North America

Last week marked my twenty-third consecutive week attending the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, DC. While I no longer participate in the official sessions, I continue to be invited to the many side conventions and debates that surround them. A key moment is always the release of the IMF's World Economic Outlook report. This year, it drew particular attention due to curiosity about how the institution would project the impacts of the tariff war initiated by Trump’s ...

The first hundred days of Donald Trump's presidency have again demonstrated his capacity to defy convention and polarize opinion. Far from merely repeating his earlier administration, this new chapter is best understood as part of a long-term repositioning of the United States within a rapidly shifting international system—one where American primacy is no longer assumed but increasingly contested. On the domestic front, Trump's agenda has been marked by political calculation and a ...

The United States is at a critical juncture, facing a pivotal dilemma: preserving global leadership in a world it no longer fully controls. While it proclaims its primacy in the liberal international order, its actions tell a different story—one marked by tariffs, reshoring policies, and an open attempt to contain China’s rise. This strategy is driven less by long-term vision than domestic political calculus, underscoring the urgent need for strategic recalibration. ...

For the President Donald Trump the media are “the enemy of the people”.   Recently, the President posted a fake Time magazine cover online, featuring his portrait under a shadowed crown with the headline: “Long Live the King.” In July 2018, after facing intense media criticism for his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Trump tweeted “The summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media.” (Wikipedia – Donald Trump’s conflict ...

This Policy Brief analyzes the strategic significance of the reaffirmation by the United States, on April 8, 2025, of its support for Morocco’s sovereignty over the Moroccan Sahara and of Morocco’s autonomy plan for the territory. This position, which has been maintained under different U.S. administrations, confirms the appropriateness of the Moroccan approach based on compromise, regional stability, and economic integration. It reinforces the isolation of the Polisario Front, whos ...

The second Trump administration’s reversal of federal climate policy is reshaping the U.S. energy and industrial landscape, with significant implications for macroeconomic performance, clean technology competitiveness, and global climate cooperation. While the deregulatory shift and emphasis on fossil-fuel production may generate short-term output gains in selected sectors, the long-term structural transformation necessary for sustained growth in an increasingly low-carbon global ec ...

Le présent Policy Brief analyse la portée stratégique de la réaffirmation, le 8 avril 2025, du soutien américain à la souveraineté du Maroc sur son Sahara et à son plan d’autonomie. Ce positionnement, maintenu sous différentes Administrations américaines, consacre la pertinence de l’approche marocaine fondée sur le compromis, la stabilité régionale et l’intégration économique. Il renforce la dynamique d’isolement du Front Polisario, dont le discours figé sur l’indépendance peine à m ...

  Marcus Vinicius De Freitas Professor, China Foreign Affairs University Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South The Chinese government’s white paper, ‘China’s Position on Some Issues Concerning China-US Economic and Trade Relations,[1]’ issued on April 9, 2025, in response to the escalating tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, is not just a diplomatic response to the escalating tensions with the United States. It is a meticulously crafted strategic document that pr ...

The rapprochement between the U.S. and Russia since the election of President Trump for a second term, and more significantly, since his inauguration, has intrigued U.S. traditional allies as well as many politicians in the U.S. The argument presented here explains the causes of that rapprochement and places it within a global context that witnesses the establishment of a new world order, multipolar, in which the U.S. is a key player but not the dominant player it used to be in the ...

Ce commentaire a été publié initialement sur commentaire.fr   La question du protectionnisme ne date pas du retour triomphal de Donald Trump, ni même de sa première élection : elle hante la mondialisation depuis le début du xxie siècle. Le nouveau programme du Président américain oblige toutefois à y réfléchir plus attentivement qu’on ne l’a fait jusqu’à présent. C’est l’objet de cet article.   ...

The return of President Donald Trump could significantly impact macroeconomic policy in Africa. The effects may vary across the continent. Nations that remain neutral towards U.S. influence are likely to benefit, while those aligned with the U.S.'s rivals or lacking immediate economic advantages may be deprioritized in U.S. foreign policy. In this article, we examine the channels through which U.S. policies and the change in political discourse could affect macroeconomic policies in ...