Where do we go from here? – revisiting words of Steve Clemons

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Where do we go from here? – revisiting words of Steve Clemons

By Anna Kassai.

On 1 July 2020, the first real-time conference in Europe past the early-spring lockdown took place at the Diplomatic Academy Vienna. This highly anticipated event, entitled From the Victory Day to Corona Disarray 75 years of Europe’s Collective Security and Human Rights System Legacy of antifascism for the common pan-European future, was organized by the International Institute for the Middle East and Balkan Studies, Media Platform Modern Diplomacy, Scientific Journal European Perspectives, and Action Platform Culture for Peace. (the entire conference proceedings are available: https://www.facebook.com/DiplomaticAcademyVienna )

After the end of World War II, the United Nations was founded in 1945 to maintain international peace and security, build relationships among nations, promote social progress, better living standards, and human rights. The Nurnberg and Tokyo trials (1945-1948) prosecuted war crimes and contributed to the development of international criminal law as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). These laid down the foundation for the liberal international system that is based on the shared interest in maintaining rule of law, the cooperation to resolve security issues, and to maintain an open, stable system, in which institutions reinforce cooperation and collective problem-solving. 

The first panel reflected on the legacy of World War II, collective security, Human Rights, and the importance of mutual trust within alliances. Discussions emphasized the testing times that we are living in, which unwittingly remind us of the set of challenges that the international system must overcome. Challenges that will commend other solutions, while testing the integrity of the current international system. During the first panel, discussions touched upon a crucial and complex issue, which came under the spotlight due to the severe worldwide effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of international institutions as well as the transatlantic relations. 

As the health crisis started to unfold rapidly, an unprecedented macroeconomic shock was triggered. To slow the spread of the virus, national governments-imposed sanctions, lockdowns, curfews, closed educational institutions, and non-essential businesses. National borders were shut down in a matter of hours, governments started to look for unilateral solutions to solve their lack of medical and food supply, and suddenly it seemed like the globalized world and the relevance of the international organizations are fading away, as the interest to act in concert would not exist anymore. 

National crisis management aimed at containing the spread of the virus and minimize the economic damages, at the same time sent an immediate warning that the collective problem-solving mechanisms are not functioning properly. It also demonstrated how interdependent the economic, social systems are and this magnitude of crisis cannot be dealt with unilaterally within national borders. As Mr. Steve Clemons, Editor-at-large, HILL pointed out in his intervention, the course that a nation should take is more in question than it has ever been before. ‘When you look at the Transatlantic experiment, it looked like it succeeded enormously until it stopped succeeding and working.’ 

As the C-19 crisis demonstrates, the scale of transnational threats cannot be dealt with on a national level. Combatting interstate terrorism, cybercrimes, climate change, the slow pace of clean energy transition, migration, global pandemics require transnational solutions. Meanwhile, countries are putting more emphasis on strengthening their positions as a nation in the international discourse and seeking a different role by redefining themselves and embracing other core values and institutions. 

Attempts to look for alternatives and transform the existing institutional structure put in place after World War II have surged in the last decade, especially after 9/11, the financial crisis in 2008, but with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world arrived at another tipping point. As Mr. Clemons phrased it: ‘A point of diminishing return that these institutions need to be rethought, reconsidered, and recalibrated, that the power players that now guide much of the world need to be reassorted. There is no doubt that countries like Brazil, India, etc. are not included in those power centers, and yet they have enormous stakes in the way global affairs occur.’

A global power transition has been taking place for years, the question is how the shift from unipolarity will accommodate rising powers, who will be able to take the lead and fill the power vacuum that the United States leaves behind. As opposed to the rules of the liberal value-based world order, a new set of rules is being written by rising powers. Some of the political leaders turned back to ideologies like nationalism and populism, as a potential alternative to liberalism. Conflicts in recent years reinforced this tendency, like disputes between Hong Kong and mainland China, the Ukraine crisis, and Turkey`s autocratic behavior. In addition to this, the United Kingdom left the European Union and Hungary changed its raison d’état by redefining itself as an illiberal democracy. 

Even the United States is less committed to the post-war world order. Demonstrating that by leaving institutions that it helped to build, such as the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate Accord, questioning the legitimacy of NATO and certain UN institutions. Mr. Clemons stated that the United States has become a serious competitor with its allies to a certain degree and the notion of shared interest has diminished. He emphasized the different stand that the United States took in the C-19 event as oppose to its position in World War II: ‘The United States has chosen not to be the kind of leader that it has been in the past. It did not step forward in the C-19 crisis to help become a broker of strength and benefits and help support nations around the world. We may have done something here and there, but nothing on the scale.’

The set of challenges put the resistance of decade long alliances to a test. At the same time, they create the opportunity to find comprehensive solutions and more efficient problem-solving mechanisms for the future, by revitalizing and reforming institutions that are the cornerstones of long-standing regional orders, cooperation, and collective problem-solving. To stand resilient against global challenges like C-19, the transatlantic relationship must come back to its core values and redefine itself. Therefore, as a first step, it must be acknowledged what led to this harsh world without much leadership. 

The strength lies within like-minded alliances and sharing the same core values as well as in the ability to come together despite the differences and finding a common ground again. That is what happened 75 years ago, after the end of World War II, when the United Nations was founded. Let us remember that. 

