The policing of civil society actors conducting Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean Sea has exposed long-standing unresolved controversies that reveal responsibility evasion strategies by some EU Member States which are incompatible with their obligations under international human rights, refugee, and maritime law. They also contradict the EU’s foundational principles, chiefly those related to the rule of law and justice.
Reading of the Week: Policing Search and Rescue NGOS in the Mediterranean
Center For European policy Studies
Globalization and extensive urbanization worldwide have brought cities to the forefront of global governance in a multilateral system designed and created for states. Cities have come to exercise power due in part to the inadequacy or ineffectiveness of inter-state action, but also because their democratic nature and immediate connection to the population make them legitimate actors. This Briefing Paper discusses the changing role played by cities transnationally as actors involved in global governance. It also seeks to increase awareness of the global rise of cities. The paper starts by exploring the empowerment of cities, followed by a discussion on the means through which cities exercise their power, as well as relevant policy sectors that constitute important parts of their global agenda. Finally, the Briefing Paper ponders the implications for the state-dominated international order.
Cities as global actors: Bringing governance closer to the people
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
For decades, climate researchers have highlighted the unprecedented emissions reductions necessary if we are to meet global mitigation ambitions. To achieve these reductions, the climate change mitigation scenarios that dominate the literature assume large-scale deployment of negative-emissions technologies, but such technologies are unproven and present considerable trade-offs for biodiversity and food systems. In response, energy researchers have postulated low energy demand scenarios as alternatives and others have developed models for estimating the minimum energy requirements for the provision of decent material living standards considered essential for human wellbeing.
Reducing global inequality to secure human wellbeing and climate safety: a modelling study
The Lancet Planetary Health
International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors recently discovered that Iran had enriched uranium to 84 percent, just short of weapons grade. The revelation, acknowledged by Tehran, has underscored that a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—the nuclear deal completed in 2015 and exited three years later by the Trump administration—is unlikely. It has also raised fears about further escalation by the Iranian regime, such as refusal to cooperate with the IAEA or even withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But Tehran may have unwittingly done Washington and its partners a favor by dispelling the illusory notion that the nuclear issue could be “parked.” The steady expansion of Iran’s nuclear activities and the lapsing of JCPOA restrictions mean that the danger of continuing the stalemate has mounted by the day.
Irans Nuclear Endgame Warrants a Change in U.S. Strategy
The Washington Institute
Since 2003, Iraq has lost a significant portion of the US$ 80 billion or more invested in the country’s electricity sector due to corruption, mismanagement, political interference, security unrest, electric grid encroachment, and the absence of a practical electric tariff system. Since 2008, successive Iraqi governments have signed several multibillion-dollar contracts and agreements with power giants to build and maintain the country’s power plants. However, these efforts have been unsuccessful. Siemens and GE are likely to dominate the sector without a monopoly, as they have Iraqi partners interested in maintaining the status quo. Since 2008, successive Iraqi governments have signed several multibillion-dollar contracts and agreements with power giants to build and maintain the country’s power plants. However, these efforts have been unsuccessful
Corruption, Incoherent Energy Plan, and Poor Management Fuel Iraqs Power Crisis
Emirates Policy Center
American and European allies are mobilizing to thwart the rapid expansion of the Russian paramilitary group known as Wagner, run by a Putin-affiliated oligarch, as it captures key cities for Moscow in Ukraine and spreads its influence to Africa and other corners of the world. With tens of thousands of fighters, many of them now battlefield-trained, the Wagner Group’s emergence as a rogue military threat could become a serious global challenge in years to come, U.S. and European officials said.
Inside the stunning growth of Russias Wagner Group
The Geopost
Since the election of al-Sisi in 2014, the main drivers of Egypt’s economy have been its construction and extractive sectors. Based on official data, these sectors have done a decent job in boosting the country’s GDP that has increased faster than that of many of Egypt’s neighbours.
The Egyptian political economy under al-Sisi
Clingendael
The scale of demand for fuel in the Sahel countries is unclear. The ratio of registered vehicles to people is low and per capita daily gasoline consumption in region is estimated to be among the lowest in the world. The five Sahel countries, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and the Niger, are estimated to consume a combined total of just over 90,500 barrels of motor gasoline and distillate fuel oil (diesel) per day, or just over 33 million barrels per year, which is equivalent to over five billion litres consumed per year
Fuel Trafficking in the Sahel
Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment
The report provides background information and whenever available data about deserting and defecting pathways out of Al-Shabaab militant group. After distinguishing between the formal and the informal options, the report engages with the main challenges and consequences associated with them. Men, women, and children’s profiles, as well as forms of engagement with the group, are discussed as key determinants of potentially available pathways. Complementing this overview, which is based on research findings limited in scope and representativeness, the report relies on a pool of expert interviews which help shed some light on the unreported and underreported aspects of the issues at stake.
Somalia: Defection, desertion and disengagement from Al-Shabaab
European Country of Origin Information Network
Current Chinese basing capacity and force commitment in the region seem insufficient to support the level of economic and diplomatic engagement that appears to be Beijing’s new normal, so Washington should prepare for further expansion.
Chinas Growing Naval Influence in the Middle East
The Washington Institute
This study reviewed academic and grey literature and related policy debates to ascertain whether women’s economic empowerment, in all these dimensions, has been integrated into discussion of low-carbon transitions.
From Consumers to Climate Leaders
Gender Equality in a Low Carbon World
The Russian army and Russian private military contractors linked to the Kremlin have expanded their global military footprint in Africa, seeking basing rights in a half dozen countries and inking military cooperation agreements with 28 African governments, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War. U.S. officials estimate that around 400 Russian mercenaries operating in the Central African Republic (CAR), and Moscow recently delivered military equipment to support counterinsurgency operations in northern Mozambique.
Russias Footprint in Africa
Center for Security Studies ETH Zurich
This study looks at the links between cattle rustling in East Africa’s Karamoja Cluster and the flow of illicit arms into this ungoverned space. It looks at the actors involved in the illicit arms trade, the sources of the weapons, and the need for responses other than civilian disarmament exercises, which so far have been unsuccessful.
Reading of the Week: Illicit arms flows in the Karamoja Cluster
Enhancing Africa’s response to transnational organized crime
Successive protests in 2009, 2019 and 2022 have poignantly laid bare the much reduced social and political legitimacy of Iran’s ruling elites. Reform-from-within is no longer viewed as credible. Even former pro-reform leaders like Mousavi have abandoned hope and call for regime change. While further protests are inevitable, it is nevertheless unlikely that they will produce a revolution that overthrows the regime in the short-term, as long as their national organisation and leadership remain weak, Iran’s ruling elites cohesive, security forces loyal, and the administration continues to function.
Protests in Iran in comparative perspective
Clingendael
“The way out is through the door. Why not use this exit?” Do these words by Confucius apply to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The Arab Peace Initiative to resolve the conflict was presented over twenty years ago, but to date most Israeli governments have chosen to ignore it or reject it. Why now might it be the time to give it a chance?
Reality-Guided Imagination: The Angel of History Considers the Palestinian Issue
The Institute for National Security Studies
Despite progress made in female participation in public, political, and economic life, the MENA region still faces challenges in achieving gender equality. This newsletter provides expert analysis and informed insights on the MENA region’s most significant issues and trends, bringing together unique opinions on the topic and reliable foresight on possible future scenarios.
Women in the MENA Region: Between Progresses and Obstacles
Italian Institute for International Political Studies
La plupart des écosystèmes arides et semi-arides d’Afrique sont dédiés à différents types d’élevage extensif. Ces systèmes sont des acteurs majeurs dans la valorisation des espaces, et des ressources naturelles. En plus de nourrir les humains et les animaux, l’élevage pastoral fournit un revenu de subsistance à des populations qui ne pourraient survivre autrement dans ces régions.
Le pastoralisme en péril en Afrique
Policy Center for the New South
Decentralisation has been one of the most prominent public sector reforms endorsed by international institutions. It has been initiated in a large number of developing economies, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, few studies propose a quasi-experimental evaluation of its capacity to contribute to local development or do so but only focus on specific components.
