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1292. Toward a meaningful metric: replacing NATO’s 2% defence spending target
- Author:
- Leonard August Schuette
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- The confluence of Joe Biden’s election to the White House, the likely ramifications of the pandemic for defence budgets, and unfolding EU and NATO strategic reflection processes offers a window of opportunity to replace NATO’s flawed 2% defence spending target. Europeans should credibly propose an output- oriented metric to reconstitute the transatlantic bargain on burden-sharing.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, Military Strategy, European Union, and Military Spending
- Political Geography:
- Europe and North America
1293. EU and NATO Strategy: A Compass, a Concept, and a Concordat
- Author:
- Sven Biscop
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- A concordat is an agreement between the church authorities and the state that regulates the activities of the former on the territory of the latter. Since both European Defence and the Transatlantic Alliance are churches with their zealous high priests and devoted believers, the term seems apt enough for the EU-NATO package deal that I propose in this paper. The coincidence that in 2021-2022 the EU is drafting a Strategic Compass and NATO a new Strategic Concept should be put to use to mend the schism between them. Can a miracle be worked?
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, NATO, International Cooperation, Military Strategy, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe and North America
1294. What Belgium Can Do: Proposals for the National Security Strategy
- Author:
- Sven Biscop and Nina Wilen
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- Belgium has never had a National Security Strategy: a single strategic vision outlining how to safeguard its national interests from external threats and challenges and to prevent the exploitation of its internal vulnerabilities. Many in Belgium intuitively feel that none is needed: Are we not shielded by the EU and NATO? And what could the world expect from this small country anyway? But the fact is that the Kingdom of Belgium is not such a small player. The geopolitical heart, and the host, of the EU, it ranks 9th out of 27 in terms of population and GDP; worldwide, it is the 12th exporting country. Hence recurring tensions between Belgium’s own – often low – level of ambition as a security actor and the expectations of its allies and partners.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, Military Strategy, European Union, and Strategic Interests
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Belgium
1295. Reflections on a decentralized approach to transitional justice in the DR Congo
- Author:
- Valerie Arnould
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- After decades of conflict, state violence and widespread impunity, recent political changes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo seem to be creating renewed prospects for the establishment of transitional justice processes. President Tshisekedi has signalled his interest in creating such processes, while local activists and the UN mission in the DRC are using this opportunity to further press their long-standing demands in this area. This policy brief is inspired by discussions that took place at a workshop organised in January 2021 in Kinshasa by civil society groups to outline what transitional justice in the DRC should look like. While many important points were discussed on this occasion, one interesting question that was raised was whether it might be feasible and appropriate to engage in decentralised approaches to transitional justice. This brief aims to contribute to this reflection by outlining the three forms that such decentralisation could take – minimal, maximal and grounded – and how it might be put into practice in the DRC.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Transitional Justice, Conflict, State Violence, and Transition
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo
1296. A transition for the citizens? Ensuring public participation in the European Green Deal
- Author:
- Francesca Colli
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- The EU acknowledges that citizen participation in the European Green Deal is vital to ensure the legitimacy of policies and public buy-in for climate measures. This policy brief examines specific options for public participation in policymaking – stakeholder consultation, citizens’ assemblies and local projects – and discusses the extent to which each is already included in the European Green Deal. Although the most effective public participation takes place at national, regional or local level, it should nonetheless be encouraged or coordinated by the EU. Currently, the mechanisms established by the EU appear to blend different types of public participation; however, a key issue that remains to be addressed is reaching groups that may otherwise be overlooked or fall through the cracks – particularly those with the most to lose in the transition.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Public Opinion, Green Technology, and Participation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
1297. Secondary sanctions and multilateralism – the way ahead
- Author:
- Jean De Ruyt
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- The sensitive issue of American ‘secondary sanctions’ imposed on its allies generated serious tensions in the transatlantic relationship when the US left the JCPOA with Iran. Some hoped these would ease with the Biden administration, but the current row about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline demonstrates that the extraterritoriality of sanctions is a well- entrenched US bipartisan policy. The EU has made numerous efforts to react by developing countermeasures, but these have not convinced European companies to challenge the sanctions. The perspective of enhancing the role of the Euro to reduce the dominance of the Dollar in world transactions is also still considered a long shot. New countermeasures have been suggested, notably by the Jacques Delors Institute and the European Commission has announced ‘additional policy options’ to that effect. But the issue should also be addressed in the context of a revival of multilateralism, which the Biden administration seems to favour. The renewed transatlantic dialogue and the G7 framework could be used to address this sensitive issue, in a context in which China’s power aims at challenging the US unipolarity - and the EU aims at developing its ‘strategic autonomy’.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, Treaties and Agreements, Hegemony, Sanctions, Conflict, and Multilateralism
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
1298. Will Only a Green Power Remain a Great Power?
- Author:
- Marie Dejonghe
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- When the coronavirus broke out in 2020 the whole world literally came to a pause. The pandemic overshadowed all other major problems and started to shape relations between states. Climate change suddenly disappeared from the international agenda. However, the effects of the global climate crisis are showing faster and more severely than ever before: wildfires in Australia, extreme weather events in Asia, tornado’s in America, a melting Arctic... Secondary effects like climate migration and conflicts have become visible as well. This crisis is more urgent than ever. The COVID-19 crisis has shattered our economies, but lockdown measures taken by almost all governments have had a positive impact on the emission of greenhouse gases. The world took a step forward, even if unintended, towards the goals set in Paris in 2015. COVID-19 has taken away a lot from the world, but it may also have created a momentum to continue this downward trend and make it structural. Even the world’s great powers will have to integrate the green transition in their COVID-19 economy recovery plans in order to not fall off the wagon. But will only a green great power remain a great power?
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Green Technology, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
1299. Towards a renewed transitional justice in the D.R. Congo
- Author:
- Mutoy Mubiala
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the efforts by the current Congolese Government to relaunch a transitional justice process to address past and current widespread and mass crimes perpetrated in the DRC. The agenda for a renewed transitional justice coincides with the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the United Nations’ 2010 report mapping human rights violations in the DRC committed between 1993 and 2003 (‘Mapping Report’). The brief examines and explores the prospects for a renewed transitional justice process in the country, while identifying internal and external opportunities and the challenges ahead.
- Topic:
- Transitional Justice, Humanitarian Crisis, Transition, and Human Rights Violations
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo
1300. The external representation of the EU: A simple matter of protocol?
- Author:
- Francois Roux
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- “Sofagate” has brutally disclosed the internal divergences within the EU in the field of its external relations. Some tried to minimize this unfortunate incident as a mere breach of diplomatic protocol. However, several elements lead us to think that the issue at stake is a very political matter: the division of power between the President ofthe EU Commission and the President of the European Council concerning the external representation ofthe EU. Tensions between both presidents were predictable and identified as soon as the Lisbon Treaty came into force (see premonitory analysis written by Professor 1 NikiAloupiin2010) .The ambivalent language of the Lisbon treaty seems to be the main source of these tensions which had, until now, been contained. On 6 of April 2021, these misgivings became public as pictures of the Ankara meeting, amplified by social media, went viral. Considering the complex relationship between institutions and Member states as well as the harsh criticism from Euro sceptical populists, an institutional quarrel is the last thing the EU needs in these COVID-19 times. This awkward dispute undermines the ambitions for an efficient and coherent European foreign policy. This article focuses solely on the impact ofthe incident on the internal structure of the EU’s external representation. It provides an analysis of the dysfunction, why it happened, and how it could be fixed. This paper does not comment on the role of Turkish authorities or any other aspect of the “sofagate”.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, European Union, and Institutions
- Political Geography:
- Europe