EU & Europe

Photo: House of the Parliament of Botswana in Gaborone. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

For Germany Botswana is One of Africa's Success Stories

By IDN-INPS Africa Desk

BERLIN – Germany regards Botswana as one of Africa’s success stories. The landlocked country is the seat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other organisations. Women hold some positions in politics and society, including at the highest levels.

Ahead of the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the country's independence on September 30, Professor Maria Boehmer, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office said: “In many different ways, Botswana is one of Africa’s success stories."

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; NEWSBRIEFS; 23 August 2016

Britain's Exit from EU Threatens African Economies

Analysis by Amelia Tan

NEW YORK (IDN | Africa Renewal) - By 6:30 a.m. on June 24, less than 12 hours after a successful referendum on Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union), South Africa’s currency, the rand, took the first blow. It plunged by almost 8% from R14.33 to R15.45 against the U.S. dollar, its steepest single-day decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

Brexit sent shock waves through the global markets, including those in Africa.

Investors in African markets panicked because many economies (such as Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia) were already reeling from low commodity prices exacerbated by a sluggish global demand. In these countries, Brexit added salt to the wounds of injured economies.

: Africa Renewal; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 August 2016

Photo: A view of the street demonstration against the coup on 17 July 2016. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Behind Turkey’s Failed Coup and its Puzzling Aftermath

Analysis by Jacques N. Couvas

ANKARA (IDN) – The fourth and latest military coup in the history of the Turkish Republic ended at 8:02 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, less than 24 hours after it had begun. It was bloody. And it failed.

Hardly a week later, the state of emergency has been declared, tens of thousands of state and military personnel have been dismissed and three million servants recalled from holidays.

As the Turkish people recover from the psychological shock following the events, questions and all kinds of theories fill the discussions in the squares, cafés and social media. They are wondering “why” and “why now”? And then, “what is next”? All this on the assumption that everyone agrees with the answer to the question “who did it”?

: Jacques N. Couvas; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 21 July 2016

Photo: A view of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. Copyright: BMUB | Thomas Trutschel

New Partnership to Implement Paris Climate Change Agreement

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) - Many developing countries have made their first ever commitment to complying with climate targets with the adoption of the Paris Agreement endorsed in December 2015. A new partnership – initiated jointly by the German Ministry for the Environment and that for Economic Cooperation and Development together with the World Resources Institute (WRI) – now aims to help them transform these targets into specific strategies and measures.

The initiative aims at supporting developing countries in specifying and implementing their nationally determined contributions and help them unify existing climate and development goals with a view to achieving greater harmonisation of various donor programmes. The partnership will be officially launched at the Marrakesh climate conference (COP22) in November.

: Jutta Wolf; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 08 July 2016

Photo: High Representative Federica Mogherini. Credit: eeas.europa.eu

Europe is NOT an Exclusively ‘Civilian Power’

By Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Vice-President of the European Commission.

Note: The following text is FOREWORD to ‘A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy’ presented to EU leaders meeting in Brussels at the EU summit on 28 June 2016. Read the full Strategy here.

BRUSSELS - The purpose, even existence, of our Union is being questioned. Yet, our citizens and the world need a strong European Union like never before. Our wider region has become more unstable and more insecure. The crises within and beyond our borders are affecting directly our citizens’ lives. In challenging times, a strong Union is one that thinks strategically, shares a vision and acts together.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 02 July 2016

Photo: Roberto Savio. Credit: Christine Sunbean.

Brexit – Or What Happens When People Vote With Their Guts

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*

ROME (IDN) – Polling specialists say that when voters do not feel comfortable in saying how they will really vote, it is because they are not comfortable at a rational level with how they will actually vote. In other words, voters act because of their guts, not because of their brains.

This is what happened when the exit polls after the June 23 British referendum on whether to remain part of or leave the European Union showed the 'remain' vote in a slight lead, only to be proved wrong overnight.

The Brexit referendum was really based on gut feelings. It was a campaign of fear. The 'leave' campaign was about a massive invasion of Great Britain by Turks because of the possible admission of Turkey to the EU (totally false) and that Great Britain was paying the EU 50 millions pounds a day (again false).

: Roberto Savio; OPINION; 25 June 2016

Photo: Britain Stronger in Europe campaigners, London, June 2016, Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Fear vs Greed – the Real Candidates in the Brexit Referendum

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio *

ROME (IDN) – The campaign around the so-called Brexit – the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union – is only the insular British version of the current implosion of the world fuelled by fear and greed.

There is little if no debate on the vision or values of identity of Europe in the campaign pro or con Brexit which will peak with the referendum on June 23. In England – and I stress England – the debate is one of fear against greed. The Brexit camp has launched a campaign based on fear. Fear of immigrants, fear of losing control of borders, fear of being subject to the whims of Brussels (widely seen as those of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and therefore of Germany).

: Roberto Savio; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 18 June 2016

Asia-Europe Meeting Spurs Media Dialogue on Connectivity

Analysis by Shastri Ramachandaran

GUANGZHOU | China (IDN) - Twenty years of striving to strengthen understanding, trust and cooperation between two continents through political dialogue, economic cooperation and socio-cultural exchange is a remarkable effort.

In the course of these two decades, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), as the pre-eminent trans-regional forum in this part of the world, has come a long way for its modest beginnings in Bangkok in 1996 attended by 25 Asian and European leaders.

Today, it has 53 members, and more than 200 of their representatives gathered in Guangzhou on May 9-10 for the Media Dialogue on Connectivity held for Promoting Public Awareness and Partnership. It was a milestone on the eve of the ASEM's 11th Summit scheduled in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, in July 2016.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 31 May 2016

Photo: New Belgrade, main financial district in Serbia and region | Source: Wikimedia Commons

Democracy Dream is Fading Away in Former Yugoslavia

Analysis by Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE (IDN) - The right to vote for any party they like has existed in former Yugoslavia for more than a quarter of a century, but genuine democracy remains a dream for many as the region remains split along ethnic lines and lags in sustainable economic development. In fact, that dream seems to be vanishing.

Recent studies in Serbia have shown that only one-third of its 7,2 million citizens believe democracy is better than non-democratic rule.

"Unfortunately, introduction of democracy in 1990 is closely related, among ordinary people, to disintegration of former Yugoslavia, international sanctions that crippled Serbia and an unfulfilled promise of better life," says Djordje Vukovic, head of prominent non-governmental (NGO) organisation CeSID that carried the survey titled "Democracy still does (not) live here".

: Vesna Peric Zimonjic; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 28 May 2016

Photo: View of Grbavica, a neighbourhood of Sarajevo, approximately 4 months after the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord that officially ended the war in Bosnia. Source: Public Domain (PD-USGov-Military)

The Forgotten Humanitarian Crisis in the Balkans

Analysis by Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE (IDN) - The violent split up of former Yugoslavia is more than two decades old. Peace was established in the region back in the 1990s. Yet for those who hardly know about the brutal violence and humanitarian disaster that accompanied the political breakup, little would appear to have changed.

"There is no more arms rattling, but the political rhetoric and lack of profound economic recovery keep people stuck in recent past, with poor view on better future," prominent sociology professor Ratko Bozovic says. "There are new generations all over the former Yugoslavia who know nothing else but how this or that war was fought.”

The professor explained that no real insight into causes, accompanied by little perspective, creates a fertile ground for further confusion among the young who should take their nations into the future.