Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

ARI 77/2017 - 18/10/2017
Mario Esteban

El 19º Congreso Nacional del Partido Comunista Chino nos ofrecerá información muy valiosa para calibrar cuánto poder aglutina Xi Jinping, cuánto tiempo estará al frente del Partido y las posibilidades que tiene de implementar su programa de gobierno.

Die Entscheidung von US-Präsident Trump vom 13. Oktober 2017, die Atomvereinbarung mit dem Iran in Frage zu stellen, wirft auch ein Schlaglicht auf die Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik der USA am Persischen Golf. Aus Sicht der Trump-Administration ist die negative Bewertung dieser Vereinbarung Teil einer grundsätzlichen Neuausrichtung der amerikanischen Politik in der Region. Der Kurswechsel läuft hinaus auf eine im Vergleich zur Präsidentschaft Barack Obamas stärkere Konfrontation mit Iran und eine größere Annäherung an Saudi-Arabien und andere arabische Golfstaaten.

Die Studie kommt zu dem Schluss, dass dem traditionellen Führungs- und Gestaltungsanspruch Amerikas am und um den Persischen Golf bereits vor dem Amtsantritt Trumps enge Grenzen gesetzt waren.

Eine wesentliche Ursache dafür liegt in der größer werdenden Diskrepanz zwischen Angebot und Nachfrage in der Sicherheits- und Verteidigungskooperation der USA mit den arabischen Golfstaaten. Während das Angebot amerikanischer Sicherheitszusagen weiterhin in erster Linie auf Szenarien zwischenstaatlicher Bedrohungen ausgerichtet ist und mit militärischer Präsenz, der Raketenabwehr sowie der Lieferung von Rüstungsgütern unterfüttert wird, hat sich die Nachfrage der arabischen Golfstaaten nach Sicherheit seit den Umbrüchen von 2011 in Richtung innere, das heißt Regimesicherheit verschoben.

Das Vorhaben Trumps, den Einfluss Irans umfassend zurückzudrängen, könnte dazu führen, dass die USA wieder verstärkt in regionale Konflikte hineingezogen werden, ohne dabei gleichzeitig mehr Möglichkeiten der Einwirkung auf die Politik der arabischen Golfstaaten zu gewinnen. Eine solche Entwicklung hätte auch sicherheitspolitische Auswirkungen auf Deutschland und Europa.

Meldungen über Korruptionsfälle in Lateinamerika sind an der Tagesordnung. Zuletzt sorgte der Bestechungsskandal um den brasilianischen Baukonzern Odebrecht weltweit für beträchtliches Aufsehen. Trotz oder gerade wegen dieser Hiobsbotschaften verzeichnet Lateinamerika seit diesem Jahr eine deutliche Zunahme der Antikorruptionsmaßnahmen. Will der Kontinent Korruption effektiv bekämpfen, liegt vor ihm noch ein langer Weg. Jedoch scheint eine Trendwende erstmals möglich.

On Tuesday, October 17th, IPI and Peace Direct cohosted a policy forum to better understand the connection between sustaining peace and the work of local peacebuilders. The event focused on some of these connections and hear from four local peacebuilders about their experiences of sustaining peace and how the United Nations and international community can better support their work in the name of sustaining peace.

To understand sustaining peace, there is a need to hear the voices of local peacebuilders working in their communities. In order to learn more from local actors and their views on sustaining peace, the International Peace Institute and Peace Direct shared an informal, qualitative survey with forty respondents from twenty-two countries in four regions to hear their views on sustaining peace and the work of the UN. This survey aims to unpack views of local peacebuilders around the world and connect that to the policy discussions underway in New York.

On April 27, 2016, the UN General Assembly and Security Council passed identical resolutions on sustaining peace, marking a watershed shift in the understanding of peacebuilding and setting in motion many consultations, meetings, and reports that will culminate in a high-level event on sustaining peace in practice (set for April 2018). Over the past year, a number of peacebuilding actors at UN headquarters have been working to unpack what sustaining peace means in practice and highlight why it is vital to ensuring long-term peace, development, and prosperity. For more information on these initiatives and the survey results, please see the concept note.

