International Relations

The BRICS+ group of countries met in Rio de Janeiro over the weekend of 6-7 July. The original group – Brazil, Russia, India, China and, soon after, South Africa – emerged as the materialization of a work of fiction. Jim O’Neill, then chief economist at Goldman Sachs, produced a report in 2001 drawing attention to the rise of these countries as emerging regional powers in global economic growth. ...

Cet article a été publié initialement sur lopinion.fr « Afrique/Europe : il faut repolitiser pour mieux coopérer », selon Karim el Aynaoui, président Exécutif Policy Center for the New South  ...

Trente ans après l’Accord d’association de 1995, le partenariat entre la Tunisie et l’Union européenne s’épuise, pris au piège d’un logiciel diplomatique obsolète, hérité d’une époque révolue. Conçu comme un levier de convergence normative et de modernisation économique, il repose encore sur des fictions désormais intenables : une Europe généreuse et cohérente, une Tunisie en capacité d’absorber l’acquis communautaire, et un intérêt mutuel qui aurait survécu aux bouleversements géop ...

This Blog was originally published on ettg.eu Europe and North Africa are intensifying cooperation, driven by shared interests in renewable energy deployment, trade and industrialisation. This renewed focus is opening doors for deeper energy partnerships, including on green hydrogen, and offers North African countries new opportunities to expand into European markets. At the same time, it raises concerns about the uneven distribution of benefits and insufficient international f ...

This Paper was originally published on ettg.eu KEY MESSAGES1. Aligning climate and energy priorities for mutual benefit - North Africa’s solar and wind potential could help meet the EU’s decarbonisation and energy security goals. A longterm, equitable partnership integrating green industrialisation, energy market integration and climate resilience can deliver shared economic, environmental and geopolitical gains. 2. Transforming energy partnerships for a just transition - ...

Bientôt disponible en vente sur Livremoi. Les différentes éditions du Rapport annuel de la géopolitique de l’Afrique, que le Policy Center for the New South publie chaque année, se suivent mais ne se ressemblent pas. Elles ne gardent en commun que leur inscription, dans une même ligne éditoriale, celle qui privilégie l’Afrique en particulier et le Sud en Général. Les différentes éditions se ressemblent en ce sens que leur objet, à toutes, est de permettre à des Africains d ...

In 2000, The Economist dismissed Africa as the “Hopeless Continent”—a label reflecting a broader system of marginalization rooted in colonial legacy and post-Cold War neglect. This essay offers a realist reappraisal, arguing that Africa’s growing strategic relevance is not the result of benevolence, but of structural necessity.Amid a fracturing global order and the rise of transactional geopolitics under Trump 2.0’s Bessent Doctrine, Africa has become indispensable: rich in critical ...

Dans un contexte international en recomposition, et à l’instar des autres membres permanents du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies (États-Unis, France, Royaume-Uni), la Chine et la Russie réévaluent leurs positionnements respectifs sur le dossier du Sahara marocain, longtemps relégué à la périphérie de leurs priorités. À travers une lecture croisée des dynamiques historiques, des échanges bilatéraux avec le Maroc et des interactions dans les enceintes multilatérales, notamment à ...

This Paper was originally published on cebri.org Within an ever-evolving system of multilateral development banks (MDB) currently reshaped by four structural geo-economic trends, the emergence of new MDBs like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Bank (NDB) carries great geopolitical significance. Yet the new MDBs, attuned to institutional and operational realities, have not upended the MDB system. Their relationship with long-e ...

The history of relations between the West and East Asia is deeply rooted in fear, dating back to the 13th century when Mongol hordes swept from Central Asia into the European steppes. This civilizational neurosis took root in the European imagination and has since shaped Western perceptions of the East. The derogatory racial metaphor “Yellow Peril”, which emerged in the late 19th century, was not a new invention but rather a recurring theme invoked whenever politically expedient. It ...

This article was written by an external contributor. The author is not affiliated with the Policy Center for the New South, and the views expressed herein are solely those of the author. The Liberal International Order (LIO), established in the aftermath of WWII, is now facing unprecedented challenges. Though the main proponent of this same Order, the United States under Donald Trump has turned against traditional allies and is actively seeking to undermine the v ...

As the ‘Western Sahara Conflict’, rather a dispute, because in 1975 the Sahara sovereignty was disputed by Morocco, Mauritania and the Polisario, dates back to 1975, so its international legal consideration relates to the Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara by Spain, Morocco and Mauritania (Madrid Accord), concluded in 1975 among Spain, Morocco and Mauritania for decolonizing ‘Western Sahara.’Here, the term Western Sahara is not geopolitically neutral in the context of ...