Shine a (night)light: Decentralisation and economic development in Burkina Faso
Overseas Development Institute
This paper contributes to the scholarship on gender and migration through empirical insights into motherhood while in transit and smuggling. It explores how undocumented, West African migrant mothers experience and navigate the temporal and spatial confinement of the Tunisian–Libyan borderlands, border enforcement and counter-smuggling policies confining them and their children to the limbo of indefinite waiting, danger, and uncertainty that they can, however, address through smuggling journeys.
Reading of the week: A Mothers Choice - Undocumented motherhood, waiting and smuggling in the Tunisian-Libyan borderlands
Danish Institute for International Studies
In Africa and the Arab World, throughout different stages of the war in Ukraine, the public debate and the popular discourse around it showed substantial sympathy towards Russia. While disinformation played a part in shaping those sentiments, the pro-Russian discourse cannot be reduced to just that. African and Arab social media users tend to adopt pro-Russian narratives on the Ukraine war when they resonate with locally relevant, long-established issues, worldviews, grievances, and prejudices.
Fertile ground: How Africa and the Arab World found common language with Russia on Ukraine
Polish Institute of International Affairs
Conflicts and violence all over the world exacerbate social and gender inequalities, with a negative impact on the lives of many women and girls. Moreover, a concentration of power in the hands of men has often prevented women from being structurally included in government policies, with their rights threatened. Yet, there is a strong presence of women peacebuilders who contribute to promoting solutions that can ensure lasting peace, thus opposing extremist tendencies.
Women and Conflicts: What Role for Women Mediator Networks?
Istituto Affari Internazionali
The world has entered a second space age dominated by commercial actors and a new geopolitical struggle. While advances in technology and commercialization are moving at rocket speed, regulation is falling catastrophically behind. International space policy has so far been dominated by the world´s greater powers but there are now obvious steps Denmark and other small states can take to assume a more responsible stance in space governance.
Governing Outer Space: Legal issues mounting at the final frontier
Danish Institute for International Studies
Iranian drone strikes, as exemplified by the September 2019 attack against Saudi Aramco facilities, have jolted Middle East leaders and revealed Tehran’s long-range precision strike capabilities. The regime’s large and growing drone force, which can be used for reconnaissance or strike missions, now poses an existential threat to the Gulf states and a direct threat to Israel, as does its formidable missile force.
Striking Back: Iran and the Rise of Asymmetric Drone Warfare in the Middle East
The Washington Institute
Although U.S.-Saudi bilateral ties are on the mend, ambiguities and the transactional nature of the 1945 oil-for-security covenant contribute to mistrust and mutual tensions. But the burden of fixing or stabilizing the relationship is a shared responsibility. For its part, Saudi Arabia should make a determined and demonstrable effort to address legitimate U.S. concerns, including human rights, oil production policy, security overtures to Beijing, and the war in Yemen.
After Oil-For-Security: A Blueprint for Resetting US-Saudi Security Relations
Middle East Institute
The growing competition between the West and China over the chips manufacturing market is perceived as “the Cold War of the 21st century.” How does this technology struggle between the global blocs affect Israel, and what measures should Israel take?
The Chips Alliance: How will the Global Technology War Affect Israel?
The Institute for National Security Studies
Liberia exhibits a high reliance on imports of staple foods which is worsened by vulnerability to market shocks, supply chain disruptions and global food-price volatility, especially due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. The Liberia Food and Agriculture Delivery Compact outlines a plan increase local productivity in four priority value chains-rice, rubber, cassava and livestock - in order to reduce reliance on imports and provide an essential platform for interministerial coordination in agriculture.
Liberia Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compact
African Development Bank Group
In Sudan, the revolutionary upsurge of 2018/2019 signaled the implosion of the country’s postcolonial political order. The political parties of old have seen their social bases wither away and their ideological hold over the Sudanese people corrode under the sustained pressure of a hyper-extractive political economy.
The Price of Life: Revolutionary Agency and Political Impasse in Post-Bashir Sudan
Rift Valley Institute
This edition focuses on the Wagner Group private military company. Firstly, Andreas Heinemann-Grüder summarizes the development of Wagner since 2014/15, highlighting that it operates in coordination with Russian security agencies as a parallel or shadow army that can rarely be held accountable. Secondly, Stephen Aris considers how Wagner’s prominent, if not officially acknowledged, role in the offensive on Ukraine has accelerated a process of semi-privatizing certain functions of state security.
Reading of the Week: Wagner Group
Center for Security Studies ETH Zurich
As the 37th Israeli government begins its term of office, it faces a host of national security challenges, from the Temple Mount, to the Palestinian theater, the security challenges in the north, and the complex threat from Iran, most of which have a significant international dimension. Against the background of the strategic competition between the great powers, the war in Ukraine, and the struggle for technological-economic dominance, the new government must navigate prudently between the United States, Israel’s great strategic ally; and China, its significant economic partner, Russia, its military neighbor in the north; and other important countries in Asia and Europe.
Whither the China Policy of the Sixth Netanyahu Government?
Institute for National Security Studies
‘If, as Herodotus stated, Egypt is the gift of the Nile, then it is a gift largely delivered by donkeys.’ Some 7 000 years ago in East Africa, Nubian and Somalian donkeys and their new pastoralist owners planted the seeds of early global trade and travel. The donkey (Equus asinus) was gradually adopted as a domesticated species beyond Eastern Africa, in Egypt and Sudan, and across the African continent and Eurasia.
China, Africa and the market for donkeys: Keeping the cart behind the donkey
The South African Institute for International Affairs
This was a meeting on Iraq. Special Representative and head of UNAMI Ms. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert briefed on recent developments in Iraq and the Secretary-General’s reports on UNAMI (S/2023/58) and the issue of missing Kuwaiti and third-party nationals and missing Kuwaiti property (S/2023/51).
Resolution 9253 The situation concerning Iraq
UN Security Council
“End the summer camp” was how Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir related to the changes he plans in the conditions of the security prisoners incarcerated in Israel. There is no question that reforms here are in order. However, given that the issue of prisoners is a highly sensitive issue and enjoys a consensus throughout Palestinian society, it is quite possible that a worsening of the prisoners’ conditions might lead to escalation, perhaps even to a severe degree. How should Israel act?
The Incarceration of security prisoners - What is possible, and what is correct
The Institute for National Security Studies
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, violence against women (VAW) is referred to as a silent cancer that often goes undetected and unreported. Society in this region is becoming more aware of the epidemic, yet it is still not gender-sensitive to its causes or implications.
Criminalization of Gender-Based Violence: A Legal Obligation
Wilson Center
Although positivity around Russia-Africa relations was observed, most notably in South Africa and Mali, the surveyed populations presented as generally indifferent to or negative towards Russia. The Russia-Ukraine war was a key driver of anti-Russia attitudes. Additionally, the data found a division in sentiment between some African governments and their citizens, who tend to be more wary of associating with Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Data suggested measurable bot activity present in pro-Russia sentiment across all surveyed countries. Given the latest developments such as the referendums in eastern Ukraine and the Nord Stream pipelines leak, additional analyses on data collected from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa found evidence of continued strong anti-Russian sentiment — even where Twitter users speculated about Western interference.
African Social Media Indicates Indifference towards Russia
The South African Institute for International Affairs
This synthesis report offers an examination of national development banks (NDBs) in Africa, drawing from case studies in four countries: Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda and Tunisia. It discusses their evolution in governance structures and operations, their financial and developmental performance, and the challenges they face within their operating environments.
Challenges and Changes: The Political Economy of National Development Banks in Africa
African Center fo Economic Transformation
According to the Puntland voter registration law (2021), to hold credible and transparent elections, voters must be registered to vote in a process managed by the Transitional Puntland Election Commission (TPEC). The registration process is one of the most challenging phases in the election process, as it often involves numerous technical and administrative tasks that require resources and political will, which can lead to delays in the process. 0n 25th May 2022, TPEC released the schedule for the local elections, which included a list of proposed activities from May 2022 to February 2023.