Vienna, 12 July 2020 

The future of Europe depends on its neighborhood – UfM’s Nasser Kamel says

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The future of Europe depends on its neighborhood – UfM’s Nasser Kamel says

Secretary-General, Dr. Kamel addressing the Vienna Conference while honoring the 25th anniversary of the Euro-MED process.

By Guido Lanfranchi.

On July 1st, 2020, the Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Dr. Nasser Kamel, participated in an international conference discussing the future of Europe. The event under the name “From Victory Day to Corona Disarray: 75 Years of Europe’s Collective Security and Human Rights System”  was held at the historic setting of the eldest world’s Diplomatic Academy, that of Vienna, Austria.

This gathering was organised by four partners; the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES), Media Platform Modern Diplomacy, European Perspectives Scientific Journal, and Action Platform Culture for Peace, with the support of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.

In his highly absorbing keynote, Secretary General Dr. Nasser Kamel, described the impact of the C-19 event as only amplifying the old issues and long-standing challenges within the Euro-Mediterranean theater.

To this end, His Excellency especially focused on the economic and environmental challenges faced by the Euro-MED. He recommended that sustainability and resilience should be at the core of the post-C-19 recovery, and gave an important piece of advice to European policymakers: if Europe is to become a global power, a positive engagement with its neighborhood – both east and south – will be of paramount importance.

Hostilities and confrontation should be replaced by a decisive cooperation on the common future project. And such a project should include all EU/Europe neighbors without prejudices.   

Reflecting on the global impact of C-19, Dr. Kamel stated that the pandemic has pushed the world to a new era, and that the repercussions of this crisis will be extremely far-reaching – not least in terms of economic activity, which is set to dramatically decrease at the global level.

As for the Euro-Mediterranean more specifically, the UfM’s Secretary General noted that the region’s existing elements of fragility – most notably the high levels of inequality and the pressing climate change emergency – are set to worsen as a result of the pandemic. To counter the ensuing negative effects, Dr. Kamel advised, resilience must be built through a holistic approach that promotes at the same time an environmental, social, and economic recovery throughout the whole Euro-Mediterranean region.

Secretary General Kamel also touched upon the economic impact of the C-19 in the Euro-Mediterranean region. This impact – he noted – has been markedly uneven, as countries that were more dependent on Asian supply chains, for instance, have been hit harder and faster than others. Starting from this observation, the UfM’s Secretary General delved into the debate about the current economic model and its typical long supply chains.

While refusing frontal attacks to globalization as an outdated concept, Dr. Kamel suggested that Euro-Mediterranean countries should increase their resilience and work better to ensure the solidity of their supply chains – for instance though what he called a “proximization”, or regionalization, of these chains. On this issue –he noted– the UfM Secretariat is currently working with relevant partners, including the OECD, as to explore the potential to create regional supply chains – hoping that this could lead to tangible development gains on both shores of the Mediterranean.

Besides the oft-discussed economic issues, the Secretary General’s contribution also sought to highlight the importance of environmental considerations, which risk slipping at the bottom of the agenda in times of economic crisis.

Dr. Kamel stressed that the climate crisis is a reality that the Euro-Mediterranean region must inevitably face.

A report developed by a large group of scientists from several different countries, supported by both the UfM and the United Nations Environment Programme, has highlighted that the impact of climate change in the Euro-Mediterranean is set to be particularly significant – just to quote one statistic, the region is warming 20% faster than the rest of the world. Hence, Secretary General Kamel stressed, the region’s post-pandemic recovery must be more sustainable – more green, blue, and circular – with a focus on enhancing the resilience of societies on both shores of the Mediterranean. 

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Kamel decided to stress the interconnectedness of the Euro-Mediterranean region. The European continent is tightly linked to its neighborhood, he noted, both to the east and to the south. Hence, the future of Europe as a relevant economic, political, and geopolitical power depends on how proactive and engaging it will be with its immediate neighborhood – Dr, Kamel said. As for Europe to be prosperous, its neighborhood should be resilient, mindful of the environment, and more economically integrated. At the UfM – Secretary-General assured audience – that is the aim that everyone is hoping, and working, for. 

In order to make the gathering more meaningful, the four implementing partners along with many participants have decided to turn this event – a July conference into a lasting process. Named – Vienna Process: Common Future – One Europe, this initiative was largely welcomed as the right foundational step towards a longer-term projection that seeks to establish a permanent forum of periodic gatherings as a space for reflection on the common future by guarding the fundamentals of our European past.

As stated in the closing statement: “past the Brexit the EU Europe becomes smaller and more fragile, while the non-EU Europe grows more detached and disenfranchised”. The prone wish of the organisers and participants is to reverse that trend.   

To this end, the partners are already announced preparing the follow up event in Geneva for early October (to honour the 75th anniversary of the San Francisco Conference). Similar call for a conference comes from Barcelona, Spain which was a birthplace of the EU’s Barcelona Process on detrimental; the strategic Euro-MED dialogue.

About the author:

Guido Lanfranchi

Guido Lanfranchi is an international affairs specialist based in Den Haag.

He studied at the Dutch Leiden University and Sciences Po Paris, and working with the Council of the European Union in Brussels. His research focuses on the EU, Euro-MED and Africa.

Ennio Morricone – The Maestro of Our Times

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Ennio Morricone – The Maestro of Our Times

By Dario Poli.

Ennio Morricone, Grande Ufficiale OMRI (born November 10, 1928) is an Italian composer and conductor who died on the 6th July 2020 aged 91.

