Intervention by Steven van Hoogstraten, CEO Hague Institute,  before the Human Rights Committee of the Liberal International, at the “Europa Huis”. Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen Many thanks for the invitation to come and speak before your parliamentary committee this morning on behalf of the Hague Institute for Global Justice. In the words of the former Mayor of the Hague, the liberal politician Jozias van Aartsen, “the Hague Institute for Global justice was established 5 years ago in response to a growing demand for policy relevant research and innovative thinking on critical issues of peace and justice. Today the Institute plays a key role in informing the work of cities, governments and international organizations by conducting research, building capacity and convening scholars and practitioners to discuss solutions to contemporary global challenges”. Mr. chairman Global Justice is what we call in this country a “container notion” , a notion that does cover many things for many people. In other words, it is not a one dimensional concept but it brings together many issues under the umbrella of an attractive, overriding theme. Issues of global justice are indeed ranging from the individual responsibility of military commanders to the conduct of states, from migration to mediation, from crimes to humanity to the greatest needs of humanity. At the Hague Institute for Global Justice, we tend to use a framework which is composed of 4 different objectives or 4 dimensions

• The first is enhancing accountability for perpetrators of international crimes.
• The second is the promotion of the Rule of Law notably in fragile states.
• The third is the effort to improve Global Governance.
• The fourth is the prevention and resolution of Conflict.