This event is part of a project that receives funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Opening Remarks:
Ms. Lesley Connolly, Policy Analyst, International Peace Institute
Ms. Bridget Moix, US Senior Representative, Peace Direct

Speakers:
Ms. Sawssan Abou-Zahr, Journalist and Local Peacebuilding Expert, Lebanon
Mr. Michael Olufemi Sodipo, Coordinator, Peace Initiative Network, Nigeria
Ms. Martine Kessy Ekomo-Soignet, Executive Director, URU, Central Africa Republic
Mr. Webster Zambara, Senior Project Leader, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, South Africa

Respondent:
Ms. Chelsea Payne, Policy Officer, United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office

Moderator:
Ms. Lesley Connolly, Policy Analyst, International Peace Institute

IPI President Terje Rod-Larsen, and Shaban Abdelhamid Osman, CEO of 1958 PMM, sign the MoU in the presence of Nejib Friji, Director of IPI MENA.

Using preventive diplomacy to find sustainable solutions to water-related challenges in the MENA region is the strategic objective of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on October 17, 2017 by IPI President Terje Rod-Larsen, and Shaban Abdelhamid Osman, President & CEO of 1958 Project Management & Marketing S.P.C (1958 PMM).

During the signing ceremony held at IPI’s Middle East and North Africa office (IPI MENA) in Bahrain, both parties stressed that water diplomacy is proving instrumental “now more than ever” in order to prevent fast-escalating water-related divides from developing into threats to peace.

IPI and 1958 PMM will seek to identify ways different actors can address water resources and scarcity within and among countries of the region, and find frameworks to allow sustainable peace-based solutions by embedding them in a comprehensive and collaborative strategy that links solving water-related differences to broader cooperation in the region.

IPI and 1958 PMM will jointly identify and rely on regional and international expertise through studies, convening, and outreach, including with multilateral institutions and other relevant organizations.

About 1958 PMM

1958 PMM offers services like project management, finance, consulting, BPM, business analysis and many others. 1958 has more than 40 years of experience doing business worldwide, but with special expertise in the Middle East. Supporting society and promoting overall prosperity being their core business belief, 1958 promotes and executes responsible entrepreneurship.

Enseignement supérieur et numérique : connectez-vous ! Institut Montaigne mar 17/10/2017 - 17:03

L’Institut Montaigne, en partenariat avec Sciences Po, recevait Frédérique Vidal, Ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation, Mounir Mahjoubi, Secrétaire d'État auprès du Premier ministre, chargé du Numérique et Edouard Husson, Vice-président de l'Université Paris Sciences & Lettres et président du groupe de travail de l’Institut Montaigne "Enseignement supérieur et numérique : connectez-vous !", pour débattre de l’impact du numérique sur notre système d’enseignement supérieur.

À la fois outil, objet d’étude et vecteur de transformation, le numérique nous incite à repenser notre modèle d’enseignement supérieur dans sa globalité et à réaffirmer ses missions fondamentales.

Retrouvez les trois points à retenir de cette soirée :

1. Le numérique est un outil au service de l’enseignement supérieur dont il faut se saisir

L’utilisation du numérique dans l’enseignement supérieur demeure insuffisante en France. Nous subissons les initiatives et les choix effectués ailleurs dans le monde. Il est désormais impératif de s’affirmer comme acteur de la transformation et d’inventer nos propres outils. Les acteurs de la Edtech en France sont nombreux, inventifs, innovants mais trop peu visibles. Il est temps de passer à une logique d’expérimentation, afin d’encourager le développement de solutions alternatives. Les modèles sont à construire, et doivent l’être de façon participative, en impliquant l’ensemble du corps universitaire et les étudiants.

2. Le numérique est un objet d’étude à valoriser et à généraliser

La formation au numérique en France est, elle-aussi, parcellaire. Nous sommes en capacité de former des chercheurs et des techniciens du numérique, mais c’est insuffisant. Le véritable enjeu réside dans l’intégration du numérique dans l’ensemble des formations, et ce tout au long de la vie. Cette formation doit passer par la pratique mais aussi par l’analyse des contenus. C’est d’une culture numérique dont chacun doit pouvoir bénéficier demain. Celle-ci doit couvrir la compréhension du fonctionnement des outils numériques, la sensibilisation au codage, à la circulation d’une information virtuelle sur des réseaux et à l’ensemble des risques qui y sont associés.