The greatest, most original composer and creative musician of this century, by passing other talented musicians by miles in musical originally and innovation..We will never see his like again, as it’s impossible. I am so sad to feel his passing, but blessed to be living as his genius was flowing out to all of us…

Ennio Morricone is the musician of our times, who has inspired me emotionally and technically more than any other, (excluding the great established classical composers of the past) from the first time I heard his arrangement ( ahead of its time) of a simple love song “Sapore di Sale,” written and sung by Gino Paoli. I was sixteen years of age at that time and being overwhelmed by the musical arrangement I enquired who was the arranger. After I found out, and with my limited pocket money, I bought every single song I could find with the name E. Morricone on it. Even in those young years,I felt that this E. Morricone was more than special; I felt a genius not yet discovered.

I was often ridiculed by my peers, for my open endorsement of this unheard of Italian musician that the world hardly knew and unknown even in Hollywood. But I remained certain of his unique talents and years later, my instincts proved to be correct and I was vindicated!

Today, he is considered one of the most prolific and influential film composers of his era. Morricone has composed and arranged scores for countless film and TV productions. He is well-known for his long-term collaborations with international acclaimed directors such as Sergio Leone, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, and Giuseppe Tornatore.

He wrote the characteristic film scores of Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and Once Upon a Time in the West(1968). In the 80s, Morricone composed the scores for John Carpenter’s horror movie The Thing (1982), Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Roland Joffé’s The Mission(1986), Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables(1987) and Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso (1988). His more recent compositions include the scores for Oliver Stone’s U Turn(1997), Tornatore’s The Legend of 1900 (1998) and Malèna(2000), De Palma’s Mission to Mars(2000), Lajos Koltai’s Fateless (2005), and Tornatore’s Baaria – La porta del Vento (2009).

Two of my personal favourites recordings of Ennio’s, remain his brilliant arrangements and recordings which he made with the French singing star Mireille Matthieu recorded in the 1970’s, and his musical score of Nove Cento (1900) for the film of that name; a truly inspirational work.

Morricone has won two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, five Anthony Asquith Awards for Film Music by BAFTA in 1979–1992 and the Polar Music Prize in 2010. He has been nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score during 1979–2001. He received the Academy Honorary Award in 2007 “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music”.

Ennio was born in Rome, the son Mario and Libera Morricone, a jazz trumpeter. Morricone wrote his first compositions when he was six years old and was encouraged to develop these natural talents. he was forced to take up the trumpet, he had first gone to the National Academy of Santa Ceciliato take lessons on the instrument at the age of nine.Morricone formally entered the conservatory in 1940 at the age of 12.

He studied the trumpet, composition, choral music, and choral direction under Goffredo Petrassi, who deeply influenced him and to whom Morricone has dedicated concert pieces. These were the difficult years of World War II in the heavily bombed “open city”; the suffering of the people and his feelings of constant hunger, was part of his wartime experiences that influenced many of his scores for films set in that period.

 Morricone has worked for television, from a single title piece to variety shows and documentaries to TV series, including the US TV Western The Virginian (1971), Moses (1974) and Marco Polo (1982). One notable composition, “Chi Mai” was used in the films, Maddalena (1971)[15] and Le Professionnel (1981) as well as the TV series The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981).  He wrote the score for the Mafia television series La piovra , including the themes “Droga e sangue” (“Drugs and Blood”), “La morale”, and “L’immorale.

Morricone worked as the conductor of seasons 3 to 5 of the series. He also worked as the music supervisor for the television project La bibbia (“The Bible”).

In the late 1990s, he collaborated with his son, Andrea, on the Ultimo crime dramas. Their collaboration yielded the BAFTA-winningNuovo cinema Paradiso. In 2003, Ennio Morricone scored another epic, for Japanese television, called Musashi and was the Taiga drama about Miyamoto Musashi, Japan’s legendary warrior. A part of his “applied music” is now applied to Italian television films.

There is much more that can be written about this great composer and to this very day I remain his most fervent and devoted fan and I thank heaven, that we were able to live at this time to be fortunate to listen to his music and be part of this composers unequalled creative experience.

International Prizes and Awards for music accorded to Ennio Morricone!