Initial Phase of Puntlands Voter Registration Process
Rift Valley Institute
The Illicit Economies and Instability Dialogues are integral to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC)’s work in West Africa. The Dialogues are an opportunity for experts in illicit economies, civil society organizations, regional government representatives, foreign policy and development officials, external experts and stakeholders to discuss contemporary, policy-relevant themes on the intersections between illicit economies, conflict and instability in West and central Africa. The Dialogues are supported by and co-hosted with the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
Reading of the Week: The role of national parks in illicit economies and conflict dynamics
Gobal Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
The fundamental role that water resources play in human development has been highlighted in multiple ways; the United Nations SDGs underline 17 different goals and over a hundred targets to be achieved by 2030. Out of 169 SDG targets, 59 were found to have direct links and synergies with the water goal SDG6 (UN Water, 2016). Careful policy making and interventions need to be implemented to avoid conflict among sectors and tradeoffs must be well established. The Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM – since 1992) was adopted by most countries and made significant strides in formulating a good foundation for policies and synergies between stakeholders.
Systems approach to water management
Policy Center for the New South
In October 2022, the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was convened, inaugurating the third term of Xi Jinping as CCP chairman (the de facto highest position in the country). One month before, in September, a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. President Xi, who had frozen his foreign trips since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, finally left China to participate in this face-to-face meeting to restart putting his “great power diplomacy with Chinese characteristics” into practice There is no doubt that China – the second largest economy in the world, which is proud to be “different” from Western civilisation – is challenging the global order, at least to some extent. The issue is, what direction will China’s foreign policy take in the future? How will it affect the existing international order?
Fighting Against Internal and External Threats Simultaneously Chinas Police and Satellite Cooperation with Autocratic Countries
Istituto Affari Internazionali
In recent days, Jordan has led the way in Arab countries’ rapprochement with Syria. But Amman’s experience shows that, without regional coordination, bilateral normalization can win only limited concessions.
Jordans Experiences Highlight the Limitations of Renewed Ties With Syria
Carnegie Middle East Center
The Arabian (Persian) Gulf region has been at the center of global attention for the past century. Due to its strategic geographic location and rich hydrocarbon resources, the Gulf has played a key role in political and economic developments around the world. The Gulf states have relied on their abundance of hydrocarbons, particularly oil, to pursue economic and political activities that serve their national interests — in many cases fueling geopolitical tensions with other global actors. In order to mitigate regional and global conflict, it is imperative to recognize and address the factors that drive the evolution and development of the Gulf oil strategy.
How Economic and Political Factors Drive the Oil Strategy of Gulf Arab States
Baker Institute for Public Policy
Yemen is becoming an ever more fragmented country – to such an extent that it may soon be impossible ever to piece it back together again. A combination of internal dynamics exacerbated by the actions of neighbouring states has brought Yemen to this pass. For the international community, and the European Union and European states, addressing this will be difficult – but they can do so by providing long-term help, rather than lurching between short-term fixes.
Fragmentation Nation: How Europeans Can Help End The Conflict In Yemen
European Council on Foreign Relations
The Greater Lake Chad (GLC) region was identified as one of twelve transnational conflict geographies in which Search will focus its efforts over the coming ten years.
This summary lays out Search’s comprehensive strategy for the GLC region, composed of the countries bordering the Lake Chad Basin, including Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The multidimensional and transborder dimensions of conflict in the region demand a holistic, regional programmatic, and operational strategy.
Greater Lake Chad Strategy
Search for Common Ground
Despite serious challenges, Africa's youthful electorates vie to have their voices heard so as to shape a more democratic, stable, and prosperous future.Spanning West, Central, and Southern Africa, the seven elections in Africa this year comprise some of the most populous countries on the continent. This includes Nigeria, which kicks off the electoral calendar in February, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with elections slated for late December. Collectively, the countries selecting national leaders in 2023 represent roughly a third of the continent’s population.In five of the elections (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe), incumbents are seeking a second term. There is only one open seat, in Nigeria, as President Muhammadu Buhari steps down after his constitutionally mandated second term.
Africas 2023 Elections
Africa Center For Strategic Studies
Anecdotal evidence suggests growing numbers of migrants intercepted at sea by the Tunisian coastguard return to Libya via smuggling. This article empirically document the experiences of “rescued” migrant mothers who consider and/or purposely re-engage in irregular, highrisk returns involving crossing the Tunisian border back into Libya.
A Mothers Choice: Undocumented motherhood, waiting and smuggling in the Tunisian Libyan borderlands
Danish Institute for International Studies
The fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had major consequences for Russia’s engagement around the world in 2022. West Africa is no exception. Russia has sought to increase its political involvement in Africa since the 2014 invasion of Crimea. But as Russia has become more economically and politically isolated under the increasing weight of Western sanctions, the importance of Africa as a strategically significant region for Russia to engage in, both to facilitate business opportunities and to court political allies, has escalated.
Reading of the week: Russias military, mercenary and criminal interests in West Africa grew in 2022 and look set to expand in 2023
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
In 2021, a diverse group of actors - from scientists to social activists, practitioners to academics - organized a global citizens’ assembly for that year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. The Global Assembly was an attempt to redress some of the failings of the COP process of climate summits, which have been running for almost thirty years.
A Global Citizens Assembly on the Climate and Ecological Crisis
Carnegie Europe
En 2000, le Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies a adopté la résolution 1325, sa première résolution thématique sur les femmes, la paix et la sécurité, qui reconnait notamment le rôle crucial des missions de maintien de la paix dans la protection des civils contre les violences sexuelles liées aux conflits (VSLC).
Nous Devons Rompre le Silence DUne Manière ou DUne Autre: Prévenir les violences sexuelles liées aux conflits dans les opérations de maintien de la paix de lONU
Center for Civilians in Conflict
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - are among the world’s richest in oil and gas resources, but the poorest in terms of freshwater. The majority of these countries depend on their hydrocarbon resources to fuel their economies and produce necessities like potable water through seawater desalination. In fact, all GCC states are currently prioritizing energy and water security to assure the sustainability and reliability of access and productivity under normal and emergency circumstances.
Building Water and Energy Security in the GCC through an Integrated Policy Approach
Baker Institute for Public Policy
In an interview in Haaretz on January 1, 2023, Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman, former head of Military Intelligence and currently Managing Director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), stated that the Israeli strategy that sought (and seeks) to fell the nuclear agreement with Iran has failed, and that the last three Prime Ministers of Israel pursued this aim without presenting an alternative program.
Is There an Alternative Strategy in Response to Irans Nuclear Progress?
The Institute for National Security Studies
More than a year after cancelled elections and a violent upheaval, Palestinians face the prospect of a destabilizing leadership transition. President Mahmoud Abbas, 87, continues to exert a strong hold on power, but his reign is unavoidably nearing its end. A smooth succession will be challenging, as Abbas holds three leadership posts.
Managing Palestines Looming Leadership Transition
Crisis Group
Cattle rustling in Nigeria has evolved from a sustainable community practice into a significant illicit economy, delivering material profits to conflict actors and multiplying harms. Since 2011, the country has experienced a surge in the number of rustling incidents, resulting in thousands of deaths, loss of livelihoods, widespread destruction and displacement of people. This has had a debilitating impact on the country’s stability, as explored in an earlier report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC).
Driving Destruction, Cattle rustling and instability in Nigeria
Global Initiative
Sahelian jihadists have occupied Park W, a huge nature reserve in the borderlands of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, transforming it into a launchpad for expansion toward the West African savannah. Their presence in the park is disrupting century-old conservation efforts as well as local livelihoods, feeding struggles among sedentary farmers and nomadic herders for land and water. It also risks aggravating insecurity in coastal countries farther south.
Containing Militancy in West Africas Park W
Crisis Group
This study on the state of the energy sector in Tunisia (including renewable energy) is based on the key premise that energy is not a profit-making commodity, but a right. The study argues that access to energy and its production are political questions in essence, rather than purely technical ones.
