Deforestation continues at a worrying pace worldwide, except in temperate and boreal countries. It is caused by the race for land, underpinned by population growth and rising global demand for “deforestation-prone” products. Moreover, with climate change, mega-fires are now posing unprecedented threats to forests.

During Donald Trump’s four-year term, many new Republican candidates have been elected to Congress. Often backed by the former president from the GOP’s primaries, they were chosen for their devotion towards him and their support for his policies : moral conservatism and laissez-faire attitudes towards fiscal and environmental issues are old Republican tenets taken over by Trump, while nativist and economic nationalism (based on anti-immigration and protectionist policies respectively), as well as the portrayal of White people without college degree as an oppressed minority are fresh precepts brought forward by the former populist President.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has long-standing ties with African countries, but the implementation of a genuine Africa policy dates back only about 15 years. 

In the 2010s, Japan gradually increased economic connections with the Indian Ocean region (IOR) through trade, foreign direct investment, and official development assistance (ODA).

In recent years, Germany’s Africa politics have been characterized by proactive international initiatives and the claim for a "partnership at eye level". However, a look at the power constellations of its cooperation indicates that inequalities are – contrary to Germany’s own claims – rather reproduced than reduced.

In Kenya, corruption results from a confusion of public and private interests that is specific to the neo-patrimonial logic in place since British colonization. The strong moral and political ethnicity that characterizes the country fuels an ambiguous relationship between the population and the elite.

The United States and the European Union (EU) are now both in agreement regarding China – long viewed benevolently – as a systemic rival in the international order. 

The Biden administration’s geopolitics is beginning to be noticed. It aims to build on a reconciled nation willing to see its foreign policy objectives as a defense of its own interests.