Justifiably, there might be more of these axes, such as the fight against illicit trade, human trafficking or the widespread pandemic of corruption. But at this more strategic level we should not complicate matters too much, and so stick to this first set of 4 already wide ranging perspectives. You will note that the protection of human rights is not defined as one of the 4 axes. That is because in our view, the problem of Global Justice is primarily one of the ethical and legal behavior of states, of the judiciary or official institutions. Human Rights are in this perspective an intertwining concept, one that does not come directly to the forefront. Global Justice basically seeks to improve the conditions for the population at large, and that of course means the enhancement of the position of individuals too. The Rule of Law presupposes the establishment of democratic institutions, which do their work properly and can be held to account. These institutions may or may not step on the line of human rights, which then is easily a lesser consideration in the light of the greater objective of societies which are stable and which know an internal system of checks and balances. One may criticize China for its record on Human Rights, but it knows what governance is and there is more than a hint that the Chinese governance is acceptable at the world stage. It is no overstatement to say that the city of the Hague is well placed to work for Global Justice, as this city is working for Peace and Justice according to its coat of arms. The Hague is the home to so many judicial institutions. The International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ICTY are the most visible examples. But there is more. What to think of the oldest institution for the settlement of disputes by arbitration, the Permanent Court of Arbitration – which has a pretty large agenda these days. Or the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and another special tribunal for Kosovo ? For many people, the enhanced accountability for crimes is clearly at the top of list, if we talk about Global Justice. No person should go unpunished, if he or she commits the worst conceivable attacks. Still, this is primarily a matter for national concern, as is shown by the constitution of the International Criminal Court. The ICC comes into play only if national jurisdictions are incapable or unwilling to prosecute the crimes themselves. We are all aware of the weaknesses of the ICC, namely (1) the procedures are slow, (2) there seems to be an emphasis on Africa – for whatever reason – and (3) many nations have not yet signed up to the ICC, including the most powerful ones. But if Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Argentina, South Africa and all the European nations can be part of ICC, we are justified in asking why Russia, China, India and the US are not. And if we place a historical lens before our eyes it is still early days, as the ICC has merely had its first 10 years. Still there is a lot to improve and notably the efficiency and speed of bringing justice. The case of the prosecution launched at the request of Kenya is a horror example like no other, but it would be hard to blame only the Court for that. The killing of important witnesses is not attributable to a court of law, if you understand what I say. I think that the Prosecutor made an important announcement when she said that she had opened proceedings in Afghanistan. That will go some distance to take away the so called anti African sentiments Incidentally, the improvement of accountability is not just a matter for International Courts to be established. If we look to Syria, it is obvious for me that a legal mechanism of international criminal law will not quickly be created to deal with the crimes of this long-lasting and bloody internal war. All the more reason to applaud the decision by the General Assembly to create a monitoring mechanism called the IIIM, or commonly the triple I M, the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism whose primary aim it is to collect evidence and document the war crimes since 2011 in Syria. Not a prosecutorial system, but an important helping hand to support a future prosecution if it ever came to that. (Resolution nr A/71/248 dd 19 December 2016) . According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, “this new mechanism is a very significant step to further accountability”. Global governance At The Hague Institute for Global Justice, a lot of our work is related to the architecture of global governance. This concerns of course mainly the United Nations, whose Charter and institutional setup still reflect the political situation of the Post World War II period; but also other important building blocks of global governance, including the development and promotion of new norms, the role of regional organizations as supporting pillars of the global order, and specific sectorial regimes. Concerning this overarching architecture, I would like to point to the Commission on Global Security, Justice and Governance, which was co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister Ibrahim Gambari, and for which The Hague Institute and the Stimson Center in Washington DC served as the joint secretariat. It culminated in the Commission’s final report entitled Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance, which was launched at the Peace Palace here in The Hague in June 2015. Some commentators may have found that the title was “too gloomy”, but the system is often seen as blocked by national interests. It should be borne in mind that the recommendations are intended for the 75^th birthday of the United nations in 2020. To attract some attention, one needs a spicy title and pickled proposals. This World Commission introduced the notion of “Just Security”, the intersection of justice and security which is critical to understanding – and tackling – today’s global governance threats and challenges. Justice is essential to safeguarding human security. A just society is an illusions without security. The goal of Just Security is to forge a global system of accountable, fair, and effective governance and sustainable peace. This vision is rooted in long standing international commitments to human rights, international law, and the critical role of flexible and evolving multilateral institutions, states and NGO’s in global governance. Among several other recommendations , this World Commission aimed to create the next generation for the UN conflict mediation and peace operations capacity, to innovate climate governance, to establish a new G 20 + for global cooperation in order to avert financial, cross border shocks and to work on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to develop a global network of cybercrime centers next to increasing internet access in the Global South. The Commission also saw great merit in expanding the Security Council’s membership while restraining the use of the veto. Finally and importantly for the Hague, the World Commission wishes to strengthen and more fully use the International Court of Justice, by expanding the number of acceptances of this Curt’s jurisdiction and use its advisory opinions in innovative ways. You may know that only 73out of 195 countries in the world accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ as a matter of national policy. The Dutch are among those who do, like most European nations. But not the French, who backed out after the Nuclear Test Case. And not the USA, nor Russia, or China and so many others. Last but certainly not least, we understand that global justice cannot be only promoted by norms and strategies alone, but also through well-functioning institutions and implementation on the ground. A good example of this is the Global Governance Reform Initiative (GGRI). The GGRI is a collaboration between The Hague Institute, The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Observer Research Foundation, India’s leading think tank. It seeks to analyze the deficiencies in salient regimes and proposes evidence-based policies for improving governance in select domains. Moreover, it looks at emerging patterns and how innovations in one sector can foster solutions in others as well. As a multi-year, multi-phase project, it focused first on cyber governance, with its findings feeding directly into the India Conference on Cyber Security and Cyber Governance in 2014 and the Global Conference on Cyber Space held in The Hague in April 2015. Subsequently, the project’s attention turned to oceans governance, in particular concerning blue growth and sustainable development. The findings from this phase were presented at the Oceans Dialogue 2017 in Kerala, India, a conference organized by the ORF in partnership with the Dutch government. The project’s current and final phase homes in on its politically most contentious topic: Migration governance, with a particular emphasis on using regional cooperation as a way to manage the pressures created by migration and refugee flows, not just in Europe but also in other world regions. Through its expert meeting and online consultations, the project is designed in such a way that it absorbs input from all relevant stakeholder groups, including business and civil society, as well as perspectives from the Global North and South, in particular the BRICS countries. In a similar vein, the deliverables that GGRI produces are designed to speak not just to academic but a range of different audiences. For instance, while each phase produces a special issue of articles in the leading, interdisciplinary academic journal Global Policy, a compact policy brief provides practitioners with the main take-away and reform proposals for each phase, while op-eds and blog posts address the wider, interested public. Mr. Chairman You have asked me to look into the future of the international justice system. May I say that such broad question is easier asked than answered. What I can say from my experience that the international justice system is now rather well developed, but still ailing from one serious illness. That illness is that so many countries have not accepted as yet the jurisdiction of either the International Court of justice or the Rome statute of the ICC, or the arbitration rules of the PCA. I refer to the arbitration case under the UN Convention for the law of the Sea about the South Chines Sea, between the Philippines and China. China did not accept this arbitration and simply refused to come to the proceedings. In the same vein I note that still so many countries are outside the mandate of the International Criminal Court. One can see the importance of the work of the ICTY, an institution which has passed judgement on the main “names “ of the war in Yugoslavia in roughly 20 years. The recent decision of the ICTY on general Mladic after 500 court days is a strong example. But the process of international justice is painstakingly slow, and especially the International Criminal Court has not yet a record to show with pride. My view of the future of the international justice system is that the call for justice will not diminish, and that the core principle of ‘no safe havens for crimes committed” will stand strong. This by itself will allow for new forms of justice systems to come into place, like the investigation mechanism for Syria. But we all know what is needed for that, and notably that is a form of consensus in the Security Council. Sometimes the window of the Security Council will open briefly, but most of the times this window stays shut. Locked by some veto of one of the powers. That is a flaw in the UN system, where a global reform is urgently called for . Like the report on global governance mentioned, why not abolish the veto rule for situations where mass violations of human rights are at the heart of the debate. That would be a small but highly significant step forward. ***          