Towards a just energy transition in Tunisia
The Transnational Institute
Blue Nile region has been characterized by conflicts for several years but the situation worsened in 2022. Since 19th October, 2022 approximately 191 people were killed including Women and children and injuring 220 others from Gomez, Hausa and Berta tribes living in the towns of Arousers Dam in Wad Almahi locality in Blue Nile region. Additionally, 95,000 Hausa members were displaced to other States in Sudan and others crossed the boarders to Ethiopia as refugees. Approximately 30 Sudanese Army Forces (SAF) soldiers were tried and convicted by the military judiciary parish (military court) and sentenced to 15 to 20 years imprisonment depending on the charges as provided for under the SAF law, 1986. 10 MI officer were resultantly transferred from Blue Nile to other Sudanese states.
Reading of the Week: Analysis of Conflicts in Blue Nile Region
Africa Centre For Justice and Peace Studies
Are new winds blowing in China’s relations with Middle East states, or are they essentially more of the same? The visit by China’s President to Saudi Arabia was heralded as a “new era,” but what does this mean, and what can be understood from Beijing’s various statements about how it sees the region? Most important, how do these developments reflect China’s attitude toward Iran?
President Xi Jinpings Middle East Visit: The Chinese Perspective
The Institute for National Security Studies
This Working Paper argues that one should watch out for populism and what it implies for hybrid threat activity. Populism has an underlying authoritarian logic and thus undermines the main checks and balances, and the individual and public rights and liberties that regularly keep excesses of power at bay in a liberal democracy. The logic of authoritarianism can thus mechanically undermine the key frameworks of a liberal democracy. Hybrid threats present an essentially political challenge to liberal democracies.
Watching out for populism: Authoritarian logics as a vulnerability to hybrid threat activity
The European Centre of Excellence
How much is the public in the Arab world worried about the economic situation? the security situation? What percentage would like to emigrate? What are the attitudes toward Israel – and have these attitudes shifted in light of the Abraham Accords or Israel’s “change government”? An examination of public opinion polls conducted in the area reveals interesting insights about Israel’s neighboring countries, and these insights are important for decision makers in Jerusalem
What Do the Arabs Think? Public Opinion in Arab Countries
The Institute for National Security Studies
Washington will likely call upon Israel to participate in future multinational coalitions, which will entail IDF forces deploying to foreign countries as part of US-led operations. Israel has not participated in past coalitions due to regional threats and Washington’s desire to avoid complications with allied majority Muslim states. These two concerns were significantly diminished by the Abraham Accords, increasing the likelihood that Washington will seek Israel’s direct support in future campaigns.
Israels Future in Multinational Coalitions
The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
State-centric approaches to building resilience to organised crime must be complemented with community-based, context-specific responses that challenge organised crime and violence at a local level. Local communities are key elements of the necessary response to the destabilising impacts of organised crime in conflict as well as post-conflict settings. There remains a gap in stakeholder understanding of the elements of community resilience to organised crime, particularly in unstable settings. This report starts to address this gap, by analysing key drivers of community resilience – identified as social capital, community capacity, the role of women, economic capital and infrastructure – in four communities in Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso.
Building resilience to organised crime
ECOWAS
Morocco has successfully begun to connect its once-neglected eastern region to domestic and global economic resources. But it is vital to ensure that the benefits these initiatives bring are fairly reinvested in local communities.
Defying Peripherality. How Morocco Has Sought to Integrate Its Eastern Borderlands
Carnegie Middle East Center
Deceit and media manipulation have always been a part of wartime communications, but never before has it been possible for nearly any actor in a conflict to generate realistic audio, video, and text of their opponent’s political officials and military leaders. As artificial intelligence (AI) grows more sophisticated and the cost of computing continues to drop, the challenge deepfakes pose to online information environments during armed conflict will only grow.
Reading of the week: DeepFakes and international conflict
Brookings
Water desalination is gradually emerging as the leading solution to cope with increasing water stress: i.e., the imbalance between water demand and quantities available. The United Nations estimates that by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will be affected by such challenges. The causes of water scarcity are multiple, including climate change, intensive agriculture, and population growth. This requires states to rethink their water policies, which are central to preserving their stability, resilience and sovereignty.
The Geopolitics of Seawater Desalination
Policy Center
Liberal intervention actors often understand Russian engagements in Africa through a great power vacuum logic. This logic sees Russian influence as resulting from Russia filling a vacuum where other (notably liberal) interveners downscale. This article unpacks that vacuum logic and explores its consequences and effects. On the one hand, the vacuum logic is central to representations of Russia as an entirely external ‘other’, which contribute to constituting a ‘liberal’ intervention approach and community.
Liberal interventions renewed crisis: Respponding to Russias growing influence in Africa
Chatham House
Drug smuggling has become a central source of income for the Assad regime and its ally Hezbollah. Under the auspices of the Syrian regime and the Shiite organization, massive amounts of drugs are smuggled throughout the Middle East, primarily Captagon, known as “poor man’s cocaine.” Why does Israel have to be mindful of this phenomenon and even join the regional struggle against it?
Narcos, Syria-Lebanon Style
The Institute for National Security Studies
On 25 March 2022, the Houthis launched a large-scale attack on Saudi Arabia using a combination of loitering munitions, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles. This coordinated attack targeted oil refineries and energy infrastructure across Saudi territory, from Asir to the Eastern Province, and even threatened the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Jeddah. Yet, it turned out to be the last major gasp of the aerial war between Riyadh and the Sanaa-based government that had started in 2015.
Beyond Riyadh: Houthi Cross-Border Aerial Warfare 2015-2022
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data
Five years after the end of the war against the Islamic State group, more than a million people remain displaced across Iraq. Tribal feuds, destruction of infrastructures and private homes, and a lack of services and livelihood opportunities are some of the main factors impeding the safe and voluntary return of these civilians to their area of origin.
No War Yet No Peace: Why a Million Iraqis Remain Exiled in Their Own Country
Brussels International Center
The Islamic State Sahel Province (IS Sahel) is a salafi-jihadist militant group and the Sahelian affiliate of the transnational Islamic State (IS) organization. It is primarily active in the border areas between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger - known as the tri-state border area, or Liptako-Gourma – but it has also engaged in sporadic activity in Algeria, Benin, and Nigeria. The group’s composition reflects the social fabric in the areas where it is active.
The Islamic State Sahel Province
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data
Since Tunisia’s President Kais Saied began consolidating his rule in July 2021, the country’s once-strong civil society has been plagued with divisions. The former strength was a product of the post-Arab Spring period, when Tunisia emerged as a paragon for democratic transition and NGOs proliferated, including labor unions, human rights groups, and school charities. These civil society groups drew Western support based on the hope that they would help propel the state’s transition away from authoritarian rule.
Civil Society in Tunisia: Resetting Expectations
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
La construction de villes nouvelles sur le continent africain est en vogue. Des pôles urbains multifonctionnels en passant par les écoquartiers, les images qui accompagnent l’annonce de ces projets promeuvent un futur urbain africain basé sur la modernité et la technologie. Cette mode d’un urbanisme qui prétend faire table rase avec les approches préexistantes n’est pas propre aux pays africains, les gouvernements s’inspirent notamment des modèles nord-africains et asiatiques.
Villes nouvelles, villes politiques: Diversification des acteurs et recentralisation du pouvoir étatique dans le cas de Diamniadio
Policy Center for the New South
During the Russo-Ukrainian war, the space domain has arguably been used in a more versatile manner than in any previous conflict, duly providing a major learning opportunity for Western countries. This Hybrid CoE Working Paper discusses how the space domain has been used and impacted during the ongoing war in Ukraine. The focus is on hybrid threats, tools and actors. The conclusions provide a comprehensive analysis of achieved and predicted impacts, including linkages between the space domain and other hybrid threat domains.
Reading of the Week: The space domain and the Russo-Ukrainian war. Actors, tools, and impact
The Hybrid CoE newsletter
The MENA and Sahel regions are suffering from climate-induced phenomena that are accelerating societal tensions and translating into insecurity. These regions are safe havens for violent extremism and non-state actors, who easily recruit young men willing to engage in behavioural radicalisation to sustain their families. Whilst in Syria, ISIS has been weaponizing water and resources to intimidate populations and coerce their enemies, in the Lake Chad Basin Boko Haram is recruiting members of local communities deprived of their harvest and fishing due to climate unpredictability and the disruption of the water cycle.
The nexus between climate change and terrorism: An analysis of ISIS weaponization of water in Syria and Boko Haram activities in the Lake Chad Basin
Finabel - European Army Interoperability Centre
Le marché de l’hydrogène vert1 est appelé à connaitre de grands bouleversements dans les années à venir avec l’émergence de nouveaux acteurs de la transition énergétique. Néanmoins, ce marché est encore tributaire du développement de la demande, de la baisse des coûts de production, de transport et de stockage, du développement d’une chaîne logistique très compétitive et de la mise en place de cadre juridique et règlementaire approprié.
Le marché de lhydrogène vert: léquation industrielle de la transition énergétique
Policy Center for the New South
In late December, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its opinion on the legality of the "ongoing Israeli occupation." The opinion will likely include critical statements about the illegality of Israel's conduct in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and about its "annexation" moves. Harsh assertions by the Court could significantly damage Israel's foreign relations, be used as ammunition by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and even possibly affect the investigation into Israel's case at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The UN General Assembly refers Israel to the Hague
The Institute for National Security Studies
The Houthi are not an Iranian proxy in the sense of unquestioningly doing Tehran’s bidding, voluntarily or under pressure. Yet, the movement can be viewed as an informal partner of Tehran. Their relationship has evolved from a partnership of convenience into a more strategic one. Despite this evolution, the Houthi have remained autonomous with respect to their domestic constituencies, political strategy and battlefield operations.
Shades of grey: The evolving links between the Houthi and Iran
Clingendael Institute
In recent days, Jordan has led the way in Arab countries’ rapprochement with Syria. But Amman’s experience shows that, without regional coordination, bilateral normalization can win only limited concessions.
Jordans Experiences Highlight the Limitations of Renewed Ties With Syria
Carnegie Middle East Center
Based on interviews with actors closely involved in the discussions, this Weekly Review examines the influence of international law in the negotiations on South Sudan’s permanent constitution-making process relating to public participation. While international law was infrequently referred to in the negotiations, much of what was discussed and agreed resonates with international law.
South Sudans Permanent Constitution-Making Process Negotiations: The Influence of International Law and Public Participation
The SUDD Institute
Policy efforts to promote gender equality in Uganda built on the Ten-Point Programme that the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) announced in 1984, two years before coming to power. This programme aims to unite all Ugandans under one umbrella irrespective of their gender, religion, ethnicity, and other social characteristics. Under Uganda’s 1995 Constitution, 2006 National Equal Opportunities Policy, and 2007 Uganda Gender Policy, affirmative action has sought to reduce gender gaps, with some success.
Ugandans applaud government efforts to promote gender equality, but want more
Afro Barometer
The present report covers the period from 23 June 2022 to 30 December 2022 and contains an overview of developments and trends in West Africa and the Sahel, and the activities of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS). It also highlights progress made in the implementation of the United Nations integrated strategy for the Sahel, and includes an update on the situation in the Lake Chad basin, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2349 (2017).
Activities of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel
UN Security Council
The UN Security Council is expected to renew the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in December 2022. The upcoming negotiations among council members will unfold against the backdrop of renewed fighting between the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and the M23 rebel group. And while several regional diplomatic initiatives are underway, the security and humanitarian conditions continue to worsen in the eastern provinces of the DRC, with persistent threats to human rights and the protection of civilians.
Reading of the Week: Prioritizing and Sequencing Security Council Mandates in 2022: The Case of MONUSCO
International Peace Institute
The current bleak outlook for the world economy, with a likely recession in major economies, high inflation, rising interest rates, and slow productivity growth, will adversely emerging market and developing countries (EMDE) over the next few years. Unfortunately, these countries emerged from COVID-19 with less fiscal space and rising debt service payments.
Sailing on a Storming Sea: Policy Challenges for Developing Countries 2022-2025
Policy Center for the New South
In the period from 1991 to 2004 there were three challenges to the international nuclear non-proliferation community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Three countries—South Africa, Iraq and Libya—had taken their ambitions to build nuclear weapons to a high threshold of implementation. This report provides an account and analysis of the inspection campaigns to disarm and denuclearize these three states from the perspective of a direct participant.
Verifying Nuclear Disarmament - Lessons Learned in South Africa
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
In recent months, the Ukraine war has underscored the centrality of the debate on national and regional energy strategies to global economic and geopolitical security as well as the climate crisis. This paper looks at how three of the major Gulf energy actors – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – have reacted to the pressures of recent geopolitical developments as well as the longer-term trend of the global shift towards cleaner energy. There are precedents for state actors, including Gulf actors, to focus in on the renewable energy sector as part of wider energy efforts during periods of uncertainty and instability across the international system.
Transforming the Renewables Sector in the Gulf: The Evolving Strategies of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Al Jazeera
La présence iranienne en Afrique est une question à la fois idéologique, économique et sécuritaire. La politique africaine de l’Iran a connu un nouvel élan avec la Révolution de 1979. Dans le cas de la politique africaine, on peut qualifier ce tiers-mondisme militant d’arrogant. Eneffet, dans l’imaginaire des élites politiques révolutionnaires khomeynistes, les relations avec les pays du Sud global sont à comprendre non seulement dans le cadre d’un anti-impérialisme de façade mais aussi dans la perspective d’une approche révolutionnaire visant à exporter leur modèle politico-religieux.
Les ambitions iraniennes en Afrique: Une présence idéologique, sécuritaire et économique
Policy Center for the new South
The present review is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2642 (2022), in which the Council requested that the Secretary-General provide a special report on the humanitarian needs in the Syrian Arab Republic by no later than 10 December 2022. Also in the resolution, the Council called upon humanitarian agencies to step up further initiatives to broaden the humanitarian activities in the Syrian Arab Republic, including water, sanitation, health, education, electricity where essential to restore access to basic services, and shelter early recovery projects.
Report of the Secretary-General: Humanitarian needs in the Syrian Arab Republic
UN Security Council
In late September 2022, Burkina Faso experienced its second coup in eight months. In the name of national security, Captain Ibrahim Traoré took control of the country on 30 September, deposing Paul-Henri Damiba, who had come to power through his own coup in January. Insecurity and the inability of the political class to deal with the jihadist threat are among the determining factors that led to two coups in such a short time. The coups unfolded in a context marked by competition between the European Union (EU) – initially led by France, the traditional European hegemon in the region – and Russia for influence in the Sahel.
The EU vis-à-vis Turmoil in Burkina Faso: Towards Europeanisation?
Istituto Affari Internazionali
As part of its mission, the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa tracks investments in infrastructure on the African continent, by country and by source of financing. The objective is to follow trends and to identify ways in which the amount of financing for sustainable infrastructure can be increased in the transport, water and sanitation, energy, and ICT sectors in Africa.
Infrastructure Financing Trends in Africa 2019-2020
African Development Bank Group
This report is a product of the Somali Dialogue Platform. The Somali Dialogue Platform is a programme which supports Somalis to achieve consensus on contentious political issues and is implemented by the Rift Valley Institute. The Somali Dialogue Platform is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Somalias 2021-22 Political Transition: Lessons Learned For Future Democratization
Rift Valley Institute
Taken together, some recent events represent a watershed in the global geopolitical landscape. The strategic repositioning of the US towards the Indo-Pacific, NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine highlights the need for EU member states to invest more and better in the defence sector. Industrial cooperation between national champions is pivotal to reduce unnecessary duplications and foster interoperability.
Reading of the week; Naval Defence Cooperation in the EU - Potential and Hurdles
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Cultural heritage plays a major role in shaping our identities, enriching our spiritual existence, providing social cohesion and helping us to understand our past. Throughout history, people have experienced loss and damage to their cultural heritage due to war, colonialism, displacement, tourism and other forces, but now there is a new threat: climate change.
What do we have to lose? Understanding and responding to climate-induced loss and damage to cultural heritage
Overseas Development Institute
This Green Deal Watch presents a general analytical foreword, followed by the in-depth monitoring of Green Deal activities, divided according to a breakdown revolving around a set of four dimensions, designed to match the guidelines so far expressed by the von der Leyen Commission (driving the Green Deal; greening industry; supporting the transformation; and strengthening security and diplomacy). These four dimensions are followed by an in-depth section, where we will cover different kinds of content in each issue.
Green Deal Watch: Building Energy
Istituto Affari Internazionali
State practices relating to the repatriation of child returnees from Northeast Syria continue to be inconsistent and incomplete. With an increasing number of European countries escalating their efforts to bring home women and children from the camps, it is imperative that these practices include holistic policies towards child returnees that address the wide range of issues presented not only in the short- but also in the mid- and long-term.
Repatriation of child returnees from Northeast Syria: A child-rights approach to their management, rehabilitation, and reintegration
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism
The adoption of Resolution 922 by the Israeli government was a significant effort to accelerate economic development within the Arab population. The program rested on two primary objectives: economic development among the Arab sector and its integration in the Israeli economy and society; and a narrowing of the existing wide socioeconomic gaps between the Arab sector and the general population.
Five-Year Development Plans for Arab Society in Israel: Lessons from Plan 922 for the New Five-Year Plan
The Institute for National Security Studies
The Somali Islamist group Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujaahidiin, commonly known as al-Shabaab, is the ‘largest, wealthiest and most deadly’ al-Qaeda affiliate remaining in the world. While its origins trace back to the early years of the 2000s, the group rose to prominence during the invasion and occupation of Somalia by the Ethiopian military between 2006 and 2009.
Terror and Taxes: Inside al-Shabaab revenue-collection machine
Global Initiative
Climate change threatens to reduce the water flow in the Nile and increase the frequency and severity of droughts and floods in Egypt, which already suffers from water scarcity. This threat is a looming crisis as it seriously undermines the Government of Egypt’s long standing food self-sufficiency approach to food security, an approach which is wasteful of increasingly precious arable land and water resources, while achieving neither more food self-sufficiency nor meaningful food security for the poor and vulnerable.
Short of Water and Under Increasing Pressure to Deliver Food Security: Key Policy Considerations the Case of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Police Center for the New South
South Sudan is a country with longstanding history of international assistance. In fact, her hard-won independence was birthed in part through external financial and political backstopping. Certain international actors have since deepened their engagement by supporting constitutional designs dating as far back as 2005.
Re-thinking approaches to the international constitutional assistance in South Sudan
The Sudd Institute
Climate change is increasing the frequency and scope of security challenges. This calls for greater collaboration across formerly often siloed policy fields, as illustrated in the context of climate change adaptation by Swiss Civil Protection and Switzerland’s priorities on the UN Security Council
Readings of the Week: The Climate Change. Security Interface
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
In the first two weeks of November 2022, all eyes were riveted on Sharm El-Sheikh. This year, Egypt welcomed world leaders to discuss climate actions at the 27th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) between the 6th and the 18th of November. Following the green momentum the world displayed during COP26, with the formulation of more ambitious commitments on finance, coal, carbon neutrality, and deforestation, the objectives of this year were announced loud and clear: “COP27 must be remembered as the ‘Implementation COP’ - the one where we restore the grand bargain that is at the centre of the Paris Agreement”.
Decoding the Achievements and Failures of the Cop27: The Way Forward for More Effective Global Climate Policy
Brussels International Center
The African continent (20 percent of the planet’s land) is home to one-quarter of the world’s mammal species and one-fifth of the world’s bird species. At least one-sixth of the world’s plant species are endemic to Africa. The continent also boasts 369 wetlands of international importance.
More than 62 percent of Africa’s rural population rely on the continent’s diverse natural ecosystems for their food, water, energy, health, and secure livelihood needs. This biodiversity provides an arsenal of genetic capital beneficial not just to the people living in these ecosystems but to the world.
African Biodiversity Loss Raises Risk to Human Security
African Center for Strategic Studies
On Thursday 8 December 2022, the Brussels International Center organised an event at the European Parliament called ‘Iran, Challenged: Women-led Protests, Women-led Responses’, hosted by MEPs Hilde Vautmans and MEP Soraya Rodriguez Ramos.
The event discussed the protests in Iran that have erupted since the death of Mahsa Amini, including the level of repression inflicted by the Iranian government. During the discussion, several important aspects were raised regarding how the international community, including the European Union, can better support the demands of protestors. This paper explores those elements in more detail.
Iran, Challenged: Women-Led Protests, Women-Led Responses
Brussels International Center
The visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia, which included three summit meetings, moved relations between China and the Arab world at least one step forward. Alongside signed agreements and partnerships agreed on by both sides, the visit had a substantial symbolic side aimed at projecting independence, consolidating Saudi Arabia’s leading status among Arab states, and enabling Mohammed bin Salman to demonstrate his leadership to his people prior to his accession to the throne.
Xi of Arabia - Enjoying the Favor of the King
Institute for National Security Studies
Historically, African delegations have the lowest rates of women representation in forums on nuclear disarmament. Excluding women from security and disarmament forums is a drastic oversight and hinders development. Africa will benefit from the inclusion of more women in peace and security dialogues and can also use the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology to promote women’s rights and their inclusion.
Africas Women and the Promotion of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Science and Technology
The South African Institute of International Affairs
The COVID-19 pandemic plunged Africa into its worst recession in more than 50 years, causing a 2.1% drop in Africa’s gross domestic product in 2020 and pushing about 30 million Africans into extreme poverty in 2021. Already grappling with poverty and unemployment, the continent lost about 22 million jobs in 2021 (African Development Bank Group, 2021, 2022). In a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, at least 42 African countries enforced restrictions such as lockdowns, curfews, border closures, travel bans, and the suspension of sports and recreational activities, all of which hindered income-generating activities (African Development Bank Group, 2021).
Africans see unfair distribution of COVID-19-relief assistance, loss of resources to corruption
Afro barometer
The Africa Visa Openness Index (AVOI) measures the extent to which African countries are open to visitors from other African countries. The index analyzes each country’s visa requirements to show which countries on the continent facilitate travel to their territory.
The 2022 Africa Visa Openness Index report shows African countries making progress in their freedom of travel policies, most of which had been severely curtailed by the Covid-19 crisis.
Reading of the Week: Africa Visa Openness Report 2022
African Development Bank Group
Climate change is more than ever the topic of the hour as governments and citizens across the globe are urged to take collective action to halt its impacts. Women, specifically those from low-income communities in the global South, are climate change’s first victims. Yet, gender-responsive climate solutions are painfully slow to develop. This paper highlights the different ways gender and ecological poverty are interlinked and the lack of representation of women in climate decision-making.
Towards an Integrated Feminist Perspective in Climate Change Solutions
Brussels International Center
This policy briefing provides a brief multi-sector comparison between African and Southeast Asian experiences of environmental, socioeconomic and governance (ESG) implementation in Chinese-led infrastructure projects. It highlights recurring challenges and proposes concrete recommendations to mitigate these challenges in the future.
Future Proofing Africa China Infrastructure Cooperation
The South African Institute of International Affairs
The successful achievement of the objectives set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2015 Paris Agreement requires a rapid transformation of energy systems across the globe towards high shares and eventually 100% renewable energy. As a growing number of countries announce ambitious pledges and actions to phase out fossil fuels and enact policies in line with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, renewable energy will need to play a dominant role across all sectors.
