Political Systems
At the end of the Cold War, the idea spread that liberal democracy was going to take over the world. In reality, authoritarian regimes have resisted, and political systems remain varied.
South Africa and the Arab Spring: opportunities to match diplomacy goals and strategies
This paper highlights how the Arab Spring magnified a two-dimensional gap in South Africa’s foreign policy. First that South Africa does not have a vision which reconciles demands for achieving the goals of protecting human rights, sovereignty, and multilateralism; second, that its strategies do not meet set goals. The paper then provides tentative explanations to this gap. It ends by elaborating what in the “African Awakening” and in the midst of the Arab Spring are opportunities for South Africa to overcome this gap.
Crossing the line: A new status quo in the East China Sea?
The decision of the Japanese Government to purchase a number of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands from their private owner sparked fury in Beijing. Such spikes of fever between China and Japan are not without precedent. However, the gravity of this latest episode raises the question of whether a point of no return has been reached in the Sino-Japanese relationship.
Etats-Unis, des institutions enlisées
Many voices denounce the institutional gridlock that has gripped Washington. Indeed, filibustering in the U.S. Senate is not the only issue. Hopes of a reform are limited however.
This paper is published in French only — Etats-Unis, des institutions enlisées
Franco-Turkish visions of a Republic. Interview with Baskin ORAN
For a long time, the Turkish Republic created by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was regarded by France's elites and political class as a sister republic: secular and Jacobin, the concrete embodiment of the universalism of the shared values of the French Revolution. However, the political change that has occurred since the AKP has come to office has questioned these classical republican convictions.
Migrations et développement : l'enjeu environnemental et l'avenir des politiques migratoires
This paper analyzes the future of migrations related to climate changes and environment degradations.
What Is a Think Tank?
When I was laying the foundations for the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) 2 in 1978 and 1979, only a select few in France were familiar with the English term „think tank‟ and had at least an approximate idea of what it covered.
This term has become fashionable, but still has no consensual definition.
Renewables in Transport: Directive 2009/28/EC - Devils in its Details
This Actuelle precedes a longer and more exhaustive paper on Electric Vehicles, under the title "The Electric Vehicle in the Climate Change Race: Tortoise, Hare or both?" by Maïté de Boncourt.
As part of the 3*20 targets reached in December 2008, the EC decided that the EU should, by 2020, source 20% of its Final Energy Consumption (FEC) renewably.
Les camps de réfugiés et la guerre : Du sanctuaire à l'enfermement humanitaire ?
Refugee and IDP camps, intended to protect civilians affected by conflicts and natural disasters, have an undeniable strategic importance, and their management can be critical for the resolution of crises.
The Sovereign Debt Crisis and the Future of the Euro
The specter of sovereign defaults is back. The roots of a sovereign debt crisis are deep and concern all the industrialized countries. In 2010, those fears coagulated on Greece because Greece was the worst offender. Disgusted by the political economy of the Eurozone, investors concluded in the spring that the Eurozone and its currency had lost its attractiveness. But it would be completely premature to conclude that the Eurozone is condemned. What happened in the spring is breathtaking and very much in line with the European tradition to use every crisis as an opportunity: the paper offers a dissenting, unfashionable and optimistic view of the future of the Euro.
The G20 and the Challenge of International Financial Re-regulation
The crisis, it is now widely accepted, means that markets failed. Meeting for the first time in Washington in November 2008, the G20 embarked in a ride of re-regulation. Months of negotiations later, it dramatically appears different to agree on principles and broad objectives, and to write and enforce rules and commitments.
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