Kategorie: Allgemein

China in the Pacific: economic interests and security cooperation in a contested region

By Allgemein, Future of Globalisation

Photo: Boats at Sundawn in the water

Rivalry between an increasingly assertive China and the United States is mounting in Asia and the Pacific. On several occasions, China has seen its interests threatened by the United States in the region. The US president’s recent visit to Japan and the so-called Quad summit between the US, Australia, Japan and India, which took place during his stay have driven the attention and interests of Beijing’s officials to make a trip to the Pacific Islands in order to negotiate and sign a security agreement with countries of the region. China’s officials see Joe Biden’s recent trip to Asia, as an effort to counter Beijing’s economic, political and diplomatic influence as well as the recognition of China over Taiwan in the region. Wang Yi’s visit to the Pacific Islands in late May for a ten-day tour in eight countries was meant to contribute to securing China’s political, economic and diplomatic stance in the region.…

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UN General Assembly voting on Ukraine – What does it tell us about African states’ relations with external partners?

By Allgemein, Allgemein, Future of Globalisation, Future of Globalisation, , , , ,
Photo: Logo of the UN on blue ground

Picture by Chickenonline on Pixabay

On 2 March 2022, the UN General Assembly voted in a special emergency session on a resolution condemning the Russian attack on Ukraine. The General Assembly dealt with the issue on the basis of a referral from the Security Council, which was paralysed by a Russian veto. The resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire and clearly names Russia as the aggressor.…

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Photo: Flags of the African Union and the European Union next to each other

The AU-EU Summit: resetting the continent-to-continent partnership

By Allgemein, Allgemein, Future of Globalisation, Future of Globalisation, , ,

Finally, the AU-EU Summit took place in Brussels on 17-18 February, after several postponements and a good four years since the last summit was held in Abidjan. Against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the summit convened Heads of State of 27 EU Member States and 40 of their African…

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Transnational networks as relational governance infrastructure

By Allgemein, Allgemein, Future of Globalisation, Future of Globalisation,
Photo: Highways in Riga by night

Photo by Aleksejs Bergmanis on Pixabay

The resource use of our economies currently exceeds the planetary limits. Our way of life requires profound changes to become sustainable. Governing transformation towards sustainability is an orchestration of a multitude of actors and goes beyond top-down state regulations and bottom-up grassroots initiatives. The required transformation touches various types and levels of interactions – from indigenous communities resisting wind energy projects in Oaxaca (Mexico) to youth groups in Copenhagen mobilizing street protests to spark world leaders into action on climate change, from German courts ordering politicians to come up with more ambitious climate protection legislation to European legislation bodies introducing due diligence and sustainable supply chain laws affecting developing countries. The success of transformation towards sustainability depends on how these interactions are facilitated or orchestrated.

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Consolidating Efforts to Recover Stronger: Indonesia’s G20 Presidency in 2022

By Allgemein, Allgemein, Future of Globalisation, Future of Globalisation, ,
Image: City of Jakarta, by Afif Kusuma on Pixabay

Image: City of Jakarta, by Afif Kusuma on Pixabay

“This is, above all, a human crisis that calls for solidarity…. that demands coordinated, decisive, and innovative policy action from the world’s leading economies”. This is an excerpt from António Guterres‘ statement on March 19, 2020, in which the Secretary-General of the United Nations called for innovative, appropriate and coordinated action from all world leaders to tackle the new Covid-19 pandemic. But after more than a year and a half , international coordination and cooperation is still lacking in handling this multidimensional crisis.

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