Ce Policy Paper analyse l’érosion progressive de l’ambition d’influence internationale de l’Afrique du Sud, jadis portée par un capital symbolique exceptionnel issu de sa transition postapartheid. Il montre comment Pretoria, longtemps perçue comme une puissance morale et normative au service de la transformation continentale et multilatérale, fait désormais face à des contraintes structurelles qui fragilisent son rôle sur la scène internationale.À partir d’un cadrage histor ...

This Paper was originally published on geopolitique.eu. In jointly hosting the 2030 World Cup, Spain, Morocco, and Portugal will pave the way for innovative and unprecedented regional cooperation between Europe and Africa. This “small vertical” initiative should be part of a more innovative and larger scale effort aimed at strengthening ties between the two continents in order to build what could be called an “Eastern Atlantic Community” (EAC).At a time when vertical ...

Ce papier a été initialement publié sur legrandcontinent.eu Le long des rives orientales de l’océan Atlantique, une « grande verticale » intégrant l’Europe et l’Afrique pourrait devenir un espace stratégique pour réparer la mondialisation.  ...

Le retour de Trump à la présidence des États-Unis en 2025 accélère l’effondrement de l’ordre international issu de 1945, déjà fragilisé par ses contradictions internes, ses promesses non tenues et son incapacité à intégrer le Sud global. Dans un monde traversé par une polycrise — climatique, énergétique, financière et alimentaire — Trump 2.0 incarne un tournant vers un réalisme assumé, où les alliances sont conditionnelles, les institutions multilatérales instrumentalisées, et les r ...

The late twentieth-century neoliberal experiment, imposed upon Latin America and Africa under the banner of the Washington Consensus, failed both economically and morally. Though it promised prosperity through deregulation, privatisation, and fiscal austerity, it delivered instead economic stagnation, rising inequality, and the systematic dismantling of the instruments of national development. This was not technocratic wisdom, but a project of ideological enforcement that subordinat ...

L’année 2024 a coïncidé avec la célébration du 75e anniversaire de la fondation de la République populaire de Chine, étape clé dans la réalisation des objectifs fixés par le 14e Plan quinquennal. Dans ce contexte, les Deux sessions annuelles 2025 du Parlement chinois – celle de l'Assemblée populaire nationale (APN), organe législatif suprême, et du Comité national de la Conférence consultative politique du peuple chinois (CCPPC), organe consultatif - ont retenu l’attention ...

Global governance is undergoing a profound transformation, marked by growing polarization, the weakening of multilateral institutions, and the rise of informal, flexible frameworks. As great powers drift from multilateral commitments, and instead prioritize transactional or unilateral actions, middle powers are emerging as key actors in shaping the future of global governance. These countries, ranging from Brazil and South Africa to Poland, Türkiye, and South Korea, navigate the in ...

This Policy Brief explores the potential evolution of the United Nations’ stance on the Moroccan Sahara issue in light of recent diplomatic developments. It builds on the reaffirmed U.S. support for Morocco's proposed Autonomy Plan, which has played a key role in broadening international consensus in favor of a pragmatic resolution. Despite positive signs within the Security Council, the UN-led process remains stalled, largely due to persistent divisions among member states and th ...

Though the international order has changed greatly over the past decades, the transformation now underway is significantly deeper and more profound. The post-1945 multilateral system—largely constructed under U.S. hegemony and framed by liberal values including open markets, rules-based cooperation, and a commitment to global development—is fragmenting. Over the past decade, a series of systemic shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising geopolitical tensions, and the return of ...

Prochainement disponible sur Livremoi.   Les Dialogues Stratégiques, fruit d'une collaboration entre le HEC Center for Geopolitics et le Policy Center for the New South, constituent une plateforme d'échanges biannuelle dédiée à l’analyse des grandes tendances mondiales et des problématiques régionales qui lient l’Europe et l’Afrique. Réunissant praticiens, décideurs, universitaires et représentants des médias, cet espace de réflexion permet de décoder les transformations ...

The first hundred days of Donald Trump's presidency have again demonstrated his capacity to defy convention and polarize opinion. Far from merely repeating his earlier administration, this new chapter is best understood as part of a long-term repositioning of the United States within a rapidly shifting international system—one where American primacy is no longer assumed but increasingly contested. On the domestic front, Trump's agenda has been marked by political calculation and a ...