domenica, Ottobre 13, 2024

I CONFINI PLANETARI

FOCUS

June 24, 2022. By Tom Cernev, The Interpreter. In 2009, academics Johan Rockström, Will Steffen and colleagues proposed an idea well beyond the geopolitical concept of borders. What they described was the notion of planetary boundaries – a representation of the environment and the overall health of earth systems. They outlined a safe operating space for humanity and warned of immutable environmental tipping points at which potentially dire consequences will present themselves if the planetary boundaries are crossed. A minute to midnight: reversing environmental tipping points

AROUND THE WORLD

Africa

Australia

Bangladesh

  • June 25, 2022. By  Prarthana Sen, Sohini Bose, Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury, ORF. Ushering in a new era of Bangladesh’s connectivity, the Padma Setu (bridge) is being inaugurated on 25 June, by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. The Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project (PMBP) is a multipurpose rail-road bridge over the Padma River- the downstream part of the Ganges after it enters Bangladesh territory. The main bridge spanning 6.15 kilometres is the largest bridge in the country and the second-largest in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This project is deemed as one of the most innovative yet most challenging developmental projects in the country’s history. In today’s day and age when competing connectivity strategies and investments throng the markets of South Asia, this ‘dream project’ has been funded entirely by the Government of Bangladesh. It is, therefore, important to analyse how it benefits Bangladesh; whether it strengthens the country’s ties with its neighbourhood, and in doing so, does it have the potential to help the incumbent Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government win the upcoming 2023 elections. Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project: Promise of a rising Bangladesh

Bangsamoro (Philippines)

  • June 27, 2022. By Maria Vida Gomez, Sutayut Osornprasop, World Bank blogs. As the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) moves towards full autonomy in 2025 it needs to continue prioritizing health sector reform. Currently the region has some of the poorest health outcomes in the Philippines, but the Bangsamoro government, with assistance from the World Bank, is working on a master plan that will support a stronger health sector and advance their commitment to universal health coverage. Master plan for Universal Health Coverage in Bangsamoro

Cameroon

  • June 27, 2022. By HRW. Armed separatist fighters have killed at least seven people, injured six others, raped a girl, and committed other grave human rights abuses across Cameroon’s Anglophone regions since January 2022, Human Rights Watch said today. In an uptick of violence, the separatists have also burned at least 2 schools, attacked a university, kidnapped up to 82 people, including 33 students and 5 teachers, and threatened and beat 11 students. Cameroon: Separatist Abuses in Anglophone Regions

Indonesia

  • June 25, 2022. By Raissa Richka Jonah and Trigaya Ahimsa, East Asia Forum. In line with the Indonesian government’s goal to build a strong financial sector, the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) recently enacted regulation concerning Consumer and Public Protection in the Financial Services Sector (POJK 6 of 2022). The POJK came into force on 18 April 2022, but micro-financial institutions are exempted for the next five years. Indonesia’s financial sector needs more consumer protection
  • June 24, 2022. By Stania Puspawardhani, The Interpreter. Nazanin Ali walked stylishly in the Westin Hotel Jakarta lounge. Wearing a black hat and collared shirt, she exhibited the “Makaila Haifa” brand of clothing to the invited guests this week at the World Refugee Day gala. Alongside another nine refugees, Ali also spoke, sharing her experiences as an Afghan having fled her home and living in Indonesia for the last seven years, saying she was happy to be involved in this project as modelling and fashion has always been her passion. Still, a rare moment of glamour aside, life as a refugee is often one of hardship. “As a refugee, I cannot work, I cannot go to school, I cannot own property or open a bank account,” Ali said. Years of living statelessly: refugees in Indonesia

Indo – Pacific

  • June 25, 2022. By Premesha Saha, ORF. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) was launched by United States (US) President Biden in Tokyo on May 23, 2022. The IPEF has four pillars: Trade; supply chains; clean energy, decarbonisation and infrastructure; tax and anti-corruption. Except Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, other Southeast Asian nations are a part of the IPEF. It is a good start in the sense, that in spite of this initiative being launched on the sidelines of a Quad summit, most Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries did agree to be a part of it, despite their fears that mechanisms like the Quad impinge on Asean centrality. IPEF allows Asian countries – 13 in all – to sign on to individual initiatives without fully participating in all of them. It is much less clear if it is a complete strategy or an adequate policy package to counter China’s gains in the economic sphere in Asia. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF): An Asean perspective