  • 1965 — Nastro d’Argento for A Fistful of Dollars
    1967 — Diapason d’Or
    1969 — Premio Spoleto Cinema
    1970 — Nastro d’argento for Metti una sera a cena
    1971 — Nastro d’argento for Sacco e Vanzetti
    1972 — Cork Film International for La califfa
    1979 — Oscar Nomination for Days of Heaven
    1979 — Premio Vittorio de Sica
    1981 — Premio della critica discografica for Il prato
    1984 — Premio Zurlini
    1985 — Nastro d’argento and BAFTA for Once Upon A Time In America
    1986 — Oscar Nomination, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award for The Mission
    1986 — Premio Vittorio de Sica
    1988 — Nastro d’argento, BAFTA, Grammy Award and Oscar Nomination for The Untouchables
    1988 — David di Donatello for Gli occhiali d’oro
    1989 — David di Donatello for Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
    1989 — Ninth Annual Ace Winner for Il giorno prima
    1989 — Pardo d’Oro alla carriera (Locarno Film Festival)
    1990 — BAFTA, Prix Fondation Sacem del XLIII Cannes Film Festival and David di Donatello for Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
    1991 — David di Donatello for Stanno tutti bene
    1992 — Oscar Nomination for Bugsy
    1992 — Pentagramma d’oro
    1992 — Premio Michelangelo
    1992 — Grolla d’oro alla carriera (Saint Vincent)
    1993 — David di Donatello and Efebo d’Argento for Jonas che visse nella balena
    1993 — Globo d’oro Stampa estera in Italia
    1993 — Gran Premio SACEM audiovisivi
    1994 — ASCAP Golden Soundtrack award (Los Angeles)
    1995 — Premio Rota
    1995 — Leone d’Oro Honorary award (Venice Film Festival)
    1996 — Premio Cappelli
    1996 — Premio Accademia di Santa Cecilia
    1997 — Premio Flaiano
    1998 — Columbus Prize
    1999 — Erich Wolfgang Korngold Internationaler Preis für Film
    1999 — Exsquibbidles Film Academy lifetime achievement award
    2000 — Golden Globe Award for The Legend of 1900 (1998)
    2000 — David di Donatello for Canone inverso
    2000 — Oscar nomination for Malèna
    2002 — Honorary Degree by the “Seconda Università” of Rome
    2003 — Golden Eagle Award for 72 Meters
    2003 — Honorary Senator of the Filmscoring Class of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
    2006 — Grand Officer award from President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
    2007 — Honorary Academy Award for career achievement
    2007 — The Film & TV Music Award for Lifetime Achievement
    2008 — Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental, performed by Bruce Springsteen
    2008 — Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honor
    2009 — Medal of Merits for Macedonia[25]
    2009 — America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation
    2010 — Polar Music Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of the Arts

Sustainable Industrial Transformation for a healthier future in Indonesia

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Sustainable Industrial Transformation for a healthier future in Indonesia

By Dr. Wolfram Kalt.

Since early 2020, Covid19 has changed the world in a way we could never have imagined. 

With millions of people infected and hundreds of thousands of deaths, attention is focused on a way out of the current crisis that is still severely affecting private life and global economy. The focus is on finding a cure and better restoring the economy. 

Maybe more green and more human ..?

Long before WHO has informed us about the airborne spread of the virus (1), it became clear that people living in certain limited conditions could be significantly more susceptible to the disease (2,3), and as the COVID19 crisis continued, ‘fatal inequalities’ became increasingly apparent (4).

Poor communities, coloured or indigenous peoples not only suffer from inadequate health services and pre-existing diseases that increase their exposure to the virus, but often also live in places that are polluted by the environment.

Air pollution from various sources such as traffic, local burns and forest fires, but also from industry, affects the health of people living next to emission epicentres and more and more all of us. Globally it kills an estimated 7 million people a year and, according to WHO, 9 out of 10 people breathe air with high levels of pollutants (5), making us vulnerable to attackers like COVID19, which specifically target the weakened immune system and lungs (6).

The global fight against air pollution requires a special focus in low and middle income countries, where health systems are often underdeveloped and the catch up in economic growth is taking its toll.

While many of these countries have guidelines along with international commitments to reduce key sources of air pollution, they often lack implementation and necessary clean investment.

If we take the example of Indonesia, which today has the world’s fourth largest population with 273 million people, we can see a developed Asian nation, a G20 member with very respectable economic growth ahead of Covid19.

The success story of the resource-rich country is partly due to massive investments in the production industry. Many investments are foreign investments from China, Japan, Korea, the United States, Europe and other parts of the world. It is a traditional heavy industry or basic consumer goods industry that feeds the strong domestic growth engine.

The technologies used are not always state of the art. Some investors build industrial workbenches for their products with little investment based on old or specially “adapted technologies”.

While the government has difficulty in improving and regulating emissions from its huge industrial sectors, it is also considered part of its own industrial emissions problems because it emphasizes the role of fossil, and particularly of coal for power production. This type of emission-intensive generation is expected to grow disproportionately in their power capacity addition plans until 2025 while only part of the space is available for renewable energies that use the country’s hydro and geothermal resources, there are currently enormous opportunities for solar and wind power left far behind (7, 8).

A green recovery for Indonesia could change the situation. It will take industrial transformation expertise and collective will to develop a healthy “win-win” strategy to cut emissions, create green jobs, and further promote the young nation’s economic growth based on a  stepwise transition to a low carbon economy.

The benefits of such an industrial transformation are obvious, since a sustainable industrial strategy that focuses on clean technologies, circular economy and renewable energies will promote Indonesia’s long-term competitiveness. 

It will make Indonesia a solid partner in fulfilling international obligations such as the 2015 Paris Agreement, bring in new green investments and reduce the burden on its own Health care system by reducing diseases caused by air pollution.. 

and ..

it will give the weakest among us a better chance of a good and healthy life.

______________________

About the author:

Dr. Wolfram Kalt, Expert for Industrial Transformation

______________________

Literature:

 (1) https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations

(2) https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/the-deadly-link-between-covid-19-and-air-pollution/

(3) https://e360.yale.edu/features/connecting-the-dots-between-environmental-injustice-and-the-coronavirus

(4) https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/04/10/covid-19-health-care-inequalities/

(5) https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1

(6) https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health

(7) https://www.agora-energiewende.de/fileadmin2/Partnerpublikationen/2019/2019-03-07-SPM_Roadmap_for_Indonesia_Power_Sector.pdf

(8) https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/05/20/ri-s-clean-energy-program-faces-setback.html

UAE – a thriving global trade hub and a land of opportunities

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UAE – a thriving global trade hub and a land of opportunities

By His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade

In just a few short months, the outbreak of COVID-19 and its disruption of the flow of trade between countries has hit world economies hard, bringing various sectors to a near standstill across the globe. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), estimated an 18.5% decline in merchandise trade in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period last year 

At this time, preparedness, resilience, and adaptability have gained paramount importance in the global trade space. Countries must exhibit these qualities to recover, perhaps slowly but steadily, from the implications of the pandemic.

