign exchange agents, and Lebanese politicians.
Cash Cabal: How Hezbollah Profits from Lebanons Financial Crisis
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The INSS Insight “Why Don’t Arab Citizens Join the Protest Movement against the Proposed Judicial Overhaul?” attributes the lack of participation by Israeli Arabs in the protests against the judicial overhaul largely to indifference and alienation. The results of a February 2023 survey and a closer analysis, however, reveal a complex interplay of factors that hinder this sector’s involvement. These factors include geographical distance, historical experiences of repression, feelings of alienation, skepticism regarding the inclusivity of democracy, and fears for personal safety. Understanding and addressing these challenges is crucial for fostering greater Arab participation in protests and ensuring their meaningful representation in the pursuit of social and judicial change. Furthermore, efforts toward inclusivity, dialogue, and recognizing the specific concerns of Arab citizens are essential in building a more representative and inclusive democratic system in Israel.
What Deters the Arab Population from the Protests?
The Institute for National Security Studies
Since its transformation from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 2002, the African Union (AU) has placed significant emphasis on ensuring good governance.
Good governance has been a priority of the African Union for many years and features strongly in its Agenda 2063. Yet it is a difficult concept to define and measure. To overcome this problem, the African Union has introduced different processes and instruments aimed at promoting good governance among member states, including the African Peer Review Mechanism (launched in 2003) and the African Governance Report (first published in 2019). This policy brief takes stock of the state of governance in Africa, according to various indices, with a view to determining the relative effectiveness of these two mechanisms in driving good governance on the continent.
Reading of the Week: Africas Governance Trajectory: Are AU Mechanisms Working?
South African Institute of International Affairs
The ongoing conflict in Sudan, involving the country's armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has significantly raised concerns for Egypt, its northern neighbour. Not only does Egypt face the impact of a humanitarian crisis spilling over into its borders, but it also navigates a challenging geopolitical landscape as Sudan undergoes a period of instability.
The relationship between Egypt and Sudan has deep historical, cultural, and strategic ties. As Sudan faces internal conflicts, Egypt's role in the country's war becomes increasingly significant.
Harnessing Regional Diplomacy: Egypts Strategic Role in Sudans Conflict Resolution
Brussels International Center
A convergence of entrenched insecurity and climate change is having serious socio-economic implications in South Sudan where humanitarian conditions, including food insecurity, continue to deteriorate. In 2022, 8.9 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance, out of a population of 11 million.
Improving the Prospects for Peace in South Sudan: Spotlight on Measurement
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
The consequences of wildlife trafficking go beyond the threat it poses to ecological integrity and the survival of many wild species. Wildlife trafficking is also a public health threat, through its role in the emergence of zoonotic pathogens, and a national and local security threat, generating revenues for organized criminal groups and militias, and contributing to the breakdown in rule of law that exacerbates local conflict and undermines livelihoods.
Reading of the Week: Uniting the Response? Challenges in International Law Enforcement Cooperation in Wildlife Crime in Asia and Africa
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Reading of the Week:
Brain capital is a novel framework that recognizes brain skills and brain health as indispensable drivers of the modern knowledge economy. The concept of “green brain capital”, which we are scoping in this paper, places a central emphasis on the brain to deliver a healthy and sustainable environment and, vice versa, on a green environment to promote and safeguard brain health.
Brain Capital is Key to a Sustainable Future
Baker Institute for Public Policy
The report looks at the challenges associated with plastic waste generation and discusses the potential of using chemical recycling technologies as part of an ecosystem of solutions for increasing the circularity of plastics. It is based on evidence collected through desk-research and inputs provided during a series of stakeholder meetings.
Chemical recycling of plastics: Technologies, trends and policy implications
Centre for European Policy Studies
The Freedom Theatre (TFT), headquartered in the Jenin Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank that was invaded once again by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) last week, is nothing if not a crucible for the Palestinian experience. Up against grinding poverty, occupation, religious extremism, and, more recently, aerial bombardment, the theater miraculously survives.
Jenins Freedom Theatre rises from the ashes once again
Middle East Institute
Exorbitant food prices and food shortages—and, at one point, long queues for bread—became the norm in Lebanon following the country’s economic collapse in 2019, which sent shockwaves across all sectors of the economy and led to hyperinflation. By December 2022, 1.29 million Lebanese (one-third of the resident population) and 700,000 Syrian refugees (almost half the total in Lebanon) were facing severe food insecurity, with projections indicating a continued rise in 2023.
Breaking the Cycle: Toward a New Imaginary of the Food System in Lebanon
Carnegie Middle East Center
Tehran’s crackdown on anti-government protests and deepening military cooperation with Russia have put relations between Iran and Europe in a downward spiral. In this excerpt from the Watch List 2023 – Spring Update, Crisis Group urges the EU to reinvigorate its efforts to de-escalate tensions.