Jamaica

Japan

  • June 27, 2022. By East Asia Forum. Japan is shrinking and ageing. The population fell by 618,000 last year and Japan’s society is the oldest in the world with almost 30 per cent of the population aged over 65. In 15 years that share will be one-third. There are 80,000 centenarians and the number is growing. Reform nowhere to be found in a shrinking Japan
  • June 26, 2022. By Richard Katz, East Asia Forum. For six long months, the Kishida administration, aided by outside advisors from universities and new companies, toiled to translate Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s mantra of a ‘new form of capitalism’ into concrete policies. The rather hollow end product that the Cabinet approved on 7 June 2022 disappointed many of the participants. Kishida retreats from new capitalism
  • June 26, 2022. By Toshiya Takahashi, East Asia Forum. While the Japanese media were occupied by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Japan’s economic security bill passed without strong opposition in the Diet in May 2022. Reflecting increasing concerns about China’s trade obstructionism and economic espionage, the bill outlines measures to defend Japanese supply chains, infrastructure and leading technology. But the new security policy will have uncertain effects on Japanese security and business. Japan’s economic security bill a balance betweeen business and the bureaucracy

Kyrgyzstan

  • June 24, 2022. By World Bank blogs. The World Bank Group is joining forces with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and development partners to deliver an ambitious energy reform program which was showcased at the Bishkek International Energy Forum in April 2022. Naveed Hassan Naqvi, Kyrgyz Republic Country Manager, and Sudeshna Ghosh Banerjee, Europe and Central Asia Energy Practice Manager, share their insights from the Forum and on the Bank Group’s support. Energy sector reforms in the Kyrgyz Republic: Green light ahead

Lebanon

NATO

Philippines

Poland

Russia – Ukraine

  • June 26, 2022. By Ben Connable, Lawfare. It wasn’t long into the Ukraine war that military analysts began using the apocryphal Potemkin Village analogy to describe Russia’s military: It consists of hollow forces that look good on parade but can’t fight well. Most recently, top experts on the Russian military from the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI), noted that Russia’s thus-far abysmal showing in the Ukraine war—and particularly the lack of effective, dynamic combined-arms warfare capability—stood in sharp contrast to the seemingly orchestral fire and movement on public display in what the Russian Federation calls military exercises. Russia’s ‘Demonstration Army’ Is a Red Flag for U.S. Security Force Assistance
  • June 26, 2022. By Karolina Hird, Kateryna Stepanenko, Mason Clark, and Grace Mappes, ISW. Russian forces conducted a massive missile strike against the Schevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv on June 26, likely to coincide with the ongoing summit of G7 leaders. This is the first such major strike on Kyiv since late April and is likely a direct response to Western leaders discussing aid to Ukraine at the ongoing G7 summit, much like the previous strikes on April 29 during UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ visit to Kyiv. Ukrainian government sources reported that Russian forces targeted infrastructure in the Shevchenkivskyi district using X101 missiles fired from Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers over the Caspian Sea and noted the Russian attack was an attempt to “show off” their capabilities. Open-source Twitter account GeoConfirmed stated that the strikes targeted the general vicinity of the Artem State Joint-Stock Holding Company, a manufacturer of air-to-air missiles, automated air-guided missile training and maintenance systems, anti-tank guided missiles, and aircraft equipment. GeoConfirmed noted that Russian forces likely fired the missiles from the maximum possible range, which would have interfered with GPS and radar correlation and resulted in the strike hitting civilian infrastructure, and additionally hypothesized some of the missiles may have been fired from Russian-occupied southern Ukraine. Russian forces likely targeted the Artem Plant as a means of posturing against Western military aid to Ukraine during the G7 summit and inflicted additional secondary damage to residential infrastructure. Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 26
  • June 25, 2022. By Arvind Gupta, VIF. Russia-Ukraine war is in its fourth month. There are no signs of the conflict coming to an end soon. While the political and military dimensions of the war have drawn a lot of attention, the social and economic implications of the conflict are extremely serious. Economic Dimensions of Russia-Ukraine War

South Korea – Taiwan

  • June 27, 2022. By Henry Storey, The Interpreter. The importance of “peace and stability” across the Taiwan Strait featured in joint statements issued after US President Joe Biden’s meetings in May with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. This was the second time in consecutive years that Taiwan featured in both bilateral summits. In early June, references to Taiwan appeared for the first time in a trilateral US-Korea-Japan defence ministers’ statement. Contingency plans: South Korea and cross-Strait security