The UAE’s dynamic, robust business environment has served the country well during these trying times. As one of the most attractive global investment destinations and the third-largest re-export hub in the world, the UAE has taken prompt and effective measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on its trading sector. These include allocating a US$77 billion economic stimulus package by the government, in addition to a significant reduction in the cost of doing business, and the adoption of an extensive relief scheme by the banking sector to help borrowers facing cashflow shortage. 

As another notable step, the Ministry of Economy has set up an interactive online platform dedicated to assisting the business community in dealing with the impact of COVID-19. Apart from providing more clarity on the preventive and control measures that companies must follow to continue operating either from their offices or remotely, the platform presents a set of proposals and guidelines in accordance with best business practices.

We also recognized the utmost significance of a sustained trade flow in ensuring the availability of food and medical supplies and other essentials in the region. Despite movement restrictions, we maintained uninterrupted operations of logistical networks and air, land, and sea freight operations, in addition to capitalizing on the potential of the UAE’s leading logistics and port management companies that are located in more than 70 countries. 

It has now become abundantly clear that the global economy will require a major overhaul to meet the needs of the post-COVID-19 world. Therefore, our strategies to deal with the economic fallout of the pandemic are not just limited to offering assistance to affected sectors. We have placed an equal emphasis on proactive efforts to enhance the ability of vital sectors to cope with similar circumstances in the future, thereby making them more resilient. We are also focusing on new approaches and exploring ways to turn current challenges into opportunities that can drive sustainable future economic growth. These include digital transformation of most activities, promotion of skills needed for future jobs, and the integration of technology at every stage of production, which we believe is necessary to ensure business continuity under any circumstances.

Most recently, our government has launched the Fifty Economic Plan. It consists of 33 initiatives that are currently being implemented, with an aim to drive the fastest economic recovery in the world, and establish the country’s economy as the most stable and diversified in the long term.

The UAE’s resilience comes as no surprise. The country has long demonstrated a steadfast commitment to creating a competitive, attractive investment environment, backed by enabling legislation, low taxes, and state-of-the art infrastructure. 

Last year witnessed a significant step forward in this regard with the issuance of the Foreign Direct Investment Law and the implementation of the first Positive List that enables to 100 per cent foreign ownership in 122 selected economic activities. In addition, the country is among the 54 economies that have introduced at least 107 measures to promote, facilitate, and attract FDI to their markets.

As a result, the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade increased to US$464.3 billion in 2019, recording a 4.8 per cent growth compared to 2018.

In terms of global competitiveness in attracting FDI, the country assumes 24th position globally and first in Western Asia in 2019, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD’s) World Investment Report 2020. In 2019, the FDI inflow to the UAE amounted to US$13.8 billion, while the cumulative inward FDI and outward FDI reached US$154.1 billion and US$155.4 billion respectively. On the other hand, the total Emirati direct flows investments in foreign markets amounted to US$15.9 billion last year.

These figures only testify to the country’s strong focus on making inroads into new markets and attracting foreign investments. 

In addition to effectively leveraging its G20 membership, the UAE, along with several other world countries, supported international endeavours to strengthen the multilateral trading system through its endorsement of the Joint Ministerial Statement, an initiative by New Zealand and Singapore that aims to ensure supply chain connectivity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Solid bilateral and multilateral trade partnerships are instrumental to revitalizing world economies. With its wealth of investment opportunities and a safe, stable, and – most importantly – resilient business environment that is conducive to growth, the UAE is uniquely and distinctly positioned to become a leading partner in global economic recovery.

For further information 
Ministry of Economy, UAE: https://www.economy.gov.ae/English/ministry/pages/minister-of-state-for-foreign-trade.aspx

Russia’s strategic news in the Arctic

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Russia’s strategic news in the Arctic

By Domenico Letizia.

Among Russia’s strategic choices in the formulation of its Arctic policies, there is a willingness to become a regional leader in the production and the storage of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), circumventing the sanctions imposed by the United States and controlling the tanks that sail from Asia to Rotterdam crossing through the Nordic route. With this in mind, it is worrying to observe Russia’s military expansion in the region, with its fleet of vessels and submarines allotted by the Kremlin to the Arctic region. This fleet is today at its peak since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Delving into this issue, it should be recalled that Novatek’s Yamal Lng is Russia’s biggest LNG producer and that in 2018 it has already carried over 7 million tons of LNG for the European and Norwegian markets. At the end of June 2017, in the waters of the Kola Bay, a Gazprom subsidiary started drilling operations, using a Chinese fabrication platform able to explore at a depth of up to 1400 meters. Moreover, still in the Kola waters, “ArcticToday” media reported that in 2019 the Russian federal government plans to spend 965 million euros to build a major arctic terminal for LNG storage and recharge.

The project has been approved in April 2019 from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedv. According to the documents, the project should be ready in 2023 and it entails the construction of two floating storage facilities and a dock with all necessary coastal infrastructure. It should be noted that the announcement by the Russian institutions comes a few weeks after the approval of a similar project on the country’s Pacific coast, in Bechevinka, in the Kamchatka peninsula. The facilities will be useful not only for Novatek, but also for the formulation of new LNG-linked projects in the Arctic region.

Moreover, a second project, the Arctic LNG 2, is currently in its development phase and it is set to supply 18.9 million tons of material per year. The government’s documents do not clearly state where the new terminal will be built in the Kora peninsula, but Novatek has stated that it will be close to Ura Guba. The area hosts one of the most important naval bases of Russia’s Northern Fleet. Ura Guba is about 50 kilometers north-west of Murmansk. It has a deep fjord and throughout the whole year there is no ice, a feature that makes it one of the most important areas for navigation and the port logistics of the Kola peninsula.

In the local naval base there are different nuclear-propelled submarines, including the “Sierra II” and the “Victor III”. The construction of the new terminals will allow Novatek to reduce the transport costs of LNG. The tankers “Arc7”, set up as icebreakers and currently operating between Sabetta and Yamal, are very costly and the aim is to allow access also to normal tankers. With the construction of transshipment hubs, the “Arc7” tankers will be used in other areas and common tankers will collect the natural gas, sailing to reach Europe and serve the customers there. 

Since the end of 2018, Novatek has been busy with supplying LNG in the Norwegian fjord of Sarnes. With the new projects, the transfer operations will happen in Russian waters and this idea has been confirmed by Novatek’s administration through the declarations of Leonid Mikhlson. As Russia looks for partners operating outside of the scope of the EU and US sanctions but still able to deploy the same technological capacities, a common interest has developed between Russia and China, resulting in the start of a specific cooperation with Beijing aimed at the utilization of the Polar areas. 

In 2016, Russia’s Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency and China Oilfield Services Limited signed a cooperation agreement, according to which they are set to collaborate in the long term in the field of seismic surveillance at sea, both in Russia and abroad. The Arctic is becoming increasingly interesting both for the Russian Federation and for the emerging Chinese power, with new alliances that might even change the geopolitical scenario in the immediate future. 

Published for Opinione.it: http://www.opinione.it/economia/2019/05/02/domenico-letizia_russia-artico-gas-liquido-sanzioni-usa-yamal-lng-novatek-gazprom-dmitry-medvedev/

About the author:

Domenico Letizia Journalist. Radio speaker of “RadioAtene”. Researcher, publicist and social media manager of the “Water Museum of Venice”, member of the UNESCO World Network of Water Museums. Public relations manager of the Mediterranean Academy of Culture, Technology and Trade of Malta. Expert in geopolitics, green, blue economy, digital and agri-food.

Throwback to a powerful and timely HR message addressed to the citizens of the world

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Throwback to a powerful and timely HR message addressed to the citizens of the world

In the picture Professor Manfred Nowak.

By Nora Wolf.

We are on the 1st of July 2020; post-first wave of coronavirus across the globe, and already Vienna is holding a 3-panelled diplomatic forum with over 20 guest speakers. In fact, neither reflections on human rights enhancement, nor those on the current trends in international diplomacy were ever in lockdown. On the contrary, it would appear that the COVID pandemic has allowed for some important realisations amongst scholars, thus rendering this period prolific in that respect – despite an overwhelming tendency to blend everything with our sterile economies.

What is more, Manfred Nowak, Human Rights Professor at the University of Vienna, illustrates perfectly this last point through the inspirational speech he delivered for the first panel of this July conference.

Kicking it off by a comprehensive historical overview of the political, economic, legal and social turns of the global order since the coming out of WWII, Nowak provides us with a valuable perspective as to what milestones were achieved over the years, but also as to how we got to today in terms of contemporary challenges.

The aftermath of WWII and its atrocities is marked by the birth of the UN and a deep desire on the part of the international community to eradicate fascism and condemn wars, enhance living condition standards and promote equality as well as human dignity. In this context, cooperation between States and transnational institutions flourish, human rights are consecrated through numerous texts, and the very first international criminal trials are taking place.

As the 90s come about, in parallel to the expanding radiance of human rights coupled with that of international justice and ground-breaking peacekeeping actions, it is also – and especially – the time for infectious neoliberal endorsement. And whilst the new economic orientation induced stupendous growth and precious prosperity opportunity for the BRICS countries typically, it also designed a new landscape for the international order. Driven by big transnational corporations, technological advancement, financial markets coupled with deregulation and privatization processes, other democratic aspirations such as the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights for all were soon somewhat pushed to the side-lines.

Yet, this transition is crucial since the first ‘victim’ sacrificed at the hands of a free-market economy – and its gatekeeper institutions – was none other than social welfare. We should also note that the consequent undermining of social, economic and cultural rights, as well as that of civil and political rights to an extent, is not without link to the proliferation of armed conflicts in the last decades. The weakening of States phenomenon forms an important nexus with the loss of legitimacy, trust from the people and an increased general climate of insecurity making those States prone to cycles of violence.

When bringing together those facts and the current threat our entire kind is facing, namely the collapse of our environment entailing climate migration, exhaustion of resources and endangering of our specie (to which neoliberal politics contributed to), the picture emerging is simply overwhelmingly frightening. And if the 2008 economic crash didn’t tip off and alert the public vividly enough, perhaps the on-going sanitary crisis will serve as a much needed wake-up call.

