Diplomacy

This Policy Paper analyzes Jacob Zuma’s July 2025 visit to Morocco as a revealing episode in the reconfiguration of South African foreign policy. Far from being mere protocol issue, the event activated multiple registers of mobilization—anti-apartheid legacy, territorial integrity, and diplomatic coherence—while shifting a dossier long confined to elites into the public sphere. Drawing on a corpus of 2,200 posts on X, and 20 South African press articles, the study shows that the con ...

This policy brief analyzes the first 100 days in office of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which have been marked by an assertive foreign policy, ambitious security reforms, and a shift toward economic pragmatism. Merz has sought to reestablish Germany as a ‘leading middle power’, emphasizing closer European coordination, renewed transatlantic engagement, and unwavering support for Ukraine. However, his approach to the Gaza conflict, characterized by alignment with U.S. positions and rel ...

Ce Policy Paper analyse la visite de Jacob Zuma au Maroc en juillet 2025 comme un épisode révélateur des recompositions de la politique étrangère sud-africaine. Loin d’une simple question de protocole, l’événement a activé des registres de mobilisation multiples — fidélité à l’héritage anti-apartheid, intégrité territoriale, cohérence diplomatique et a déplacé un dossier longtemps confiné aux élites vers l’espace public. À partir d’un corpus de 2 200 publications sur X et de 20 arti ...

In 2019 - well before the onslaught of COVID-19 and the wars in Europe and the Middle East - the central thesis of a policy paper by this author, analyzing the relationship between Africa and the Caribbean, characterized it as one of missed opportunity due to the lack of consistent, meaningful engagement between the two regions - despite the relationship’s special significance given their shared history. Underinvested: The Caribbean African Relationship (PCNS 2019) chronicled the li ...

Dans un contexte international en recomposition, et à l’instar des autres membres permanents du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies (États-Unis, France, Royaume-Uni), la Chine et la Russie réévaluent leurs positionnements respectifs sur le dossier du Sahara marocain, longtemps relégué à la périphérie de leurs priorités. À travers une lecture croisée des dynamiques historiques, des échanges bilatéraux avec le Maroc et des interactions dans les enceintes multilatérales, notamment à ...

The history of relations between the West and East Asia is deeply rooted in fear, dating back to the 13th century when Mongol hordes swept from Central Asia into the European steppes. This civilizational neurosis took root in the European imagination and has since shaped Western perceptions of the East. The derogatory racial metaphor “Yellow Peril”, which emerged in the late 19th century, was not a new invention but rather a recurring theme invoked whenever politically expedient. It ...

This article was written by an external contributor. The author is not affiliated with the Policy Center for the New South, and the views expressed herein are solely those of the author. The Liberal International Order (LIO), established in the aftermath of WWII, is now facing unprecedented challenges. Though the main proponent of this same Order, the United States under Donald Trump has turned against traditional allies and is actively seeking to undermine the v ...

As the ‘Western Sahara Conflict’, rather a dispute, because in 1975 the Sahara sovereignty was disputed by Morocco, Mauritania and the Polisario, dates back to 1975, so its international legal consideration relates to the Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara by Spain, Morocco and Mauritania (Madrid Accord), concluded in 1975 among Spain, Morocco and Mauritania for decolonizing ‘Western Sahara.’Here, the term Western Sahara is not geopolitically neutral in the context of ...

L’année 2024 a coïncidé avec la célébration du 75e anniversaire de la fondation de la République populaire de Chine, étape clé dans la réalisation des objectifs fixés par le 14e Plan quinquennal. Dans ce contexte, les Deux sessions annuelles 2025 du Parlement chinois – celle de l'Assemblée populaire nationale (APN), organe législatif suprême, et du Comité national de la Conférence consultative politique du peuple chinois (CCPPC), organe consultatif - ont retenu l’attention ...