Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

The European Union’s (EU) citizens have voted, and now the EU institutions are due to be reorganised for the next political cycle. Most attention is focussed on personnel issues, but the reorganisation of policy priorities and the structure of the EU Commis­sion are equally important. At the end of Jean-Claude Juncker’s term as President of the European Commission, the results are mixed: The Commission has become more focussed and internally coherent, but even at the end of the legislative period, many of its legislative proposals were not able to obtain a majority in the European Par­liament and/or the Council of the EU. The mission statement of the political Commission has increasingly proven to be incompatible with the control tasks of the EU’s highest executive body. The new Commission will operate in an even more difficult political environment and will itself become more party-politically heterogeneous. Its realignment should therefore also be used as an opportunity to interpret the “Spitzen­kandidaten” principle differently and negotiate a joint political programme for the EU between the Parliament, the Council, and the new Commission.

Analyse politique et géopolitique de la semaine avec le professeur de relations internationales Bertrand Badie, la philosophe Monique Canto-Sperber, la journaliste du Monde Sylvie Kauffmann et le politologue Dominique Reynié.   Retrouvez l’intégralité de l’émission ici

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The subject of the June 21st Speaker Series event at IPI was “The Risks of Politicizing Humanitarian Action: The UNRWA Perspective,” and the speaker, Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), focused his comments on what he said was the most misunderstood of all principles governing humanitarian work—neutrality.

“Neutrality is often misunderstood as ‘indifference’ when in fact it is a crucial action enabling principle,” he said. “It is crucial because what it means and entails is a fundamental consideration—you as an organization are not taking sides. The misunderstood part is that it sounds sometimes like neutrality is a reflex of taking a step back, physically moving away from the conflict or battlefield.” To the contrary, he said, “our humanitarian work is only possible if we engage… and this can be achieved only if we engage in dialogue with everyone.”

UNRWA provides education, health care, microfinance, and relief and social services to some 5 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, an area that Mr. Krähenbühl identified as “one of the most polarized and politicized places on the planet.”

A former Director of Operations at The International Committee of the Red Cross with more than 25 years of experience in humanitarian, human rights, and development work, he pointed to a key misunderstanding about neutrality in conflict contexts. “Neutral does not mean, ‘I am not in favor of the other one, but I agree with you.’ It means, ‘I do not take sides. I am here in a conflict environment, and there is no need to take sides.’”

Maintaining a neutral position is always under challenge in the conflicted region where UNRWA operates, and he gave an example, stemming from the discovery that the fundamentalist organization Hamas had built a tunnel under one of the agency’s schools in Gaza. “We found out, we informed the different parties, and we condemned Hamas and contributed to the sealing the tunnels,” he said. “This is how far UNRWA is prepared to go to protect its neutrality, to not allow any actor in the region to play with its installations or undermine credibility of its work.”

UNRWA is holding its annual pledging conference starting June 25th, and a particular concern is how to make up for the cut last year in longstanding financial contributions to the agency from its traditionally most generous donor, the United States. He said that the agency had reduced its spending by $92 million and received increased funding from 42 countries and institutions in response to the American action, and its purpose now was to sustain that and keep the annual budget level at its current $1.2 billion. “If every single donor would preserve and maintain their level of contribution reached in 2018, we would be able to cover the financial needs of UNRWA,” he said.

He said the budget was balanced for the first half of 2019 but already was showing a deficit for June. A lack of funding would cripple the agency’s provision of services, especially in the fields of health and education, threatening to delay the opening of schools in August. He declared himself “passionate” about UNRWA’s education program and cited a comment about it from former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown—“There is not a single other actor in the humanitarian system that runs an entire education service of over one half million boys and girls.”

Mr. Krähenbühl said that providing education affected the stability of the entire region and alluded to a statement from King Abdullah II of Jordan. “The Jordanian King said that if the 122,000 boys and girls in the kingdom no longer had access to education, it would become a matter of national stability,” he said.

In a general assessment of the U.S. cuts, he said he didn’t challenge the right of a country to take such action, but he lamented what he called “the accompanying narrative that somehow that UNRWA is a key actor in perpetuating the refugeehood among Palestinians.” He added: “This analysis doesn’t stand serious review.”

