Search

Begin New Search Topic Treaties and Agreements Publication Year within 10 Years

181. Zambia’s Bilateral Investment Treaties Review and Evaluation

Author:
Joseph Simumba
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)
Abstract:
Zambia attracts foreign direct investments (FDI) from many countries that vary in terms of income levels and geographical location. In the last two decades, the country witnessed a rapid increase in bilateral investment treaty (BIT) activities triggered by massive economic liberalisation of the early 1990s. From a single ratified BIT with Germany prior to 1990, there are now 31 BITs locally called Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (IPPAs) of which two (2) are ratified, eleven (11) are signed and eighteen (18) exist in draft form. However, BIT activities in Zambia have plummeted in line with a post 2010 global slowdown, a situation linked to rising uncertainty caused by a surge in the number of investment treaty-based cases at international tribunals. Foreign investors are suing host states over disputes ranging from direct expropriation to claims of adverse business regulation especially in the energy and extractives sectors. This study reviews Zambia’s BITs and evaluates their impact on the accumulation of FDI stocks using data collected from the Private Investment and Investor Perception Surveys conducted by Bank of Zambia, Central Statistical Office and Zambia Development Agency for the period 2007-2014 were data is publicly available. The findings show that BITs significantly matter for accumulation of FDI stocks in Zambia. The group of countries with a ratified BIT (Germany and Switzerland) maintain 1.6 times more FDI stocks than the corresponding group with only signed BITs controlling for income groups and geographical location and their interactions based on the World Bank classification. The groups of countries with a draft or without a BIT maintain FDI stocks that are less than four times lower than FDI stocks maintained by the group of ratified BITs countries. This evidence is robust to several potential confounders of the relationship between BITs and FDI stocks. Therefore, ratified BITs work for Zambia’s FDI stocks, a result that challenges some pessimism against IPPAs in Zambia.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, Foreign Direct Investment, Economy, and Investment
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

182. A new Balkan rapprochement. Skopje accepts Sofia’s positions allowing for bilateral relations to move forward

Author:
Yorgos Christidis
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
The formation of the new government in Skopje, led by Zoran Zaev, in May 2017, has set in motion a series of important developments in the relations between fYROM and Bulgaria. ELIAMEP Briefing Note 55/2017 written by Dr Yorgos Christidis examines the recent rapprochement between the two countries centered around the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborhood and Cooperation, signed in 1 August 2017
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Treaties and Agreements, Bilateral Relations, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

183. Brexit, the EU and Strategic Uncertainties: Short, Medium and Long Term Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Yoslán Silverio González
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
The European Union (EU) has been a fundamental actor in the economic and political relations with the African countries. EU’s foreign policy towards Africa has been particularly affected by French and British colonial past. The history of the economic relations between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the African continent has been shaped by a series of multilateral agreements – the Yaoundé Conventions, adopted under French influence, and the Lomé Conventions, starting on 1975 –, and, with the entry of the UK in the EEC (1973), the community had to renegotiate the ancient commercial agreements to incorporate the former British territories as “beneficiaries” of these agreements
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Treaties and Agreements, European Union, Economy, Brexit, and Trade
Political Geography:
Britain, Africa, and Europe

184. The US Factor in Pakistan-Iran Relations: New Dimensions

Author:
Manzoor Ahmad, Tahir Ali, and Zahir Shah
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Political Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
Pakistan-Iran relations have been complex and uncertain due to United States tremendous influence since 9/11. National interest remains a dominant factor to form the core of bilateral ties between the states. The change of governments in these states resulted in to reassess the foreign policy which gave a new dimension to the suspected and hostile relations between both the Muslim States which successfully undermined the United States hegemonic pressure. This paper is an attempt to explore Pakistan’s foreign policy towards Iran after Musharraf Presidency till now and the factors due to which it deterred and challenged the US influence.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Treaties and Agreements, Bilateral Relations, Nuclear Power, and Afghanistan
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Iran, and United States of America