Diplomat Magazine, the first diplomatic magazine in the Netherlands, is more active than ever. One need only look back at our recent successes, including the innumerable events organised by the magazine in the last five months, the special 10th Anniversary issue for the embassy of Rwanda, the development of the magazine into a leading online publication with hundreds of thousands of readers, and now this special printed edition.   Inside the microcosm of The Hague, the picture of the world is composed of unique elements. In terms of international politics The Hague is different; here diplomats live in an exceptional territory, meeting regularly in order to find agreements, support, alliances and information. The diplomatic scene is so alive here that it becomes possible to see the world as a place of hope for the future. That is the magic of The Hague, and that’s why we are always busy looking for the best angle to show our readers the diversity and the intensity of diplomatic life.  Diplomat Magazine became global after passing all of its articles to the Dow Jones / Factiva platform where more than 1.3 million subscribers have access to the unique compendium of texts produced by ambassadors, ministers, diplomats, heads of international organisations and academics from the Benelux and around the world. We are also traveling to capture events and places globally; recently invited to Kazakhstan, Thailand and Uzbekistan, we share here with you our impressions of the Astana Expo, the Health and Wellness Showcase in Thailand and the Festival Taurami in Marken.  In this issue we have the privilege to publish the reflections of Sidiki Kaba, President of the Assembly of the State Parties for the International Criminal Court, on international justice and accountability, Dr Mary Aiken talks about cyberspace, Martin Wyss exposes the European migration dilemma, the Ambassador of Russia communicates his pride at his country’s completion of their chemical disarmament program in association with the OPCW, while women Ambassadors in The Hague are discussing global security with the Dutch Ambassador to the UN. A dear friend is leaving The Hague soon; more than 50 ambassadors came to say ‘au revoir’ to Abir Ali from Lebanon, Duke Michael of Mecklenburg, our Junior Editor and leader of our Junior Team, finished his Master of International Relations programme at Leiden University, Barend ter Haar is asking which countries are powerful? and Mirko Zambeti talk about new Swiss technologies. The role of the spouse is analysed by Linda Zin of Malaysia, and the new President of Eurojust, Ladislav Hamran takes office at the same time as Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his new cabinet which includes an appointment of special importance to all of us, the appointment of H.E. Halbe Zijlstra as the new Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs. We take this occasion to specially congratulate His Excellency Fernando Arias, Ambassador of Spain who has been elected as the new OPCW Director-General.  Thanks to the Diplomatic team for all of their unconditional support and hard work as always. Dr Mayelinne De Lara, Publisher.      

