Publications
Arjun Chowdhury, The myth of international order: why weak states persist and alternatives to the state fade away
A book review of Arjun Chowdhury's 'The Myth of International Order'.
China’s EU policy in the pandemic era: A new normal?
During the pandemic era, media reports and leaks indicate a growing assertiveness from China towards the EU. Is this a sign of a new normal in China's EU policy of something else entirely? To devise an appropriate response, the EU should contrast this perceived assertiveness with China's long-term interests. In all, assertive behavior undermines Chinese policy goals, which hints that there may be other considerations guiding these Chinese representatives.
Il flusso migratorio sul continente africano
An overview of migratory issues on the African continent
The “Faceless Evildoers” of Cabo Delgado: an Islamist Insurgency in Mozambique?
A brief assessment about the emergence of a jihadi group in Mozambique
Chad’s Pivotal Role in the Regional Crisis
An analysis of Chad's regime role in the context of the military and humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin
Jihad globale o insurgency locale? L'ISIS in Africa, da Boko Haram allo Stato Islamico nel Grande Sahara
This chapter sums up the evolution of jihadi activity in Mali and around Lake Chad, connecing local events to the concurrent emergence and evolution of the Islamic State.
The Origins of Boko Haram, and Why the War on Terror Matters
This article, prompted as a response to a recent contribution penned by Audu Bulama Bukarti,returns to the history of an incident occurred in 2003 between the Nigerian security and a group of militants popularly known as the “Nigerian Taliban” and considered as a precursor to Boko Haram. While the historiography around this incident has been almost saturated by debates around the size of the links between the “Nigerian Taliban” and al-Qaeda, that period of Nigerian history continues to be read in isolation from the broader counter-terrorism strategies conceived at the time by the Nigerian State in the context of what, for us, is a fundamental structural factor, i.e. the then mounting Global War on Terror. Drawing on a different set of data than Bukarti, our contribution will argue that, far from having been a “local” incident, the “Nigerian Taliban crisis” shows clear signs of how, at the time, the Nigerian space was being penetrated by the War on Terror’s strategic logic, discursive structures and political imperatives. The successive explosion, over the following years, of the “Boko Haram phenomenon”, is in our opinion the result of the latter as much as of the former.
Presidentvalget i Hviterussland: Kan vi se begynnelsen på slutten for Europas siste diktatur?
This article that is published in the Norwegian Atlantic Committee series Ukens analyse examines the political situation in the Belarus in the aftermath of the presidential elections in the country and the wave of protests against the rule of A Lukashenko who has been the country's president since 1994
Sovereign Wealth Funds and Public Financing for Climate Action
The 2018 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on limiting global warming to 1.5 °C highlights the importance of access to capital for reaching this target. As directly or indirectly government-owned and -controlled investment vehicles with a an intrinsically long-term perspective, sovereign wealth funds have an self-interest in preventing climate change and its long-term impacts on the world economy and their broader portfolios. Other investors may choose to look upon climate change as an externality as long as they are not forced to take it into account. By contrast, sovereign wealth funds are perhaps the investor class for whom it makes most sense to internalize the consequences of climate change, as their long-term investment horizon makes them directly vulnerable to its consequences. Nonetheless, the number of sovereign wealth funds that engage in such investments and the proportion of their capital that is directed towards green financing remains small. This chapter discusses the operational aspects that make sovereign wealth funds good candidates of public green financing and the limitations that they face in this process. The discussion concludes with useful policy and governance considerations.
The new oil? The geopolitics and international governance of hydrogen
While most hydrogen research focuses on the technical and cost hurdles to a full-scale hydrogen economy, little consideration has been given to the geopolitical drivers and consequences of hydrogen developments. The technologies and infrastructures underpinning a hydrogen economy can take markedly different forms, and the choice over which pathway to take is the object of competition between different stakeholders and countries. Over time, cross-border maritime trade in hydrogen has the potential to fundamentally redraw the geography of global energy trade, create a new class of energy exporters, and reshape geopolitical relations and alliances between countries. International governance and investments to scale up hydrogen value chains could reduce the risk of market fragmentation, carbon lock-in, and intensified geo-economic rivalry.