Sector coupling: A key concept for accelerating the energy transformation
International Renewable Energy Agency
Among other social barometers, the results of the November 1 elections to the 25th Knesset provide an insight on relations between Israel’s Jewish majority and Arab minority. Arab voter turnout was higher than expected, indicating an ongoing motivation of the majority of Arab citizens to integrate into the country's fabric. At the same time, the rate of those who abstained from voting or voted for the nationalist Balad party in higher numbers than before also suggest a sense of apathy toward the Israeli political system and a growing inclination toward nationalism and segregation.
Arab Society in Israel and the Elections to the 25 Knesset
The Institute for National Security Studies
Cholera continues to sweep through Syria and Lebanon at an alarming pace, leaving thousands sick and hundreds dead in its wake, with only a small fraction of cases officially registered in databases. Nevertheless, it is clear that the number of cases of the bacterial disease in both countries is steadily increasing, with UNICEF estimating the total in Syria at 35,569 while the Ministry of Public Health puts that in Lebanon at 3,369.
Syria and Lebanon at risk from rapidly spreading cholera epidemic
Middle East Institute
The forested swamps of the central Congo Basin store approximately 30 billion metric tonnes of carbon in peat. Little is known about the vulnerability of these carbon stocks. Here we investigate this vulnerability using peat cores from a large interfluvial basin in the Republic of the Congo and palaeoenvironmental methods. We find that peat accumulation began at least at 17,500 calibrated years before present.
Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin
Nature
This SIPRI Policy Report synthesizes the data on small arms and light weapons (SALW) diversion from the United Nations Panel of Experts reports on the five UN arms embargoes in place in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, on the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan (Darfur region). The report provides a typology on the sources of illicit SALW in the states and regions under embargo and discusses the challenges of enforcing arms embargoes and possible policy solutions to address the various sources of illicit SALW in order to inform and support efforts to combat the proliferation of illicit arms.
Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in Sub-Saharan Africa
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
This paper offers an overview and explanation of international gas contracts, of which there are several types along the value chain. The key objective of this paper is to focus on two specific categories of long-term agreements for gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales, namely Gas Supply Agreements for pipeline gas (GSAs) and Sale and Purchase Agreements for LNG (LNG SPAs).
International Gas Contracts
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
Events such as the 2014–16 West Africa Ebola epidemic, the 2018–20 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Ebola outbreak and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have demonstrated the impacts of infectious disease outbreaks on the whole of society. These natural examples have highlighted the interconnectedness of the world and the need for collaborative international efforts to improve biological security to mitigate the spread of disease outbreaks
Opportunities for the European Union to Strengthen Biosecurity in Africa
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Embarking on his third term in power, Xi Jinping is firmly in control of China’s foreign policy, which is expected to accentuate the enlistment of African support for reshaping global institutions and validating China’s governance norms. Xi Jinping enters his third term as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
Chinas Deepening Ties to Africa in Xi Jinpings Third Term
Africa Center For Strategic Studies
The eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bordering Rwanda and Uganda is one of the richest in the world in terms of biodiversity and natural resources – from coltan and cobalt, to gold and tropical timber – but one of the poorest in terms of wealth, safety
and peace. Since the colonization of the Congo in the 19th century, power struggles over natural resources have played a significant role in decades of oppression, war, widespread violence and displacement of people.
Reading of the week: Business as usual? Illegal charcoal and timber trade in Eastern DRC
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Dubai’s location and post-oil economic diversification and development strategy have reshaped the emirate from a small fishing village to a global leader in finance, trade and transport logistics. As a result, the emirate has also become a prime target for illicit actors moving goods such as wildlife, flora, and precious stones and metals to destinations all over the world.
Trade and Transit - Dubais Role in Illicit Environmental Supply Chains
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Parliamentary systems allow for majority coalitions to govern, made up of parties that are not always required to get along - let alone agree on every issue. The whole purpose of crossing a majority threshold (in Lebanon’s case 64 seats out of a 128-seat chamber) is to set aside smaller differences and work together through an alliance.
Alliance: Lebanon needs Change and Opposition to work together
Middle East Institute
Believers in equal rights for women are celebrating Sierra Leone’s just-passed Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act, which mandates equal pay for equal work, maternity leave, financial inclusion, and a 30% quota of women in government appointments and private institutions with more than 25 employees. The act is a major step for Sierra Leone, where women make up only 12.3% of parliamentarians.
Sierra Leoneans welcome government efforts to address gender inequalities
Afro Barometer
In its conclusions of 16 April 2021, the Council defined the European Union’s Integrated Strategy in the Sahel. The Council in particular expressed its concern that the gradual expansion of insecurity and its impact, of which civilian populations are the first victims, has exacerbated a situation of multiple crises, with unprecedented humanitarian consequences in the region, including an increase in the number of internally displaced persons and refugees and forced displacements.
Council Decision - European Union military partnership mission in Niger
Official Journal of the European Union
The changing nature of the space industry, particularly through its NewSpace entrants is resulting in changes in business practices, and new funding sources and capitalization models, as well as gaps in awareness and understanding of export controls. NewSpace is not only changing the nature of the space industry, but also exacerbating existing missile proliferation risks and posing challenges for the effective implementation of export controls.
Newspace and the Commercialization of the Space Industry
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Ending up the fossil fuel addiction of the global economy, which is the main reason for global warming, is a challenging task for both countries and international organizations. This is due to the hardship of collecting and distributing the financial resources needed for green investment projects amid the ongoing financial and energy crisis in the wake of Ukraine war.
COP 27, EU Green Deal, and the Birth Pain of a New International Order
Beyond The Horizon
Following a record-breaking drought this summer, China is on the brink of a water catastrophe that could have devastating consequences for global food security, energy markets and supply chains. The 2022 drought, which mainly impacted China’s Sichuan province, offered an uncomfortable preview of what the future could bring if water supplies continue to run dry.
How Chinas Water Challenges Could Lead to a Global Food and Supply Chain Crisis
Baker Institute for Public Policy
Industrialization is central to Africa’s development prospects. With its young labour force, abundant natural resources and fast-growing internal markets. Africa has the potential to become the next global frontier for industrial development. Africa’s development strategies, from the Sustainable Development Goals to Agenda 2063 and the African Union’s 2011 Action Plan for the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa, all clearly identify industrial development as a foundation for inclusive growth, the creation of decent jobs and many other development goals.
Reading of the week: Africa Industrialization Index 2022
African Development Bank Group
The Israeli public voted decidedly to the right in the recent Knesset elections. While the clear outcome will resolve the crisis in the political system, reflected in the five rounds of elections in three and a half years, it brings with it significant challenges for many domestic issues, such as the relations between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority, and Israel’s democratic character, as well as for foreign policy issues, including relations with the United States and the policy toward the Palestinians.
The Israeli Electorate from the Perspective of the 2022 Elections
The Institute for National Security Studies
The Syrian state’s persecution of the population has been well documented throughout the country's more than 11-year conflict through a voluminous stream of victims’ testimonies. Less well understood is the logic behind the violence, who the regime targets and why they inflict such harm. Why do violence and persecution continue against some groups, even after a reduction in immediate conflict hostilities or when they now live as refugees outside of the country?
Understanding the logic behind the Syrian regimes violence
Middle East Institute
Rising ocean levels threaten dozens of Africa’s rapidly expanding coastal metropolises, resulting in shrinking land area, coastal flooding, more powerful storm surges, and the need for better mitigation. African coastlines have experienced a steady rise in sea levels for four decades. At the current pace, sea levels are projected to rise by 0.3 meters by 2030, affecting 117 million Africans.
Rising Sea Levels Besieging Africas Booming Coastal Cities
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
This piece examines the role of labor and religious movements in the face of the “informalization” of the African economy. How does the growth of an informal sector set back class formation and labor activism? How will the rise of economic networks outside formal economic and political channels affect state capacity? Can labor unions develop organizational independence if the labor market is segmented with a growing number of informal workers?