On the picture portrait and works of Jin Yong. Chinese martial arts, often named under the umbrella term of wushu or kung fu, involve exercising the mind as well as the body, a strenuous and continued effort devoted to one’s pursuit.

This resonates with the Hong Kong spirit – strive for perfection, never give up, and at the same time, be skillful and flexible in facing challenges. Wuxia literature has a long history. Xia were soldiers originally fighting for one of the contending Warring States, who later became knights-errant of the common people, fighting against injustice and corruption.

The genre was revived in Hong Kong in the 1950s and flourished there, alongside the cinema it inspired. Louis Cha published his first martial arts novel, The Book and the Sword, in 1955 under the pen name Jin Yong. It was a huge success and he went on to write a total of 14 novels and one short story which have deeply influenced the popular culture of Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan and Macao. The Hong Kong Heritage Museum honoured Dr Cha by opening a Jin Yong Gallery earlier this year (www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/en).    

                            Dr Alfred Kellermann. EU Project “Further Strenghtening of the Bi-Cameral Parliamentary System and Communications between the Parliament and the Regional Assemblies in Uzbekistan”. By Dr Alfred Kellermann. In October 2012 I was involved as Team Leader in Uzbekistan in an EU Project which had the objective “To support the current process of reforms and further democratisation in Uzbekistan by modernising the Uzbek Parliament and reinforcing its relationship with society.” Objective 1 – Capacity building was to increase the effectiveness of the legislative process and to reinforce the parliamentary mechanisms for monitoring law implementation at different levels in line with EU and international best practices combined with national experience and parliamentary traditions . Objective 2 – Networking to create an information / communication network that will ensure continuous and clear interaction between the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis, the Jokargy Kenes (Parliament of the Republic of Karakalpakstan) and local Kengashes of people deputies. Objetive 3 – Public Awareness increasing at Uzbek society for the role and functioning of the Parliament, improving public and NGO Participation and involvement in discussing draft legislation at different stages. The results of the three objectives were more or less realized in 2014. Full integration of Uzbekistan into the International and EU legal order poses a number of tasks for the Chamber of Legislation and Senate in Uzbekistan. Some of these tasks have to be implemented in the near future. The First contractual relationship of Uzbekistan with EU, the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) signed on 21 June 1996 in Florence, came into force on July first 1999. In accordance with Article 83 PCA, a Parliamentary Cooperation Committee for PCA and Association was established. Since the entry info force of the Lisbon Treaty, many new developments took place which were of interest for this parliamentary project for example the new role of the national Parliaments (Art. 12 EU). Strengthening the capacities of the Chamber of Legislation and Senate of Uzbekistan to monitor the Approximation of the Uzbek legislation with International Conventions and EU acquit according to Article 42 PCA was one of the priorities. Since January 2005 the Parliament consists of two chambers: the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (Lower House) and the Senate of the Oliy Majlis (Upper House). The Senate is the highest legislative body of territorial representatives . It consists of 100 Senators and represents 12 viloyats (regions) of Uzbekistan, the city of Tashkent and the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The Legislative Chamber consists of 150 Deputies with a right of legislative initiative, elected from various electoral disctricts based on a Multi-party system. The Republic of Karakalpakstan is an integral part of the Republic of Uzbekistan, with 1,5 million inhabitants and covers approximately one third of Uzbekistan’s territory. Jokargy Kenes is the unicameral Parliament of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and has 86 deputies. Plans towards building a democratic state respectful for the rule of law, Human rights and participative civil society have been prepared during the period of the EU project. These developments together with an action plan for future reforms have been presented in a “Concept of further deepening for democratic reforms and establishing the civil society in the country”drafted in late 2010. In a Keynote Speech of the President on 14.9.2012 the level and quality of training of specialists was raised as a top priority of state policy. Uzbekistan’s new President Shavkat Mirziyoyev elected on December 4, 2016 says he wants his country to finally move on from Soviet era policies and economics. This has as a consequence that in the near future the objectives and results of the EU project of 2012 will be enlarged and will continue to have its effects for new reforms! ——– Dr Alfred Kellermann, Team Leader 2012 in Uzbekistan. The EU integration of Uzbekistan’s full project is available in the Chamber of Legislation and Senate of Uzbekistan.  Dr Kellerman is a Professor in European Law. Institution Building Expert.    

