The debate about labor shortages has been long dominating the German public debate. It has been pushed to the agenda again in the context of recent reforms in migration policy. Paradoxically, Germany boasts a robust population size, a significant labor force, and a notably larger proportion of working-age individuals compared to France. 

While matters related to research security and international partnerships in critical domains are certainly not new, they have become increasingly central to governments, research institutions and industry since the turn of the 2020s.

The Oslo agreements signed in 1993 raised high hopes for peace in the Middle East. But appraising the state of affairs, thirty years on, the picture is bleak. 

The Oslo Agreement of 1993 was a declaration of principles that later needed to be clarified through further negotiations. 

As US-China rivalry reaches its peak and the likelihood of a high-intensity conflict in the region seems greater than ever, this report advocates for a pragmatic recalibration of France’s strategic posture in the Indo-Pacific. This adjustment should be grounded in a realistic reframing of ambitions and an analysis of France’s core interests and the threats it faces.

As one of the most successful trading blocs, the EU sees itself confronted with the erosion of the global rules-based trading system and trade becoming increasingly weaponized.

In a previous note published in 2018, we noted that global coal demand had flattened. Several governments had announced coal phase-out plans, global coal power investment had contracted, and investment in greenfield coal mines was also at a standstill. The freezing of financial resources for coal projects might have indicated the beginning of a structural decline in coal demand and supply.

The EU-Mercosur trade deal was believed to be heading toward the finish. The election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the president of Brazil, as successor to the right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro, and the Spanish presidency of the European Union (EU), raised hopes for its conclusion. But the reservations expressed by several EU member states and some Latin American countries have dashed hopes.