 15 December 2011
New publications
- Belgian Defence Policy: The Fight Goes On, Sven Biscop, Security Policy Brief 32, Dec. 2011.
The Coalition Agreement of the Di Rupo government comes at a moment when the international context can help overcome the dilemmas of Belgian defence policy: transformation vs. budget cuts, collective security vs. pacifism, and European vocation vs. stagnation in European defence.
- High politics in the 'Grand Area' - Can Europeans have global impact in a multipolar age?, Thomas Renard and James Rogers, Strategic Snapshot 3, Group on Grand Strategy, Dec. 2011.
This publication argues that a new strategic narrative is needed for the EU to cope with the rise of emerging powers. This narrative should rely on a renewed reflection on the geopolitical environment and positioning of the EU, as well as on the EU's strategic partnerships with great and emerging powers.
- Afghanistan’s Future: Foreign and Local Solutions for a Fought-Over Country, Alain Hanssen, Security Policy Brief 31, Dec. 2011.
In this policy brief, Alain Hanssen looks at Afghanistan's future through different national and international lenses.
- African dynamics at the climate change negotiations, Jean-Christophe Hoste & Andrew Anderson, Africa Policy Brief 3, Nov. 2011.
In this Africa policy brief the international climate change negotiations are analysed as a “political marketplace” where international, regional and national agendas meet and have
an impact that goes far beyond the theme of the negotiations. It addresses three questions to understand the African political processes at the climate negotiations. First, why did the African Union endorse the Copenhagen Accord after COP 15? Second, why was Kenya active in the high-level segment of the negotiations in Cancun? Third, what could South Africa do to bring the negotiations forward in Durban?
- Diamonds, rice, and a ‘maggi cube’. Artisanal Diamond Mining and Livelihoods in Liberia, Steven Van Bockstael and Koen Vlassenroot (eds.), Ghent, Academia Press, 2011. (ISBN 9789038218724 ).
- Setting a Standard for stakeholdership. Industry Contribution to a strengthened Biological
and Toxin Weapons Convention, Jean Pascal Zanders (Ed.), Egmont Paper n°52, Dec. 2011.
- Rik Coolsaet’s laudatio for Stéphane Hessel, author of Indignez-vous!, on the occasion of winning the 2011 Prize of the P&V Foundation, Rik Coolsaet, 17 Nov. 2011.
- Obama takes on the LRA. Why Washington Sent Troops to Central Africa, Mareike Schomerus, Tim Allen, and Koen Vlassenroot, in Foreign Affairs, 15 Nov. 2011.
Americans should not have been surprised by Obama's recent announcement that he would send a small number of troops to Uganda. This is only the latest chapter in a feeble, decades-long U.S. attempt to take out Joseph Kony and his militia.
- Foreign Policy and the Euro: We Have an Idea, Sven Biscop, Security Policy Brief 30, Nov. 2011.
With the Euro in crisis, EU foreign policy evidently suffers for lack of money and attention. But the way the Eurozone crisis is being discussed is also fundamentally at odds with the idea underpinning the Union’s foreign policy – and indeed the Union as such.
- A New External Action Service Needs a New European Security Strategy, Sven Biscop, Security Policy Brief 29, Nov. 2011.
No strategy lasts forever. The time has come to review and to complete the European Security Strategy. The necessity is evident; so is the opportunity, with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. A new External Action Service needs a clear mandate: a new strategy.
Upcoming events
- 31 Jan. 2012: Solidarity and Austerity: the 2012 State of the European Union.
Annual Brussels Think Tank Dialogue.
The outlook is grim. EU governments are implementing austerity packages; populist and nationalist movements are growing; social discontent rages. Given these challenges, ten leading Brussels-based think tanks have joined forces to discuss the unavoidable issue of Solidarity and Austerity in the European Union at their third annual Brussels Think Tank Dialogue.
Recent past events
- 5 Dec. 2011: The Return of Great Powers in Africa: Opportunity or Curse?
-Book presentation – More info on the book.