From this experience, what we have learnt so far is that in the face of a health threat, too many States – or rather their internal governance – are not equipped to respond adequately whilst the cult of consumption and the race to profit are off sided. What we have learnt so far, is that the countries who decided to cut down on public health and security have struggled the most. What we have learnt so far, is that free markets cannot do anything in such event, but State intervention and control through informed and swift decision-making can. What we have learnt so far, is that strengthened cooperation is crucial in a world where many nations depend on specific delocalized industries. But what we have also learnt so far, is that it is possible to live differently and individually adopt ethical responsible conducts, thereby adapting to new priorities to safeguard our planet as well as our future generations.

Nowark’s verdict is clear, and his proposal in line with what the experts are foreseeing: neoliberal policies are no longer adapted to our reality and therefore they should make way for social market economy models, reflecting matching and relevant values. Those would be solidarity, equality and responsibility above all. What is more, international institutions and organisations need to facilitate that transition and use their influence and resources to become key-players in the making of this new order built on mutual trust and empowered political organs. We – the world – need(s) them mobilised in this movement of uniting nations in the pursuance of a pan-European social welfare sustainable society.

I, for one, cannot help but feel hopeful that this message will resonate with all like it did with me.

About the Author:

Nora Wolf

Nora Wolf, of Kingston University and of University of Geneva is an International Politics & Economics specialist.

Her expertise includes Human Rights, Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law in an inter-disciplinary fashion for the EU and the UN-related thinktanks and FORAs.

Reshaping the post-COVID-19 world from European multilevel governance and decentralized decision-making

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Reshaping the post-COVID-19 world from European multilevel governance and decentralized decision-making

By Bernat Solé i Barril, Minister for Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency at the Government of Catalonia.

Since its global outbreak in March, and almost without prior notice, COVID-19 paved the way for uncertainty. The crisis generated by the pandemic made constant change common, by transforming the way we live and work and creating countless effects from the near-collapse of healthcare systems to unemployment, inequality and growing public debt.

In such a context, citizens tend to turn their eyes to governments in search of solutions. But this logic reaction becomes particularly challenging in Europe, where multilevel governance prevails and multiple authorities exist at the local, regional, national, European and global levels.

Facing this crossroads, some governments choose to isolate themselves, as if today’s multipolar world was conformed of atomic entities left unaffected by decisions at the international level.  Quite the opposite. Troubling times teach us the need to move from unilaterality to common action to place citizens regardless of their age, gender, origin and economic situation at the centre of our policies.

The Government of Catalonia has always stressed the urgency to act in this direction. Committed to multilateralism and unambiguously pro-European, Catalonia has invariably pushed for the idea that action beyond the traditional local and national spheres is essential, fostering the presence of stateless nations, regions and cities in decentralized decision-making.

Bernat Solé i Barril, Minister for Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency at the Government of Catalonia.

In this sense, while EU leaders approved a new recovery plan for Europe (Next Generation EU) and a new Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027, amounting to a total of €1.82 trillion, national governments adopted a series of emergency measures to counter the pandemic’s impact, including loans, tax relief and cash grants. But what about regions?

The past 21 of July, the Government of Catalonia approved an Economic Reactivation and Social Protection Plan entrenched in the long-term goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the European Green Deal and the Digital Europe program.

The plan contains 20 projects and 145 actions that give an effective and transversal response to the COVID-19 crisis, aiming at reinforcing the region’s welfare state and productive capacity, reducing its heightened social inequalities and accelerating the transition to a more digital, sustainable and resilient economy.

Amounting to a total of 31.765 M€, the plan mainly comprises immediate measures to mitigate the crisis’ effects, such as emergency plans to protect employment and innovation in the health sector, further grants to cover the basic needs of the most vulnerable, and a digital education plan to make citizens digitally literate. But there’s more – it also contains long-term strategical actions, pointing towards a thorough transformation of the agri-food industry or achieving climate neutrality and sustainable mobility.

For instance, transparency and communication are at the plan’s core. During lockdowns, our Government held more than 50 press conferences to inform the population of new infections and restrictive measures, while a specific portal within its Open Government website included 37 sets of open data on unemployment benefits, emergency contracts, waste generation and the use of public transport.

And the efforts did not stop here. We also stressed the importance of sharing experiences and cooperating with equivalent actors, agreeing with various European regions in the common will to overcome the COVID-19 crisis from regional positions and defend the role of regions in managing EU funds.

This finally led us to establish a platform of 14 regions (so far) for the exchange of good practices, initiatives and projects as well as to adopt common ideological stances in front of national governments, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions or other networks at the European level.

Only five months ago, COVID-19 wiped out the world we knew and pushed us to an uncertain reality. But it is now up to all of us to reshape this uncertainty through both short and long-term strategic actions within all layers of European multilevel governance that examine the mistakes of the past to make our system more sustainable and resilient to the disruptions of the post-COVID-19 future.

OPCW Executive Council Chairmanship in Pandemic Times

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OPCW Executive Council Chairmanship in Pandemic Times

The Ambassador of El Salvador, H.E. Mr. Agustin Vasquez Gomez.