Naseeb Mfinanga, Donna Duggan and family. Maasai Wanderings and Nasikia Camps Tanzania  announce Advisors and Executive nominees Leading African tourism companies Maasai Wanderings and Nasikia Tented Camps (Tanzania) have released the companies’ first public statement following the tragic loss of Managing Director and Co-Founder Mr Naseeb Mfinanga. Mr Mfinanga was one of 11 people who lost their lives on 15 November, 2017 when a Cessna 208B  Grand Caravan aircraft operated by Coastal Aviation was involved in an accident which took place above the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in northern Tanzania. Mr Mfinanga’s brother Shatri Mfinanga and the company’s graphics specialist Gift Lema also lost their lives in the incident.

An investigation to ascertain the cause of the accident is being conducted by Tanzania’s Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication.  The operator Coastal Aviation has also commissioned independent air investigators. Ms Duggan is also being advised by a leading law firm, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Inc. (ENSafrica), via its offices in Dar es Salaam, on the process of the continued operations of Nasikia Camps and Maasai Wanderings as well as the accident investigations referred to above.

The following highly respected persons will also work closely with Ms Duggan during this period:     • Mr Andrew Shapland of Tourism Corporation Africa Ltd and The Roving Ambassador GTC (Pty) Ltd, in the role of Business Development, reporting to Ms Duggan.   • Mr Stefan le Roux, South African Attorney and Solicitor of The Supreme Court of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, will act as legal advisor to ensure the best interests of Mr Mfinanga’s wife and family.

• Mr Johann Lombard in the role  of Sales and Camp Development.  Mr Lombard has a deep understanding of the groups’ values, products, philosophy and vision as well as extensive expertise in guide skill development, camp construction, infrastructure and operations. • Mr Charles Mwanisawa former General Manager of KasKaz Mara Camp,  will head Operations to oversee standards of excellence in all camps and locations. Formation of the ‘Naseeb Mfinanga Memorial Trust’ Co-Founder and joint Managing Director of Maasai Wanderings Limited and co-founder of Nasikia Camps (Nasikia Tanzania Ltd) Donna Duggan, has announced the formation of  ‘The Naseeb Mfinanga Memorial Trust’ to be incorporated in the Republic of South Africa. “Through the Naseeb Mfinanga Memorial Trust, we will honour my husband and continue the work which was so important to us both – helping those in need in our communities and across Tanzania, with particular emphasis on preservation, conservation, youth empowerment and education,”  Ms Duggan said.

   

Special Representative for Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs to the EU, Ms Shirley Lam, with the fastest team at the Oxfam Trailwalker. As one of its initiatives to mark the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s 20th anniversary, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) brought 20 young people from Hong Kong to participate in the 100-kilometre Oxfam Trailwalker challenge in Belgium’s High Fens around Eupen on 26-27 August. The challenge consists in teams of four walkers having to complete a 100km trek in no more than 30 hours. Although it is now a worldwide event that takes place in nine countries over four continents, the first Trailwalker was first held in Hong Kong in 1981 as a Gurkha training exercise, before it was taken over by Oxfam in 1997.

In view of this special link, HKETO, Brussels was happy to sponsor the event. The 20 young people, all 20 years old, the same age as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, successfully completed the arduous trek, showing the true Hong Kong “can do” spirit. In addition to the five teams of young people, seven Hong Kong adult teams also “Walked the Hong Kong Spirit”, including “Fearless Dragon”, a team of walkers with disabilities. There was also a shorter VIP walk. The Belgian team that raised the largest sum of money for charity was invited to take part in the Oxfam Trailwalker in Hong Kong on 17-19 November 2017. During their week-long visit, the group of twenty-year-olds learnt more about Belgium and the EU through a series of briefings on topics ranging from youth policies to climate change. They were taken on guided tours to major sites, including World War I locations and the battlefield of Waterloo. The group also visited a project in Boom near Antwerp, where De Steenschuit offers traineeships to people who have been unemployed for at least one year.

