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351. Straddling between Optimism and Mistrust

Author:
Julia Hamann and Sara Jakob
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Abstract:
For many young people in France, President Macron’s reforms failed to alleviate their social anxieties. Unemployment remains high, employment conditions precarious, and what started as a protest against new fuel taxes quickly spilled over to other reform areas including social policy. Macron will need to gain the youngsters’ trust ahead of the European Parliament election – not least because its outcome will decisively shape his domestic credibility, and consequently, his political fate
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe

352. Romania: NATO's Frail Anchor in a Turbulent Black Sea

Author:
Teodore Stan
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
As the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) foreign ministers gather this week in Washington to mark the 70th anniversary of the most successful military alliance in history, trouble is brewing over Brexit and the rise of populism in the western front and the challenges brought by autocratic leaders on its eastern front. Democratic backsliding, particularly in Turkey, Poland, and Hungary, has painted a bleak picture for the shared values-centered rationale of the alliance. Not unlike its troubled neighbors, Romania also presents its own frailty with regards to the challenged independence of its justice system and its defanged prosecution of high-level corruption.
Topic:
International Organization and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Romania

353. Implementing the National Defense Strategy Demands Operational Concepts for Defeating Chinese and Russian Aggression

Author:
Chris Dougherty
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Center for a New American Security
Abstract:
The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) shifted the Department of Defense (DoD) away from a strategy focused on counterterrorism and deterring regional threats like Iran toward competing with, deterring, and, if necessary, defeating Chinese and Russian aggression. DoD is portraying the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2020, which is the first such request submitted since the release of the NDS, as a down payment on the long-term investments required to develop a future force that can execute this strategy. Given the price tag of $750 billion, Congress and the American people should, in the words of Ronald Reagan, trust DoD, but verify that this is money well spent on advancing the priorities of the NDS
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

354. Entrevista en IBERCAMPUS sobre el libro La política exterior de Estados Unidos

Author:
Antonio Marquina
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract:
Entrevista en IBERCAMPUS sobre el libro La política exterior de Estados Unidos
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

355. First Nations, LNG Canada, and the Politics of Anti-Pipeline Protests

Author:
Will Greaves
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
In October 2018, LNG Canada – a C$40 billion joint venture supported by some of the largest multinational corporations in the world, including Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi and the Korean Gas Corporation – was approved by its investors, and a new chapter in Canadian political economy began. The project consists of a coastal liquefied natural gas terminal at Kitimat, British Columbia, which is fed by a 670-kilometre pipeline from the shale gas-producing region in the province’s northeast interior. It is the largest private-sector and natural resource investment in Canadian history, in a country where resource extraction still contributes more than 17 per cent of GDP. Moreover, LNG Canada is the cornerstone of the B.C. NDP government’s economic policy, promising to provide 10,000 jobs during construction and up to 950 permanent jobs once the project is fully operational. It will also create $5 billion in additional provincial GDP per year and $23 billion in new revenues over the project’s life, while spurring the growth of a new natural resource industry.1 Predicted economic benefits in the rest of Canada will total $2 billion per year and approximately $500 million in new federal revenues. These benefits will be in addition to an increase in the value of all Canadian liquefied natural gas exports of between $519 million and $5.8 billion per year, depending on market prices.2 Thus, it is not surprising that the federal government is also strongly supportive, and that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was seated next to B.C. Premier John Horgan when the agreement was signed.
Topic:
International Political Economy, Post Colonialism, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Canada

356. Vientiane-Hanoi Expressway Project

Author:
Masahito Ambashi
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
The Vientiane–Hanoi Expressway (VHE) has been one of the most anticipated transportation projects between Lao PDR and Viet Nam. This report (1) explores the potentiality of the corridor between Hanoi and Vientiane as designated by the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Development Program; (2) illustrates impacts on economies and industries of Lao PDR and surrounding countries of the VHE; (3) sets out industrial development strategies for Lao PDR, Viet Nam, and Thailand that take maximum advantage of the VHE; and (4) suggests appropriate financial mechanisms to construct the VHE. Thus, this report focuses on how Lao PDR and neighbouring countries can benefit from the expressway by strengthening relevant industries and forming a Bangkok–Vientiane–Hanoi industrial corridor from the perspective of global value chains and production networks developed in the Mekong region
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

357. Cool Japan, Creative Industries, and Diversity

Author:
Koichi Iwabuchi
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
This paper critically considers the operation and objective of Japan’s ‘creative industry’ policy and suggests how to redesign it to align it with recent attention to cultural diversity. But the paper’s scope goes beyond business and extends to defining ‘creativity’ as a means to enhance civic dialogue, sympathy, and inclusion, to imagine a better society. The ‘creative industry’ can include independent and non-profit cultural projects that promote diversity by involving artists, museums, non-governmental and non-profit organisations, public service corporations, local communities, volunteers, and researchers. Such a redesign is compatible with the creative industry policy’s aim to advance social inclusion and democratisation by promoting grassroots creativity.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

358. ASEAN Vision 2040 Volume IV : Integrated and Connected Seamless ASEAN Economic Community

Author:
Ponciano Intal
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
The volume consists of papers on critical elements for an integrated and connected Seamless ASEAN Economic Community up to 2040. The critical elements include seamless trade facilitation, managing nontariff measures, strategies on standards and conformance, engendering skills mobility and development, service sector development and open investment environment, competition and intellectual property policy, seamless logistics and connectivity, data flows and electronic payments in the digital economy, capital market deepening, and good regulatory practice.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

359. ASEAN Vision 2040 Volume III : Transforming and Deepening the ASEAN Community

Author:
Fukunari Kimura
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD)
Abstract:
The papers in Volume III delve into the theme of transforming and deepening the ASEAN Community. The main focus is on the digital and fourth industrial revolution as well as on innovation as both offer opportunities and challenges for ASEAN Member States for economic transformation and enhanced resiliency and sustainability. The volume also emphasises the drive towards greater inclusivity, leaving no one behind, and greater people centredness and engagement to deepen the sense of belongingness in the ASEAN Community.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

360. ASEAN Vision 2040 Volume II: Collective Leadership, ASEAN Centrality, and Strengthening the ASEAN Institutional Ecosystem

Author:
Simon Tay
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract:
The papers in Volume II discuss the imperative of collective leadership and ASEAN centrality in light of the greater uncertainty in the global trading system and on regional security which have been underpinning ASEAN’s outward oriented strategy and development. It is suggested that ASEAN’s major Dialogue Partners in East Asia and the United States as well as ASEAN itself can be important contributors to strengthening collective leadership in East Asia and to enhancing ASEAN Centrality. The last paper in the volume presents ideas on how to strengthen ASEAN’s institutional ecosystem, which is important for ASEAN to be able to assert ASEAN centrality in an increasingly uncertain and changing regional environment.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus