©WTO, altered, https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/photo_gallery_e/photo_gallery_e.htm
The current debate on the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement could be very consequential for the World Trade Organization (WTO) although it is not part of the official calendar of next week’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi. …
© European Union / David Martin, Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cor-photos/53379323878/in/album-72177720313008202/ When Sultan Al-Jaber, the United Emirates of Arabia President of COP28, finally presented an amended text for adoption in the closing plenary, the EU seemed relieved: For the first time in 30 years of climate negotiations, the decision now explicitly addressed fossil fuels. At last years “COP27”…
The BRICS group – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – invite six countries to join them for a BRICS+. The final list of invitees is an odd bunch: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran from the Middle East, Argentina from Latin America and Egypt and Ethiopia from Africa, with the former also being an Arab state. This decision on specific members came after apparently tough discussions amongst current membership, as interests varied widely. Yet, the return of geopolitics seems to have revitalised a disparate group. Why (only) these six, what are likely effects on international relations, and who’s benefitting most?
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By CherryX per Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 The EU has long prided itself on being a leading supporter of international democratic change. Its development cooperation budget for the period 2021-2027 has allocated €1.5 billion for a dedicated ‘Thematic Programme on Human Rights and Democracy’. The EU has also joined forces with several of its…
In the last couple of years, the reassessment of the Sustainable Development Agenda has become more relevant. As the world enters a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, characterised by lower numbers of infections and deaths, the apparition of new variants of the virus, and considerable economic and social challenges, several issues have become more…