In 2013, it started the construction of a replica of the RV Belgica, a wooden three-mast ship in which famous Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache sailed to the South Pole on an international expedition of discovery in 1897. Once it is completed, the New Belgica will take part in tall ship events and take pride of place in Antwerp’s new Museum for Maritime Heritage, to be opened in the docks in 2023. The project is supported among others by funds raised at the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Antwerp, organised by Rotary Club Antwerp West and supported by HKETO, Brussels.    

By Corneliu Pivariu. During the last 20 years we witnessed numerous “calligraphy exercises” or exercises directly on the map as far as the possible developments in the Middle East were concerned, some of them worth paying attention to, mainly through the authors’ prism and the interests behind them and less through any practical elements they suggested. Here we are 100 years later after the Balfour Declaration (2nd of November, 2017) and the developments after the two World Wars and the end of the Cold War foreshadow the continuation of an incertitude and conflict situation in this area. If after the fall of Berlin Wall it seemed that the Middle East evolved gradually toward stability following the Peace Treaty between Jordan and Israel and some minor positive evolutions of the Palestinian problem, here it came 2006 which marked a dangerous development for Israel in its conflict with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and later on we were witnessing the so-called “Arab Spring” which, in fact, triggered a storm not only in the Middle East but also in North Africa. It created not only a state of instability but also it sent profound reverberations especially in Europe where the migrants/refugees crisis continues. And all these on the background of a still undecided struggle in a globalising world whereby the Middle East still represents an important geopolitical stake. If we simplify a little the situation, a solution for normalizing the actual state of affairs in the Middle East might be represented by setting on new bases the relations among the four of the most important countries (in alphabetical order): Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Israel’s acceptance of the evolutions in this regard as well as solving the Palestinian problem. An especially first important condition for a start of the solution being possible is that of achieving a Sunni-Shia reconciliation, which would mean an important step toward normalizing the relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Such an achievement, followed by a series of political and economic steps for cementing and developing these relations could create the conditions for a new development of the cooperation among the Gulf countries, for stabilizing the situation in Yemen as well as positive evolutions in Iraq, a particularly important country for the Middle East. Egypt, which ever since the last part of Mubarak regime played an ever dull role in the Middle East in comparison with its geopolitical size, importance and position and having diplomatic relations with Israel, could contribute to a greater extent to a durable solution in case it solves the serious economic and social problems it is confronted with and will improve its relations with Iran, Turkey and even with Saudi Arabia. In its relationship with Turkey, the leadership in Cairo should overcome the episode of the support Ankara extended to the former president Mohammad Morsi. Turkey is an important regional player still in the ascendance, yet confronted with domestic problems of a political and social nature, with the Kurdish movement of independency and, no less important, dependent on foreign financing for implementing its ambitious programs of economic development. Turkey is also dependent on the import of energy resources (especially crude oil and gas from Russia and Iran), as well as on the relations with these countries, to which China should be added. The manner in which the conflict in Syria will be solved has a particular importance for Ankara and in this respect it is interesting to follow the developments in Idlib area. We think that the development of the relations between Ankara and Riyadh might be of great importance. Tehran should renounce exporting the Islamic revolution and the project of the Shiite crescent, to achieve a greater economic regional and global opening and to decide as well if it wants to be a nuclear or a geopolitical power. To say nothing of the policy in relationship with Israel. Here it is, very briefly, why we believe that such a solution is an utopian one and, at least for the next two or three decades, we do not contemplate an evolution toward stability in the Middle East. ———– About the author: Corneliu Pivariu, former first deputy for military intelligence (two stars general) in the Romanian MoD, retired 2003. Member of IISS – London, alumni of Harvard – Kennedy School Executive Education and others international organizations. Founder of INGEPO Consulting, and bimonthly Bulletin, Geostrategic Pulse”. Main areas of expertise – geopolitics, intelligence and security. ————— Photographer: Ionus Paraschiv.