Striking the Right Balance with Iran
International Crisis Group
Avec plus d’une soixantaine de groupes ethniques, le Burkina Faso est considéré comme un modèle de vivre-ensemble où le brassage culturel et ethnique ne souffrait d’aucune menace majeure. Mais depuis quelques années, cette cohésion sociale qui régnait semble laisser place à un climat de méfiance, faisant de la question des identités, en particulier celle de l'appartenance ethnique, l’une des plus sensibles, au point où le rapport sur les résultats définitifs du Recensement Général de la Population et de l'Habitat 2019 ne comporte aucune donnée sur la répartition ethnique de la population burkinabè.
Les Burkinabè sont fortement attachés à leur identité nationale
AFRO Barometer
This paper was given as a keynote address at a convening for one of CODESRIA’s flagship institutes—the gender institute. The CODESRIA gender institutes have been running for twenty-eight years, with 428 direct beneficiaries. My engagement with CODESRIA gender institutes has occurred across three different periods and different thematic areas.
African Feminist Epistemic Communities
Codesria Bulletin
The European Union (EU) and its Member States welcome the significant progress achieved in Somalia since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud assumed office in May 2022. The EU commends the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) for its efforts to build a stable and peaceful Somalia to ensure delivery on the security transition in line with the UN Security Council mandates UNSCR 2628 and UNSCR 2670, as well as for its ambitious reform agenda, including commitment to comprehensive reconciliation and macro-economic reforms.
Council Conclusions on Somalia
Council of the European Union
This report is an attempt to do something novel: rather than explore how many people think the world is in trouble, it looks at the willingness of people in key countries around the world to support real, credible, and global solutions. The Global Governance Survey examines attitudes to the state of the world, revealing deep concern over conflict, economics, corruption, and other global issues, as well as potential global governance responses to issues of peace and security, pandemics, climate change, and institutional reform.
Reading of the Week: Global Governance Survey 2023 - Finding Consensus in a Divided World
Stimson Center
Morocco made a surprising announcement last year, on July 5, 2022. The Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline, which had up until November 2021 transported billions of cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas every year from Algeria to Spain via Morocco, would be reversed. Instead, natural gas imported from North America via Spain would be sold to Morocco. For the first time since the inauguration of Mediterranean pipelines, natural gas would now flow south across the Mediterranean, from Europe to the Maghreb.
In Reverse: Natural Gas and Politics in the Maghreb and Europe
Foreign Policy Research Institute
This paper focuses on countries having extended nuclear deterrence arrangements with a nuclear-armed patron from whom they have received a nuclear security guarantee. Extended nuclear deterrence is often called a ‘nuclear umbrella’ a metaphor that hardly captures the risks inherent in nuclear deterrence practices and the non-nuclear weapon states belonging to an alliance with such arrangements are commonly referred to as ‘umbrella’ states.
The Role of Umbrella States in the Global Nuclear Order
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Climate change in the Middle East will amplify preexisting vulnerabilities stemming from conflict, displacement, marginalization, and corruption, while also creating new risks. Governments in the region will need to adopt more inclusive reforms as part of their climate adaptation strategies.
Climate Change and Vulnerability in the Middle East
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
This paper surveys the trends in trade between Israel and China, in both goods and services, over the past decade (2013–2022). Especially noticeable is the significant and consistent rise in trade with Israel during those years, based mostly on the import of goods from China, which totaled $17.62 billion in 2022. The imports from China are diverse and include machinery for infrastructure and construction projects, consumer products ordered from Chinese websites, which to some degree has mitigated the rise in the cost of living in Israel, and for the past two years, the import of cars from China.
Trends in Trade Between Israel and China Over the Past Decada (2013-2022)
The Institute for National Security Studies
The kingdom has substantial gaps in its ability to handle nonconventional attacks or incidents involving the release of hazardous materials but addressing them now could improve both its readiness at home and its interoperability with foreign forces.
Bolstering Saudi Arabias CBRN Defenses
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Inflation in Sudan has averaged 46 percent over the past decade, reaching 359 percent in 2021. Sudan’s history of high inflation suggests that strong inflationary pressures remain an important macroeconomic challenge for the country. Building on the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) 2023 background analysis on the Sources of Inflationary Pressures in Sudan, this Policy Brief identifies and quantifies these pressures over the period 1992-2022 and proposes policy measures to reduce inflation.
Sources of Inflationary Pressures in Sudan
African Development Bank Group
Un des droits humains fondamentaux, l’accès universel à l’eau et à l’assainissement est le sixième Objectif de Développement Durable des Nations Unies (2023) et constitue un défi pour la plupart des pays africains. Touché par une crise sécuritaire depuis 2012, le Mali a vu son réseau hydraulique affaibli par la dégradation de ses infrastructures. Le service d’alimentation en eau a subi de fortes pressions à cause des déplacements internes liés à l’insécurité.
Au Mali, la fourniture de services deau et dassainissement reste un défi
AFRO Barometer
The European Union faces intricate challenges in its policy towards Tunisia. Examining the country’s intertwined political and socio-economic crises, the analysis sheds light on President Kais Saied’s populist politics, which have hindered the political transition and undermined democratic structures. Amidst the pressing challenge of high inflation, escalating debt, sluggish growth and critical shortages in basic goods, the analysis delves into the IMF loan negotiations amidst European concerns regarding Tunisia’s economic collapse and increased migration flows across the Mediterranean.
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