With 50 years’ seniority over the ESDP, and despite its austere origins, NATO transformed itself during the 20th century into a political-bureaucratic machine in search of a more appropriate international role.

Poland is not just concerned with the usefulness of the Alliance, but also with what can be done to make it more effective, and to maintain its relevance and good health in the decades ahead.

The question of how the Alliance can best meet the common security problems of its member states should determine the revision of the Strategic Concept and analysis of the future of NATO in general.

The ultimate direction taken by the Alliance – be it a ‘return to home base,’ a ‘global expansion’ or the pursuit of ‘global missions’ – will be heavily influenced by perceptions of what happens in Afghanistan over the next two years.

There is no global mechanism that can guarantee security effectively in the face of the growing threat of political chaos, stemming from the recent political awakening of humanity. There is no global mechanism that can guarantee security effectively in the face of the growing threat of political chaos, stemming from the recent political awakening of humanity.

The Alliance cannot avoid a strategic debate about its role, missions and resources. This may be painful, but it will ensure clarity and prepare the Alliance for future challenges.

NATO has proved its renewed usefulness and is today fully engaged, well beyond its former frontiers, wherever its interests and those of its members are threatened.

Since the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, the India-Pakistan dialogue has been at a standstill. Through analysis from German, French, Indian and Pakistani authors and in reference to other reconciliation processes between counties with a long history of hostility, this work explores the paths likely to favor a sustainable rapprochement between the two nuclear powers of South Asia.

On the eve of the Copenhagen Conference, this note takes stock of the evolutions of the different U.S. actors on climate change and the environment. The author, Yves-Marie Péréon teaches American Civilization at the Université de Rouen.
With this publication, the U.S. Program at Ifri launches its new collection of on-line notes, the Potomac papers.

Social welfarism played a decisive role in giving substance to the inclusive policies of the Congress government and the results of 2009 elections show that voters have given a mandate for the continuation of such welfare-oriented policies. This paper tracks the processes that paved the way for a radical shift leading to the adoption of a wide range of policies that reflect a social democratic flavour.

Report written by Adrianne Montgobert, Intern, Ifri Bruxelles

After the European Union's intervention in the August 2008 Russo-Georgian war, the EU has stepped up the visibility of its involvement in the South Caucasian state. Its political, economic and manpower engagement is now vital to the country's prosperity and stability. The Eastern Partnership, launched in May 2009, is a further signal of the EU's commitment to the countries on its Eastern borders. However, the new initiative is insufficient to tackle the roots of Georgia's secessionist problems. Indeed, these prove to be more complicated than the Russia vs. Georgia conception that Tbilisi subscribes to. The Union needs to establish a genuine conflict policy to complement the bilateral and multilateral framework of the EaP. Furthermore, the Union's member states need to apply themselves to the EaP's elaboration in order to ensure the project's success; otherwise it risks becoming an empty gesture rather than a viable tool for the development of the EU's partners in the region.

Russie.Nei.Visions is a digital collection of policy papers published in French, English, and Russian by the Russia/NIS Center at Ifri.

This paper is an attempt to picture the African entrepreneurs and their activities today in China. It aims at counterbalancing the current debates on Sino-African relations which tend to only emphasize the increasing presence of the Chinese - and Chinese products - on the African continent.

India"s conscious shift in the early 1990s from an inward-looking development strategy to a globalized market-based approach resulted in significant changes in its foreign investment policy. Till the 1990s, the policy was heavily restrictive with majority foreign equity permitted only in a handful export-oriented, high technology industries. Outward-oriented reforms radically changed such perceptions with foreign investment policy becoming progressively liberal following steady withdrawal of external capital controls and simplification of procedures.

Russia's military intervention in Georgia in August 2008 sent a shock wave across the post-Soviet space, particularly the republics to the west and south of Russia. In December 2008, the European Union formalized the Eastern Partnership initiative, directed at Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In order to understand the impact of this war both on Russia's bilateral relations with these countries and on the Eastern Partnership area as a whole, this article analyzes the reactions of these former Soviet republics to the Russian offensive. Three types of response are observed: keeping distance from Russia; maintaining a balance between Moscow and the West; and, finally, changing course (from rapprochement to keeping a distance and vice-versa) vis-à-vis the former center of the Soviet Empire.

Japan and the Democratic People"s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are as far away as ever from establishing anything resembling ‘normal" relations, let alone official diplomatic ties. This paper traces the history of the ups-and-downs in the Japan-DPRK relationship during the last decade.