Informal Markets and Parallel States
Policy Center for the New South
More than half of all children living in conflict areas in 2021 - an estimated 230 million - lived in the deadliest war zones, a nine percent increase from the previous year, reveals new analysis from Save the Children released during the Africa Conference on Children and Armed Conflicts. While the recorded number of incidents of killing and maiming in conflict has dropped by about a third since 2018, more than 8,000 children, an average of 22 a day still died or were maimed in 2021.
Reading of the Week: Stop The war On Children. The forgotten Ones
Save the Children
Since the mid-2010s, North African countries have been pursuing what some observers have called a “return to Africa” (Dworkin, 2020). Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia have attempted to position themselves as major components of Europe Mediterranean-Africa infrastructure and supply chains corridors (Tanchum, 2020). The three countries are trying to act as bridges between Africa and Europe amid discussions on the evolution of the partnership between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU).
Digitalize To Industrialize: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Africa-Europe Partnership
Policy Center
In this report, the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) estimates the economic impacts if the General Services Administration (“GSA”) were to disallow spending on products containing single-use plastics and plastics packaging based on a petition by The Center for Biological Diversity, along with 180 signatories. For this analysis, the definition of single-use plastics includes plastics packaging, unlaminated plastic film, plastic sheet, polystyrene foam and plastic bottles.
Economic Impacts of the Proposed GSA Single-Use Plastics Rule
Real Clear Energy
Despite optimism that a breakthrough was imminent in the talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), indirect talks between Washington and Tehran have stalled again. While the parties disagree on the extent of sanctions relief and what legal and political mechanisms are necessary to ensure the revived agreement's durability, many observers consider Iran's insistence on the settlement of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) probe into its past nuclear activities as the main roadblock to the restoration of the nuclear deal.
The Final Hurdle: How to Secure the Iran Nuclear Deal
The National Interest
The results of the Knesset elections did not surprise the Palestinians, who have followed the changes in Israeli society over the last decade or more vis-à-vis the Palestinian issue, and especially the rising support for parties opposed to a political resolution. In this context, they increasingly question the benefit of continued reliance on the process created with the Oslo Accords. Herein, however, lies the trap: the establishment of the Palestinian Authority was an achievement worth maintaining, yet this achievement has not produced an independent Palestinian state.
Standing Firm? The Palestinians after the November 2022 Elections
The Institute for National Security Studies
The last 20 years have seen the proliferation of export processing zones (EPZs) globally. About 5,400 EPZs were in existence as of 2019, with about 1,400 of them less than five years old. Since their introduction in the 1920s, EPZs have changed significantly, offering various scales of domestic sales and incentives. Many African countries including Ghana joined the bandwagon.
Sustainable Export Processing Zones Development in Ghana: An Ecosystem and Benchmarking Report
African Center for Economic Transformation
The study at hand aims at proposing a preliminary framework that encourages the deployment of green hydrogen in three preselected African countries. The three countries were selected in consultation with the African Development Bank (AfDB) after screening 29 African member countries under the Climate Investment Fund (CIF).
Just Transition in a Renewable Energy Rich Environment: The Potential Role of Green Hydrogen
Africa Energy Portal
West Africa’s economy showed signs of recovery in 2021. In indicating a V-shaped rebound, the average GDP of the region is estimated to grow by 4.3% in 2021, higher than its pre-COVID-19-pandemic growth of 3.5% in 2019. As in other regions of the continent, West Africa navigated the pandemic well as a result of robust monetary, fiscal, and financial policies, the easing of social restrictions, global partnerships, and the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
West Africa Economic Outlook 2022
African Development Bank Group
Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health globally. Exposure to indoor and outdoor fine particulate matter is associated with an estimated 7 million premature deaths each year and is responsible for millions more non-fatal health outcomes such as an increase in emergency-room visits related to exacerbated asthma, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Reading of the Week: A Practical Guide for Business Air Pollutant Emission Assessment
Stockholm Environment Institute
Losses and damages are increasingly felt across the globe, with the most vulnerable countries and populations most affected. At the same time, processes around Loss and Damage under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are characterized by divergent positions and slow progress.
Making Headway on Loss and Damage
Danish Institute for International Studies
The Hydrogen Action Pact aims to strengthen joint action on power-to-X (electricity storage through conversion into hydrogen), hydrogen and derivatives (especially ammonia), and to streamline the implementation of existing multilateral initiatives. This report briefly summarizes the status and outlook for hydrogen in each G7 member, including analyses of technology, costs, strategy and stated policy support for each country.
Accelerating Hydrogen Deployment in the G7: Recommendations for the Hydrogen Action Pact
International Renewable Energy Agency
The MED This Week newsletter provides expert analysis and informed comments upon the MENA region’s most significant issues and trends. Today, we place the spotlight upon COP27, the 27th annual UN meeting, hosted this year in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
COP 27: Relaunching Climate Action in a Burning MENA region
The Mediterranean Dialogue
Michel Aoun ended his term as Lebanon’s President before any replacement was selected. Once again, this led to a governmental vacuum, which is more serious now than in the past because the present government is a transitional government. The current composition of Parliament, which is responsible for choosing the president, and the internal disputes among its members make it difficult to agree on and select a candidate.
The governmental Vacuum in Lebanon
The Institute for National Security Studies
The COVID pandemic has brought into sharp relief Africa’s digital divide. COVID-induced lockdowns and restrictions on travel made it necessary for government and business meetings and conferences to be conducted virtually, via various online formats. Consumers bought online and, most importantly, schools and tertiary educational institutions moved their courses online.
Driving Digital Inclusion Within the AfCFTA Framework
The Mediterranean Dialogue
This paper proposes two new approaches for targeting the beneficiaries of social benefit programs in Tunisia, such as the cash transfer and healthcare programs. The first approach is a mixed means test, which extends the proxy means test model to explicitly combine both individual/household assessment and geographical targeting methods. The second approach is drawn from the identification step of the family of multidimensional poverty measures.
Social Safety Nets in Tunisia: Comparison of Different Targeting Methods
Economic Research Forum
Over the past two decades, the structure of Africa's sovereign debt has been changing in many important ways. For one, increasing access to international capital markets has meant that many countries now hold a significant share of debt owed to private bondholders and traded in secondary debt markets around the world.
Debt Distress and Recovery Episodes in Africa: Good Policy or Good Luck?
African Development Bank Group
Developing countries urgently need capital to finance the energy transition, in particular clean energy infrastructure to replace fossil fuels and support sustainable development. The situation is set to deteriorate as access to capital becomes more constrained amid rising interest rates and faltering global markets.
Reading of the Week: Financing the Energy Transition Through Cross-Border Investment
Belfer Center
The Russian invasion of Ukraine saw new actors and novel activities exploiting cyberspace: Numerous non-state actors, hacker groups and commercial enterprises have entered the virtual battlespace without necessarily being belligerent entities. While states were already struggling with how to regulate activities in cyberspace, the new tropes, techniques and tactics have increased legal uncertainty.
Exploiting cyberspace: International legal challenges and the new tropes, techniques and tactics in the Russo-Ukraine War
Hybrid Centre of Excellence
Climate change and environmental changes are increasingly prominent drivers of migration. The great majority of individuals displaced find refuge within their own country, while some are forced to cross international borders. By 2050, according to the World Bank’s Groundswell report, up to 216 million people across six world regions could be forced to move internally within their countries.
How Can We Protect Climate Refugees
Baker Institute
The protests that have jolted Iran’s clerical leadership over the past weeks, as well as news of Iran’s drone and missile sales to Russia, raise questions that EU policymakers and foreign policy analysts have been struggling with for years: how stable is the Islamic Republic? How to support protesters? And how to reconcile condemnation of the crackdown on demonstrators and the need to react to Iran’s uncovered support for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine?
Protests and Drones Push EU-Iran Relations to the Brink
Istituto Affari Internazionali
A review of the maritime border agreement between Israel and Lebanon reveals an agreement that both reflects a compromise between the two parties and creates a win-win situation. Its achievement is a milestone in the history of the relations between the two states and serves their respective economic, security, and strategic interests.
The Agreement with Lebanon: The Benefits Outweigh the Drawbacks
The Institute for National Security Studies