La formation des enseignants au numérique, ainsi que leurs initiatives pédagogiques en la matière doivent être valorisées. Aujourd’hui, la reconnaissance de l’innovation pédagogique est insuffisante, des standards et des normes d’évaluations doivent être créés au niveau européen.

3. Le numérique est un vecteur de transformation

La transformation digitale nous incite à repenser l’enseignement dans l’espace et dans le temps. L’université doit être désormais conçue comme un lieu décloisonné, ouvert sur le monde extérieur. Le numérique crée des espaces partagés de manière concrète et virtuelle, de nouvelles formes de solidarités apparaissent. Penser les nouveaux types de formations en créant des standards, concernant la formation à distance ou l’évaluation de la Recherche par exemple, est indispensable.

Le numérique questionne, enfin, la façon dont les individus interagissent. Les managers, les fonctionnaires, les hommes politiques et les ingénieurs de demain doivent comprendre les enjeux de la révolution digitale. Le rôle de l’éducation et de l’enseignement supérieur est de donner les capacités à chacun de maîtriser cette transformation. Le numérique est, enfin, un outil au service de l’autonomie, il permet aux universités de réinventer leur modèle d’enseignement, de se singulariser et de développer une identité propre.

Blanc 17 octobre 2017 Activé Enseignement supérieur et numérique : connectez-vous ! 19h15 20h45 Le numérique nous incite à repenser notre modèle d’enseignement supérieur dans sa globalité. Frédérique Vidal, Mounir Mahjoubi et Edouard Husson nous livrent leurs visions Ouvert Non

Vor gut einer Woche hat der Orkan "Xavier" die Politikwissenschaftlerin Sylke Tempel unvermittelt und viel zu früh aus dem Leben gerissen. Tempel war Chefredakteurin der Zeitschrift "Internationale Politik" und geschätzter Kooperationspartner der Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung.

The dual “sustaining peace” resolutions adopted by the Security Council and General Assembly in April 2016 did not mention how this concept might be applied to responses to violent extremism. Nonetheless, given the failure of existing responses and the constantly evolving, multi-faceted nature of the problem, there is a clear need to examine the issue from this perspective.

This issue brief examines how the sustaining peace agenda is well-positioned to recalibrate responses to violent extremism. It can help to mobilize political will for meaningful change among actors within the multilateral system while also encouraging civil society, the private sector, women’s and youth groups, and other sectors to be agents for change in their own countries and communities. In order to achieve this change, proponents of sustaining peace will need to:

• Advocate moving away from reactive, security-focused responses to violent extremism in isolation from other approaches;
• Acknowledge that countering and preventing violent extremism (CVE/PVE) are broadly compatible with sustaining peace;
• Increase awareness of the state-centric nature of CVE/PVE and work to make these efforts more inclusive;
• Compel policymakers and practitioners to consider the broader range of causes of instability and conflict beyond just violent extremism; and
• Encourage actors within the UN system and its member states to focus more on factors that contribute to peaceful societies rather than only on those that contribute to conflict.

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Starting Wednesday, 18 October 2017, key political decisions will be announced at the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China Beijing. While most observers focus on the changes in the party’s leadership, it is the so called political report of the Congress that will set the Chinese policy agenda for the next five years. As the highest decision-making organ of the Communist Party, the Congress and its report have enormous influence on Chinese and global politics. What does this mean for global development and foreign aid?

The political report is drafted by a special committee, following a year-long consultative process of gathering inputs from across government and from experts. The report is, therefore, a laboriously crafted consensus document, shared by all major constituencies within the Communist Party. As a result, formulations are broad and often unspecific. Still, wording matters, even if the significance of a specific phrase is not apparent at first. The meaning of key passages often emerges later, after further elaboration and interpretation.

The report contains large sections that remain unchanged; continuity prevails. For President Xi Jinping, however, this is the first political report of the Congress to prominently feature his policy ideas, including the “Chinese Dream” – often presented as vision for development – and the “New Type of Great Power Relations”, which sets out China’s foreign policy aspirations and relations with the US. Notably China now declares itself as a ”Great Power”, and not just a developing country.

Three key trends
Traditionally, the report first and foremost focuses on domestic issues. China’s engagement in international development will be outlined in the second to last section (the 11th of 12), which in 2012 was entitled “Continuing to Promote the Noble Cause of Peace and Development of Mankind”. Despite foreign policy’s limited role, this part of the report will determine key lines for China’s international relations in the next years. We expect this vision to promise a more assertive role for China in global governance and foreign aid, based on three key trends of the last years.