185. “Stress Testing” the Draft Convention on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Author:
Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova and Andrea Berger
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Abstract:
On June 7, 2017, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey brought together thirteen experts for a one-day workshop “stress testing” the draft convention to ban nuclear weapons. The exercise was designed to examine key provisions of the draft, identify potential problems in terms of their implementation, compatibility with other existing instruments and practices, and reactions of states not participating in the negotiations, and seek possible solutions. The organizers did not seek to forge consensus among the participants but rather generate discussion and proposals on ways to address the issues raised by the experts. Participants were also asked to set aside their views on the desirability of a convention as a whole, and instead assume that a ban, as currently drafted, was concluded and opened for ratification. As a result, the views presented in this report are not intended to serve as arguments for or against a convention banning nuclear weapons.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, Military Strategy, and Nonproliferation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

186. The Watercourses Convention, Hydro-hegemony and Transboundary Water Issues

Author:
Joyeeta Gupta
Publication Date:
09-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The 2014 entry into force of the UN Watercourses Convention of 1997 could institutionalise water law globally, thereby countering hydro-hegemonic approaches. However, since the Convention is out of date; has been ratified by only 36, mostly downstream countries; does not require amendments of pre-existing treaties; and has no Conference of the Parties to ensure that it becomes a living treaty, its actual influence in addressing the evolving problems in transboundary river basins remains minimal. Nevertheless, it is not unimaginable that with an appropriate follow-up to this Convention, it could be converted into a living and relevant framework convention in the future.
Topic:
Politics, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, Water, and Hegemony
Political Geography:
Global Focus

187. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change

Author:
Robert Sedgwick
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Columbia International Affairs Online
Abstract:
The UN sponsored agreement on climate change concluded last month in Paris, France is the most successful and comprehensive to date. Unlike previous agreements such as Kyoto and Copenhagen this one commits almost all countries, including China and the U.S., the world's two biggest polluters, to strive toward reducing carbon emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Each of the signatory countries must ratify the agreement and will then be responsible for implementing it by setting their own target goals.
Topic:
Climate Change, Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Global Focus

188. Growth, Innovation and COP 21: The Case for New Investment In Innovation Infrastructure

Author:
Céline Bak
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
On the way to Washington, DC, for a September 2015 visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping stopped in Seattle, WA, to sign an agreement aimed at combatting climate change by increasing the business ties between Chinese and US clean technology companies (South China News 2015). Five US states signed the agreement on commerce between China and clean-tech businesses from California, Iowa, Michigan, Oregon and Washington. On the same day, Bill Gates’s energy company, TerraPower, signed an agreement with the China National Nuclear Corporation for joint cooperation on next-generation renewable and fusion nuclear power. In early 2015, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund invested in General Fusion, a Canadian company based in Vancouver, to advance its energy innovation.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Science and Technology, Treaties and Agreements, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
China

189. Uncovering the Implications of the Paris Agreement: Climate Change as a Catalyst for Transformative Sustainability in Cities

Author:
Sarah Birch
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Leaders, negotiators and scientists returned home from the recent United Nations climate change negotiations in Paris with a new mandate: to explore pathways to a world that warms no more than 1.5°C; to finance climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries at a meaningful pace and scale; and, ultimately, to create real policy tools that can deliver prosperity that is not so fundamentally tied to burning fossil carbon. The Paris Agreement is historic in that it is universal (both industrialized and less-developed nations have agreed to the text), a heavy focus is placed on transparency and reporting of progress, and opportunities to periodically reevaluate and ratchet up ambition are built into the process. The ultimate power of this agreement, however, is not in its technicalities and legal implications. Rather, the Paris Agreement represents the manifestation of collective ambition, creating and demonstrating shared norms around the reality of climate change and the responsibility to act. This international process of negotiation and commitment is triggering a wave of conversations about how to reach these ambitious greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation targets. This will require a rapid and fundamental transformation of all sectors, including the design of urban spaces and the ways in which we produce and consume energy.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, and Regulation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

190. Canadian Trade Negotiations in an Era of Deep Integration

Author:
Patricia Goff
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is noteworthy for the expanded role that Canadian provinces and territories played in the negotiation. In this particular instance, these sub-federal actors had a seat at the negotiating table at the request of their European Union partners. However, this paper argues that CETA is exceptional in this regard. Despite the fact that regional trade agreements increasingly contain provisions that relate to areas of provincial and territorial jurisdiction, each trade negotiation is distinct. The CETA experience should not create the expectation that provinces and territories will always participate in the same capacity. Any enhanced role will depend on the federal government’s strategic assessment of any specific trade negotiation.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance, Markets, Political Economy, Treaties and Agreements, and Regulation
Political Geography:
Canada and European Union