Why Think Tanks Matter in Times of Crisis

February 4, 2021

The Why Think Tanks Matter events serve not only to demonstrate the value and importance of think tanks around the world but also to highlight their instrumental role for determining in an early stage the new challenges that countries may face in various political and economic contexts. In this edition, speakers will discuss the critical work think tanks perform in times of crisis, while providing tangible examples of the important role they played in countries around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speakers
Mohammed Loulichki
Senior Fellow
Mohammed Loulichki is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South and an Affiliate Professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He brings over 40 years of comprehensive experience in diplomacy, conflict resolution, and human rights. He has served in various roles including as a member and Deputy Head of the Moroccan delegation to the 3rd Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982-1990), Head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Treaties at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-1991), and General Director for Multilateral Affairs in the same ministry (2003-2006).   He also acted as Morocco's Ambassador to Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia (1995-1999), and was the Moroccan Government's Ambassador Coordinator with MINURSO (1999-2001). Furthermore, he served ...
Roba Sharamo
Regional Director & Representative to the AU, Horn and East Africa, Institute for Security Studies (Addis Ababa)
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Souha Majidi
    November 26, 2020
    The Trump Administration “America First” policy changed U.S. foreign policy towards the African continent. Trump opposed trade agreements with several countries, considering them to be unfavorable to the U.S., given the nature of the African market. He shifted the U.S. concern in Africa from fighting against violent extremism and terrorism to a direct competition with other great powers—China and Russia—which had already extensively implemented African strategies. He endeavored to r ...
  • Authors
    November 26, 2020
    Food security for all requires (i) sustained productivity growth and competitiveness, not only of agriculture but of the entire economy; (ii) a social safety net; and (iii) resilience in the face of periodic shocks. This is the central message of this review. Two popular concepts in food security for all are food self-sufficiency (FSS) and food sovereignty (FSY). While countries have pursued different policies to achieve FSS, the common element in their approaches is the misguided ...
  • November 25, 2020
    Coup sur coup, deux accords géants sont venus marquer l’actualité internationale. L’un, est économique et sonne comme un coup de tonnerre : c’est le RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership), vaste accord commercial asiatique, signé le 15 novembre 2020. Cette date restera dans l’histoire comme ayant associé la Chine à un ensemble de pays asiatiques. Il inclut l’ASEAN (Association des Nations d’Asie du Sud-est, à l’initiative de la démarche) mais, aussi, le Japon et la Corée ...
  • November 24, 2020
    The global economic activity has climbed up since June but there are signs that the recovery may be losing momentum. Instead of a V, U, W, or L, a square root as a recovery shape looks more likely, as we approached before in this series. And the crisis is likely to leave deep, unequal s...
  • Authors
    Laurence Nardon
    Mathilde Velliet
    November 23, 2020
    En 2016, l’une des grandes promesses de campagne du candidat républicain Donald Trump était de mettre fin aux pratiques commerciales chinoises, jugées déloyales et responsables du déficit commercial américain. L’imposition d’importants droits de douane allait forcer le gouvernement chinois à négocier. Les pratiques dénoncées par Trump – sous-évaluation du yuan, transferts forcés de technologie, violations de la propriété intellectuelle, manque d’ouverture aux importations – s’inscr ...
  • Authors
    Patricio Aroca
    Pilar Jano
    Ademir Rocha
    Bruno Pimenta
    November 23, 2020
    Short-term climate conditions may affect crop yields and vintage quality and, as a consequence, wine prices and vineyards’ earnings. In this paper, we use a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model for Chile, which incorporates very detailed information about the value chain of the wine sector in the country. Using information for the 2015-2016 harvest, we calibrate climate variability shocks associated with a “bad year” for the wine industry in Chile, when premature rains occurre ...
  • Authors
    November 19, 2020
     “This time was different” in terms of the monetary policy responses to capital outflow shocks felt by emerging market economies (EMEs), as pointed out by a November 12 Bank for International Settlements bulletin. The pandemic-related global financial shock that hit in March and April led to close to $100 billion leaving EMEs (see my previous article). This was answered by local monetary authorities in ways different from previous episodes. This time there was even the use of quant ...