H.E. Mr. Agustín Vásquez Gómez, Ambassador of the Republic of El Salvador, assumed the Chairmanship of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on 12 May 2020 for a term of one year, facing in the middle of the pandemic, as different multilateral organizations have done around the world, the challenge of continuing to carry out their work effectively by keeping the health and safety of all participants from the States Parties, as well as the members of the OPCW staff, as a high priority.  

Recognizing the main responsibility ahead, the Chairperson communicated the States Parties that “the conditions set worldwide and in the host country to prevent the spread of the virus will require creative and innovative approaches and practices, in order to fulfill as much as possible the mandates delegated by the Convention and by the Conference of States Parties to the Executive Council”.

Coordination among the Director General, the Bureau members representing each of the regional groups and the Chairperson, has been a paramount for achieving success on procedural matters. In many respects, the Organization was not prepared to manage a scenario whereby a safety distance has to be observed among participants, many thematic and substantive consultations have to be developed through virtual means and six languages live streaming have to be ensured, among others.

Along with a very professional Technical Secretariat team, planning started considering all available options and keeping ahead, as supreme aim, three main premises: first, health and safety of all participants have to be observed at all times, second, all measures adopted and recommend by the host country authorities must be fulfilled and third, either modality to be proposed must comply with the letter of the Convention and the rules of procedure of the Executive Council, leaving no space for interpretation.

To compress all of the above in one efficient formula ahead, a great number of consultations were developed, not just internally with the different divisions of the Technical Secretariat, but also with all States Parties through the valuable support of the Bureau members, in order to ensure full transparency of the process and that all participants would be talking and understanding the same language.

Understanding the complexity of the pandemic context but also the nature of the topics to be discussed at the Executive Council level, the Chairperson encouraged all States Parties to put in practice the following working principles: a permanent search for consensus, keeping objectivity based on the letter of the Convention and the decisions of the policy-making organs, as well as a genuine effort to address all issues with full transparency and good faith, having mutual respect, and overcoming the divergence of views through dialogue, common understanding and a collective quest for reasonable and consistent solutions, in line with the object and purpose of the Convention.

The 94th session of the Executive Council was held from 7 to 9 July 2020. The modality and measures adopted in view of the pandemic demonstrated that the right decision was taken. Nevertheless, aware that there is always room for improvement, the Bureau members along with the Director General, held afterwards an assessment meeting of the different activities carried out before and during the 94th EC session. A number of lessons learned and good practices were identified, which undoubtedly will be a worth source of knowledge and experience in the future. 

While preparing this article in early September, Ambassador Vásquez Gómez was already conducting consultations in view of the 95th session of the Executive Council to be held during the first week of October 2020. Unfortunately, the conditions related to the pandemic have not fully improved to consider holding the meeting under normal circumstances. However, there is a previous experience that constitutes a safe path to follow in view of preparing the States Parties encounter and accomplishing the delicates tasks of such important body within the Organization.

The world is changing and so are we. Many things in our daily life must adapt to new conditions. This is not the first global challenge in history but it is probably the one that has affected the life we knew the most simultaneously and globally. Having had this experience in the Chairmanship of the OPCW Executive Council, the 2020 – 2021 Executive Council Chairperson can conclude that every challenge in life is an opportunity to build new horizons, improving the most our personal and collective prospects. Together as world citizens, we will overcome the pandemic, renewed and strengthened.

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Photography by Naldo Peverelli for Diplomat Magazine.

Cuba developing Covid-19 vaccine

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Cuba developing Covid-19 vaccine

Cuba is the single country in the Caribbean and Latin America region recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the development of an possibly effective vaccine against the Covid-19 virus.

There are more than 200 candidates on trial for a vaccine, however, merely 30 countries, including Cuba, have been authorized by the WHO to go into the second phase with clinical trials.

The vaccine is being developed by the Finlay de Vacunas Institute. The vaccine has already been administered to the institute’s director and vice-director. In the space of three months, Cuba has succeeded in developing a vaccine, despite the brutal economic embargo under which it is subjected.

The name for the vaccine is Soberana (Finlay-FR-1). The name is based upon two foundations of the Cuban Revolution, namely sovereignty and solidarity. “By this we want to make it clear to the world that Cuba has the fortitude and reason to sustain its revolution and that, despite the economic embargoes, the country shall not surrender.” said one of the doctors working in the process.

Cuba has a very long tradition of excellent health care. As early as 1959, Commander Fidel Castro decided to make education and health more efficient and effective. In addition, Cuba has already developed a number of vaccines against tropical diseases. Therefore the country has expertise in virology, biology and diseases globally. 

Cuba’s top health care is not self-evident. Scientific research costs time and money. Cuba suffers under an economic embargo that has lasted for more than 50 years. A year after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, as many as 50% of Cuban doctors left the country. At that time, Cuba had to ask itself some existential questions and decided to devote its limited and scarce economic resources in mass  education and health care.

More than 40% of GDP goes to the fields of education and health care. In 1959 there were only three universities in Cuba. Thirty per cent of the population was illiterate. Nowadays there is no illiteracy in Cuba and universities have been established in almost all provinces. Between 30% and 40% of the Cuban population have a master’s degree from a university.

Their Faculty of Medicine moreover provides scholarships to students from other Latin American countries. There are students arriving from all over the world to study medicine in Cuba. In fact, every year, Cuba gives ten or so scholarships to students from poor neighbourhoods in the USA. 

For further information:
https://www.finlay.edu.cu

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