Political Thought Nr.57

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Institute for Democracy "Societas Civilis" from Skopje would like to present you the fifty-seventh issue of the journal “Political Thought”.

SAIIA Futures: anticipating & preparing for major disruptors facing Southern Africa

South Africa has had a long tradition of undertaking scenario exercises at critical times in its history – from the Mont Fleur to the Dinokeng scenarios and now most recently the Idlulamithi scenarios in 2018. These have captured some of the key challenges that the country faces politically and economically.

Survey: The Peace Process and Stability in the Middle East

A poll was conducted in November 2019 comprising a sample of 1,200 Jordanians. They were asked questions regarding their views on the peace process and stability in the Middle East.

The Road Towards Cyber-Sovereignty Passes Through Africa

#KASTalksTech

On November 18, UN Member States voted on a resolution led by Russia and China, paving the way towards a new global cybercrime treaty. The United States and its Western allies lost an opportunity to convince a majority of emerging and developing tech powers that multilateral, responsible governance can help them compete, boost, and build capacity for deploying converging cyber- and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. As developing countries line up behind China and Russia, the resulting normative alliance heralds the dawn of a new global order. Geopolitical dynamics will be shaped by multipolar competition over who, in cyberspace, owns and controls access to technological convergence – its intangible assets (datasets, source codes and tacit knowledge) and techniques, from AI, 5G, biotechnologies, to quantum computing. As cybercrime continues to rise, increasingly targeting critical infrastructure of high and low-income countries, a new form of geostrategic competition centers around imposing national Internet surveillance and control. Which governance model will ultimately prevail? The Sino-Russian model of cyber sovereignty and broad legal and normative definitions of cybercrime, or the Western model of shared, responsible governance and multilateral collaboration to close the global cyber-enforcement gap? Only time will tell, but the former is quickly gaining support from developing nations.

3rd Konrad Adenauer Lecture and Dialogue Program with Elmar Brook (MEP ret’d)

‘Quo Vadis Europe? – Questions of Identity, Sovereignty, Responsibility’

The European Parliament’s most long-standing member Elmar Brok celebrated the intellectual legacy of Germany’s first Chancellor and his vision for a united Europe as he delivered the 3rd annual Konrad-Adenauer Lecture. Mr Brok is widely credited for his significant contributions to EU foreign policy (Head of European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs for 13 years) and constitutional matters. Following his retirement from Parliament in June this year, Mr Brok was appointed Special Adviser to the outgoing EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on relations with Ukraine.

“Wahlen in Namibia – neue Akteure, kleine Überraschungen“

Oppositionspartei verdreifacht Stimmenanteil - „Business as usual“ nach den Parlaments- und Präsidentschaftswahlen?

Die seit der Unabhängigkeit Namibias durchregierende Befreiungsbewegung SWAPO hat erstmals ihre 2/3-Mehrheit verloren, die oppostionelle PDM hat ihr Ergebnis verdreifacht.

Cadernos Adenauer 4 - Debattenkultur

Debattenkultur und Demokratie: Brücken zur Verständigung und Dialog

Die vierte Ausgabe der Cadernos Adenauer thematisiert die Debattenkultur in der Demokratie

Las relaciones entre el Perú y Rusia

Revisión e interpretación desde las Relaciones Internacionales

El libro presentado por el Instituto de Estudios Internacionales (IDEI) de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú y la Fundación Konrad Adenauer (KAS) en el Perú es un aporte académico que coincide con la celebración de los cincuenta años de relación diplomática entre el Perú y Rusia, en el que se analiza la política exterior peruana relativa a las relaciones con Rusia, en el contexto de sus relaciones con América Latina.

Survey: Jordanians' Perceptions on Foreign Relations

A poll was conducted in August 2019, covering a sample of 1,198 Jordanians. They were asked questions regarding their opinions on Jordan's foreign relations and foreign policy.

Sustainable Extractive Industries: The Role of Local Content provisions

Policy brief

Enhancing local content in mineral supply chains holds the potential to contribute to employment and socio-economic development in mining jurisdictions, as well as improve mining companies’ social license to operate. Yet poorly framed and implemented local content frameworks can have a number of negative impacts, including undermining the competitiveness and even viability of certain operations. Almost all countries with significant extractive industries (mining as well as oil and gas) have some form of regulatory framework seeking to support greater local engagement in extractive value chains, but these policies have a mixed record of success and there is a great diversity in how these frameworks have been designed. This policy brief outlines key recommendations emerging from a workshop convened by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s (KAS) Regional Programme for Energy Security and Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa and the South African Institute of International Affairs, which was hosted on 18 July 2019 in Gaborone, Botswana. Recommendations centre on the question of how ‘local’ is defined in the context of local content provisions, considerations related to industry competitiveness, the issue of reporting and transparency, and the relationship between corporate social responsibility and local content provisions. The key conclusion is that, while implementation challenges and potential impacts on competitiveness related to local content requirements must be acknowledged, this should not justify inaction; there is a need for a systematic, incremental and transparent process to enhance local content in mineral supply chains.