First, China has initiated a big push on global development, most notably through the launch of the “One Belt One Road” Initiative, also known as the Silk Road of the 21stCentury. This cross-regional integration effort bundles Chinese aid, trade, investment, loans and political influence into infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa and Europe. More than 60 countries are included and about USD 926 billion in investments have been announced. In addition, China continues to promote regional development under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) for Central Asia and the China and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum.

Second, China has increased its engagement in multilateralism. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, President Xi called China the defender of globalisation and free trade, in marked contrast to the US administration under President Trump. China is now the second-largest funder of the UN, and the biggest provider of UN peacekeeping troops among the UN Security Council’s permanent members. China continues to back the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal. The IMF voting rights reform in 2010 formalised China’s position as the 3rd largest member country in the IMF. In 2016, the Renminbi became a global reserve currency. During its G-20 Presidency last year China championed the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, linking its G-20 and UN activities. Two new multilateral institutions, the New Development Bank (“BRICS bank”) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are backed by China.

Third, Chinese cooperation is targeted more strongly at achieving the 2030 Agenda. In 2015, China made commitments for South-South Cooperation of over USD 5 billion, including a USD 2 billion commitment to development assistance for poor countries to eradicate poverty. In 2017, China launched the China Center for International Knowledge on Development (CIKD) to share “China’s wisdom” and put forward “China’s proposals” for international development. On foreign aid, China does not intend to join the OECD club of donors, but it could explore more coordination of global engagement in different platforms, including for instance the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-Operation.

A new global role for China
All these foreign policy pursuits are strongly embedded in China’s domestic core interests— national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and domestic development – especially its pursuit of the “Chinese dream”. However, in a global context that is increasingly defined by zero-sum thinking, Chinese ideas of “mutual interest” and “win-win” cooperation offer themselves as an alternative to the at times inadequate engagement of Western countries on the global stage.

China is also reshaping its own role in international cooperation, from being a participant and follower to acting as a provider of new developmental proposals and solutions. Development actors, including Western aid agencies and China, should continue their mutual learning and exchange, with the goal of addressing global development challenges together. Western countries should prepare to engage with a China that is much more assertive and at the same time willing to share lessons based its own development experiences.


Heiner Janus is a Researcher at the Department Bi- and Multilateral Development Cooperation at German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)

Lixia Tang is Associate Professor at the College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University, Beijing

Élections par voie électronique : “il n’existe pas (encore) de solution parfaitement sécurisée” Institut Montaigne mar 17/10/2017 - 10:01

Devant les Français de l’étranger, le président de la République a annoncé le 1er octobre qu'un système de vote en ligne "">

Politique migratoire en Allemagne : revirement ou retour à la normale ? Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 18:59

En septembre 2015, Angela Merkel a décidé d’ouvrir ses frontières aux réfugiés qui affluent en Europe.

Royaume-Uni, Espagne : y a-t-il un pilote dans l’avion ? Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 16:35

Mariano Rajoy a montré trop d’autoritarisme face aux indépendantistes catalans. A l’inverse, Teresa May n’a cessé de changer de ligne à propos du Brexit. Dans les deux cas, la médiocrité de leur leadership plonge leur pays dans la crise.

Les propositions de François Fillon Primaire de la droite et du centre Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 12:30

Méthodologie Primaire de la droite et du centre

A l’occasion de l’élection présidentielle de 2017 et suite au fort intérêt porté par les citoyens, par les responsables politiques et les acteurs écon

Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 12:28

Cumul des mandats Primaire de la droite et du centre

• Les propositions des candidats
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Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 12:17

Réforme des institutions Primaire de la droite et du centre

• Les propositions des candidats
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Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 12:16

Immigration Primaire de la droite et du centre

• Les propositions des candidats
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Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 12:13

Service militaire Primaire de la droite et du centre

• Les propositions des candidats
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Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 12:12

Etablissements pénitentiaires Primaire de la droite et du centre

• Les propositions des candidats
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Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 12:10

Temps de travail dans la fonction publique Primaire de la droite et du centre

• Les propositions des candidats
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Institut Montaigne lun 16/10/2017 - 12:08