Feeling prevails in Germany that the trend of the French european policy will depend much upon the success of its internal social and economic reforms.

The Chinese government maintains a good capacity of control. The result of this status quo, a mix of repression and social consensus, remains dependent on the continuation of economic success.

'Will and must France reintegrate (the) NATO ? The change of situation in fifteen years must be taken into account to answer this question – which, besides, needs to be put another way.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), a shipper-owned oil pipeline carrying Caspian oil to Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossyisk, remains to this day the only oil export pipeline on Russian territory that is not under the control of the state company Transneft. Completed in 2001, the CPC was, from the start, the product of a fragile balance of power between states eager to maintain control of hydrocarbon flows and private companies able to finance the necessary infrastructure. Despite its economic success, the future of the CPC currently hinges on a shareholding dispute pitting Russia against Western private shareholders. This essay places the CPC dossier in the broader context of Russia's investment climate and argues that the dispute's dynamic is an important bellwether of the Russian energy policy.

Development aid has progressively penetrated the fields of conflicts and "fragility". It tends to become a key component of external interventions, next to military action and diplomacy. As a result, it is subjected to the final goals of those operations which, beyond the end of confrontations and the setting up of a political solution, aim at building peace.

On 28-30th May 2008, the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was held in Yokohama. This initiative, co-organized by UN, UNDP and the World Bank, was set up in 1993 and takes place every five years, aims to develop dialogue between African and Japanese leaders but also countries and International organizations involved in Aid. This fourth conference brought together delegations from 51 African countries including 40 Heads of States and Governments. The scale of the conference and the importance of the announcements made there illustrate the continuing Japanese interest towards Africa.

Report written by Séverine Neervoort, Intern, Ifri Brussels.

Report written by Séverine Neervoort, Intern, Ifri Brussels.

What is the role of terror in wars in general and in asymmetric conflicts in particular? Why have democratic countries such as France and the United States been confronted to torture in Algeria and Irak? Do terrorists have to be "terrorized"? That article aims at exploring some lines of enquiry in order to answer those particularly sensitive issues.

By organizing the first India-Africa Forum summit from 8 to 9 April 2008, New Delhi wanted to send a strong signal to the International Community : to show that India has the means, and especially the desire, to become an economic and major trading actor in Sub-saharan Africa.

The higher education reform underway in Russia is part of a much broader state reform project. Launched in 2004 at the start of Vladimir Putin's second term, this "administrative reform" grants the federal state the means to reclaim the public sphere, which largely escaped from its control during the 1990s. Energy incomes having considerably improved the public finances in the 2000s, the state can now consider reinvesting in and restructuring the public sphere as a whole. Its involvement cannot be seen as the construction of a "welfare state," but comes rather closer to an entrepreneurial state at the head of sectorial trusts aiming to be competitive on global markets. Such as it appears today, the restructuring of higher education is key to understanding how the formation of this entrepreneurial state is conceived and what possible structural uncertainties could arise.

This paper is based on the seminar presentation "Higher Education in Russia, Potential and Challenges," which took place on 28 January 2008 at the Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri).

Russia's higher education (HE) reform, begun 15 years ago, was intended to provide a response to the challenges of the new post-industrial, high-tech economic development model. During the course of the reform, many of the negative features inherited from the Soviet period (ideologization, complete state-ownership of assets, excessive centralization of decision-making) were overcome. However, many characteristics of the Soviet system have turned out to be highly resilient, right up to today: the separation of science and education, the socio-humanitarian science sector remaining behind the natural and technical sciences, and the gap between the "elitist" and the "mass" segments. In the initial stages, the problems of reform were forced into the background, behind the much more acute problem of survival. The real window of opportunity did not appear until the start of Vladimir Putin's second term as president, when favorable economic (potential to increase budget financing) and political (consolidation of the team of reformers) conditions were created.

This paper is based on the seminar presentation "Higher Education in Russia, Potential and Challenges," which took place on 28 January 2008 at the Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri).

In terms of higher education, Russia displays indicators worthy of enthusiasm: a high level of people benefiting from higher education, an increase in the number of students and the multiplication in the number of higher education establishments. Higher education is increasingly in demand, since diplomas have both professional and social value. This educational boom seems to correspond to the Russian authorities' declared aim to develop a 'knowledge economy'. After a period of crisis during the 1990s, public policy in this domain is gaining strength. Nevertheless, questions remain unanswered: will this policy be pursued after the presidential elections of March 2008 and will it be able to take on the challenge that Russian growth represents?

This paper is based on the seminar presentation "Higher Education in Russia, Potential and Challenges", which took place on 28 January 2008 at the Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri).

In terms of higher education, Russia displays indicators worthy of enthusiasm.

Marianne Péron-Doise,Working group 'Strategic Culture and Defense Policy in Asia', working paper presented to the 3rd Congress of Réseau Asie, 26-27-28 September 2007, Maison de la Chimie, Paris.

Report written by Séverine Neervoort, Intern, Ifri Brussels