Best of Podcasts 2021

In a world confronted with unprecedented challenges and growing geopolitical rifts, is it time for a reformed and more balanced international order? What are the new propositions by the "Global South"? Are they necessarily at odds with the ones of the 'West"? Guided by these questions, 2023 marked a milestone for the “Global South” as the BRICS group invited 6 other countries to join the club, and India presided over of the G20 just after Indonesia and before Brazil. Seeking to answ ...

The 2021 German federal election brought about a historic reshuffle of the political parties’ hierarchy in Europe’s biggest economy. The Social Democratic Party are back in control of the Chancellery for the first time since 2005, as part of a three-party coalition at the federal level with the Greens and the Liberals, a first in Germany’s post-war history. Now, the federal government has turned its gaze towards its founding mission: more progress. The first 100 days of the three-pa ...

The BDA Currents: Where Diplomacy Meets Business, is the Brussels Diplomatic Academy’s annual report covering the wider geopolitical and other factors influencing and affecting the world of diplomacy, international relations and global business. The journal focuses on issues of topical interest around the centers of global power, influence and importance, including the continents of Europe and Africa, the Middle East, China, India & Asia, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independe ...

Frappée de plein fouet par la crise sanitaire de la Covid-19, la République de Zambie, déjà fragilisée, fait face à de nombreux défis sur les plans politique, économique, social et climatique. Outre sa position géographique de pays enclavé, le croissant de l’Afrique australe se positionne comme l’une des premières victimes du réchauffement climatique sur le continent rendant vulnérable une partie de sa population souffrant d’insécurité alimentaire accrue. Par ailleurs, et à l’approc ...

China is the world's largest exporter of goods. It is also, by any plausible criterion, a developing country. China's dual status needs to be better reflected in Chinese policies - recognizing its global responsibilities -- and in those of the Western powers - recognizing China's limitations. Across three important agendas - macroeconomics, development assistance, and climate - important differences between China and the West remain, yet none of these issues appears intractable. ...

The Atlantic basin faces considerable challenges on multiple fronts. Financial and economic struggles, coupled with political shifts and social turmoil, are reshaping the region’s geopolitical landscape. Unemployment, poverty, violence, migration, extremism, climate change and other problems are on the rise and the need to tackle them effectively is pressing. To find adequate solutions to these challenges, it is crucial to create inclusive discussions between the North and the Sout ...

The pandemic is accelerating history, in the sense that it is leading to the speeding up of some recent trends. In the case of globalization, the pandemic will not reverse it, but it will reshape it. Here we take a bird’s eye view of global trade during the pandemic, relate it to previous trends, and guess how global value chain managers and government trade policymakers are likely to react. A Bird’s Eye View of Global Trade during the Pandemic World trade took a deep dive during ...