The African continent has always aroused the interest of great powers. Today, the traditional actors such as the EU and the US are increasingly competing with China and other emerging powers like Brazil and India to gain control over resources. Consequently, there is arguably a new game of “chess” - or of Chinese “go” - taking place in Africa, which could have dramatic consequences for the development of the continent.
- 29 Nov. 2011: Towards the Bonn conference: Afghanistan at a crossroad?
-Conference - Programme.
Just a few days ahead of the international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn, Germany, EGMONT and the Belgian Royal Higher Institute for Defence organised a conference to discuss the future of democracy, security and stability in Afghanistan. The first panel presented diverging views from the region, with experts from India, Russia and Afghanistan. The second panel looked into the role of international actors, with key speakers from NATO, the EU, and the NGOs community.
- 25 Nov. 2011: The CAP post-2013: more equitable, green and market-oriented?
-Seminar.
In October, the European Commission presented its proposal to reform the CAP for the period 2014-2020. This proposal has already triggered critical reactions among EU politicians and stakeholders, announcing a heated debate to come. Three major axes of the reform concern how to make the CAP more equitable, green and market-oriented. The Expert Seminar was therefore spitted into three sessions, addressing each of these key issues.
- 23 Nov. 2011: Pre-Election in Kenya: A National and Regional Perspective
-Africa Briefing (restricted audience) Brussels.
Kenya is again facing a period of uncertainty with the 2012 elections draw nearer. The prosecution procedures of the so-called “Ocampo-6” at the ICC and the recent incursion of Kenyan troops in Somalia are the main elements of interest. The aim of this briefing was to analyze these national and regional issues that Kenya is facing and to investigate the role African powers and organizations as well as the international community can play to avoid further instability in both the country and the region.
- 22 Nov. 2011: Europe, Strategy and Armed Forces - The making of a distinctive power
-Book presentation – More info on the book.
This book examined how the European Union can pursue a grand strategy and become a distinct global actor in a world of emerging great powers. It also analysed the existing military capability of the European Union and its bottom-up nature, which results in a national-based focus in the member-states, impeding deployment capability.
- 21 Nov. 2011: Public Access to Documents. Optimal versus Maximal transparency, or “much ado about nothing”?
-Roundtable - Report,
Against the background of the problematic legislative recast/review process of Regulation No 1049/2001 and on occasion of the recent publication of Egmont Paper No 50 “Public Access to Documents: Jurisprudence between Principle and Practice” (by Dr. Tinne Heremans, http://www.egmontinstitute.be/paperegm/ep50.pdf), an expert roundtable was organized on the 21st of November to discuss some of the “hot potatoes” permeating the debate on public access to documents.
- 17 Nov. 2011: Presentation - Egmont Artisanal Diamond Mining Project
-Presentation of the results of the second and final phase of the Egmont Artisanal Diamond Mining research project. The project was funded by the FPS Foreign Affairs and had a focus on the grassroots realities of artisanal mining rather than on the national, institutional level.
For the book, see: Diamonds, rice, and a ‘maggi cube’. Artisanal Diamond Mining and Livelihoods in Liberia, Steven Van Bockstael and Koen Vlassenroot (eds.), Ghent, Academia Press, 2011. (ISBN 9789038218724 ).
- 16 Nov. 2011: Conference on Syria
Conference.
-Prof. Salam Kawakibi, a well known and respected academic, expert in Middle-East issues, presented his views on the current developments in Syria and their possible regional impact. This open presentation was followed by the reaction of a scholarly discussant and by a Q&A session with the audience.
- 14 - 23 Nov. 2011: Specialization Course on Child Protection
-Egmont as one of the members of the ENTRI-framework, an EU funded project to EU training policy, is co-organizing with the ASPR (Austria) training institute a course on child protection in the field of CSDP and UN missions.
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11 November 2011: The Civilian Influence on Transitional Security Sector Reform in North Africa
-Africa Briefing (restricted audience), The Hague.
The “Arab Spring” has stirred many questions, but underscored at least one clear statement: In these contexts, the role of the citizen and her relationship with the State is changing. How will non-state actors and civil society in Tunisia and Egypt now participate in the transitions they have helped to bring about?
Contact
EGMONT Institute
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www.egmontinstitute.be
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