Spain

Turkey

Turkey – NATO

  • June 24, 2022. By Crisis Group. The diplomatic standoff prompted by Turkish opposition to the Finnish and Swedish requests to join NATO looks set to last well past the organisation’s forthcoming summit in Madrid on 28-29 June. U.S. President Joe Biden and other member state leaders had welcomed the Scandinavian countries’ applications as a way of strengthening the 30-nation Western alliance and highlighting that Russia’s war in Ukraine has upended Europe’s security architecture. They had hoped that Ankara would drop its objections swiftly. But Türkiye, which has been a NATO member since 1952 and commands the second-largest army in the alliance behind the United States, is unlikely to simply back down. It is using the occasion to raise grievances it has felt for a long time, mainly with what it sees as permissive attitudes in Western capitals toward the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – the insurgent group that, along with the U.S. and EU, it lists as terrorist. Ankara also complains about Western support, both military and political, for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which it regards as an extension of the PKK. The SDF is a coalition of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians and Syriacs dominated by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which have organisational ties and other connections to the PKK. Why Türkiye’s Hindrance of NATO’s Nordic Expansion Will Likely Drag On

Turkey – Ukraine – Syria

  • June 24, 2022. By Samy Akil, Alexander Langlois, The Interpreter. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last month announced an upcoming military operation in Syria, which followed heightened rhetoric against Finland and Sweden’s efforts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Similar to autumn 2021, Erdoğan claims the offensive will establish a 30-kilometre “Safe Zone” for Syrian refugee resettlement and ward off Kurdish border threats. Such statements are significant for the de facto stalemate in the Syrian war, and while Ankara did not act on its previous threats, this round could prove different given shifting dynamics on the ground – particularly related to Russia. How Turkey’s position on Ukraine is further destabilising Syria

USA

  • June 27, 2022. By Lauren C. Williams, Nextgov. The Defense Department is rolling out the long-awaited implementation strategy for its responsible artificial intelligence principles.  The Pentagon’s Plan for ‘Responsible AI’
  • June 27, 2022. By Marcus Weisgerber, Nextgov. Boeing is looking for contract loopholes to get the Pentagon to fork over more money for work on two new Air Force One jets, a project that has cost the planemaker billions of dollars, a top Air Force official said Friday. Boeing Wants More Money For New Air Force One, USAF Official Says
  • June 27, 2022. By Travis Sharp, Defense News. This month, as Congress starts crafting the fiscal 2023 Defense Department budget, policymakers must decide how to deal with inflation’s erosion of the Pentagon’s purchasing power. A growing number of legislators have called for increasing the budget above the Biden administration’s $773 billion request to compensate for high inflation, among other rationales. Many policymakers have shied away from proposing dollar amounts, instead endorsing specific levels of real growth — the year-to-year percentage change in spending after accounting for inflation, such that 0% means spending grows at the forecast inflation rate. How to set defense spending when inflation is volatile

USA – France

  • June 27, 2022. By Naval News. The two leaders discussed maritime security, their shared commitment to interoperability, and the importance of ensuring joint forces are ready and trained for the high-end fight. The two-day visit included a full-honors welcoming ceremony and meetings with senior U.S. Navy leaders. U.S. Navy CNO Hosts Chief of French Navy

USA – Israel

HORIZONS

  • June 27, 2022. By Tommaso De Zan, Lawfare. Evidence suggests there is a global cybersecurity skills shortage affecting businesses and governments alike, which means that organizations are struggling to fill their cybersecurity vacancies. For example, the United Kingdom would need to attract approximately 17,500 new people every year into its cybersecurity sector to meet demand, and similar workforce difficulties have been reported in Australia, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Cybersecurity firm Fortinet depicted a stark picture of this gap in its 2022 report: 80 percent of polled organizations suffered one or more breaches due to a lack of cybersecurity skills and/or awareness, and 67 percent agreed that this shortage creates additional risks for their organizations.  The Strategic Relevance of Cybersecurity Skills
  • June 27, 2022. By Daniel Castro, Center for Data Innovation. The Center for Data Innovation spoke with Ben Schmidt, PhD, co-founder and CEO of RoadBotics, a Pittsburgh-based startup that transforms visual infrastructure data into meaningful maps using AI. Schmidt discussed how local governments can automate road inspections and make better decisions about road maintenance. 5 Q’s With Ben Schmidt, Co-founder and CEO of RoadBotics
  • June 24, 2022. By Swati Sachdeva, World Bank blogs. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally affected poor urban communities and laid bare pre-existing inequalities – including a digital and social divide that has been further exacerbated by the pandemic. As per our recent study, only one of every 26 jobs can be done from home in low-income countries, and across the globe. Young, poorly educated workers and those on temporary contracts are least likely to be able to work from home and more vulnerable to the labor market shocks from COVID-19.  How can this digital divide be closed? The experience of a small team from the World Bank shows that efforts to collect data can offer opportunities to expand digital literacy in local communities. Digital skills training should be part of inclusive economic recovery in post-pandemic cities

 

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