Asked about the particular effect of the cutbacks on girls and women, he noted that there was gender parity in the parliament representing 280,000 students in Gaza. The president of the parliament, he said, was a 15-year old girl. “Every time we have funding challenges, we worry that it will impact young girls and women,” he said, “and this, in particular is something we are trying to limit.”

IPI Vice President Adam Lupel moderated the discussion.

À l’occasion de cafés-débat, la Fondation pour l’innovation politique se propose de réagir et d’interagir autour de différents ouvrages. En présence de l’auteur et de Dominique Reynié, directeur général de la Fondation pour l’innovation politique, la discussion s’anime librement au gré des questions et réflexions de l’équipe. Ce 18 juin 2019, la Fondation pour l’innovation politique […]

The post Discussion avec Thierry Lepercq autour de l’ouvrage « Hydrogène, le nouvelle pétrole » appeared first on Fondapol.

Rubén Campos. ARI 73/2019 - 20/6/2019

La segunda victoria electoral por mayoría absoluta del primer ministro Narendra Modi y su partido Bharatija Janata, de centroderecha y nacionalista hindú, confirma su liderazgo y le consolida en el poder de la mayor democracia del mundo.

Anne-Sophie Lewerentz 2019-06-21T10:28:00Z

Idée. Dans la famille des grandes enquêtes de la Fondation pour l’innovation politique, je demande la démocratie. De cette nouvelle étude passionnante, menée dans 42 pays, en 33 langues auprès de plus de 36.000 personnes, il ressort le portrait des recompositions et décompositions des idées démocratiques. Selon ce qu’en pensent et ce qu’en attendent les […]

The post Où en est la démocratie dans le monde ? appeared first on Fondapol.

La ville de Nice a organisé hier un colloque sur les pratiques sociales et les incivilités toujours plus grandissantes. Une première sur l’échelle nationale car cette rencontre au Centre Universitaire Méditerranéen a regroupé de nombreuses personnes, tels que Christian Estrosi, Maire de Nice, Pierre-Paul Leonelli, adjoint au Maire, ou encore Dominique Reynié, Professeur des Universités […]

The post Lutte contre l’incivisme : des actions prévues pour mieux combattre ce fléau appeared first on Fondapol.

Kan partnerskaber løse alle verdens udfordringer?

Le 19 juin, l’ambassadeur a ouvert avec le vice premier ministre Bujar Osmani la conférence de l’International Republican Institute (IRI) promouvant le nouvel ouvrage coécrit avec la Fondation pour l’Innovation politique (Fondapol) : « Démocraties sous tensions, une enquête planétaire ». Cette coopération franco-américaine dresse un état des lieux de la démocratie dans pas moins de 42 pays, […]

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Ny hvidbog fra Norges blå regering kan med fordel inspirere en kommende rød regering i Danmark

Saskia Gamradt 2019-06-19T17:16:00Z

Le 19 juin 2019, la Fondation pour l’innovation politique s’est rendue à Skopje en Macédoine du Nord pour présenter son enquête planétaire, Démocraties sous tension, réalisée en partenariat avec l’International Republican Institute (IRI). Les participants à cette table ronde étaient Dominique Reynié, directeur général de la Fondation pour l’innovation politique, Bujar Osmani, vice-Premier ministre chargé […]

The post Présentation de l’enquête Démocraties Sous Tension à Skopje appeared first on Fondapol.

Europæiske lande modarbejder hinanden i det kaotiske Libyen. Konsekvensen kan både blive mere uro og flere flygtninge i Europa, konstaterer seniorforsker Hans Lucht i Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten

Carina Amler 2019-06-19T09:27:00Z

Carina Amler 2019-06-19T08:33:00Z

Carina Amler 2019-06-19T07:49:00Z

In an interview with FRANCE 24 in The Hague, IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen discussed the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and also shared his thoughts on the merits of the Trump administration’s plans for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Verdensmål og global orden

The Syrian Arab Army’s chemical warfare capacity has been a game-changer throughout the civil war. Unlike intelligence estimates, Bashar al-Assad’s military planners considered these deadly weapons to be tactical arms for battlefield use, rather than last-resort strategic assets. During the reconstruction period, the West should pur­sue a comprehensive approach to address issues concerning Syria’s weapons of mass destruction.