Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

Nucleus-outgrower schemes (NOSs) are considered particularly effective private-sector mechanisms for supporting smallholder farmers and mitigating problematic aspects of large-scale agricultural investments. Using two rounds of panel household surveys from approximately 780 households in Zambia, this study examines the impact of a NOS associated with one of the largest foreign land-based investments in agriculture in Zambia. We focus on links between NOS interventions and smallholder farmers’ adoption of agricultural technologies, sustainable land management (SLM) practices, and crop productivity. Findings indicate that NOS participation increased adoption of full-suite conservation agriculture (CA) practices. However, impacts on other technologies, specifically improved seed varieties, are less clear and depend on support type and scheme design. Results also show that while overall productivity impacts are modest, the programme contributed to maize productivity improvements during its initial phase, but less so latter when focus shifted towards oilseed crops. In summary, NOSs, despite associated risks, have potential to make substantial contributions to sustainable agricultural practices and improve smallholder productivity.

Neuzulassungen von Elektroautos in Deutschland erholen sich nach Rückgang – Neue Elektro-Pkw überwiegend in oberen Fahrzeugklassen – Ladeinfrastruktur wächst schneller als Elektroautoflotte – Fehlende politische Klarheit bremst Antriebswende – Klare Prioritätensetzung entscheidend Nach einem ...

Five of the world’s most active and largest sovereign wealth funds are to be found in the Gulf Region: the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Mubadala and ADQ. These funds not only serve to convert oil revenues into investment capital, thereby enabling the transition from rent-based to more diversified economies; they also contribute to expanding the foreign policy capabilities of the countries in which they are based. Institutional and personnel linkages enable the Saudi, Qatari and UAE governments to deploy their funds strategically, which, in turn, allows them to significantly expand their hard, soft, and sharp power – for exam­ple, through domestic and foreign investments in sectors such as armaments, media, sports and new technologies as well as through co­operation with politically influential actors. At the same time, the Gulf monarchies seek to portray their sovereign wealth funds as apolitical and purely profit-oriented – a narrative that is facilitated by the establish­ment of subsidiaries or cooperation with private equity firms. Understandably, Germany and its European partners have an interest in attracting sovereign wealth funds as investors, but they must not overlook the risks involved. These include third parties gaining access to critical infra­structure, sensitive military and security technology being leaked and the Gulf monarchies exercising political influence. Further, Germany and the EU must take a more fundamental look at how the three Gulf monarchies have increased their foreign policy options through the sovereign wealth funds. This is important as the actions of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar – at both the regional and international level – are at times contrary to German and European interests.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States abducting Venezuela’s president,and U.S. President Donald Trump’s public musings about annexing Greenland all point in the same direction. After decades marked by Western dominance, economic globalization and the expansion of multilateral institutions, the ostentatious exercise and threat of raw military power are back at the center of world politics. Overall, we are seeing the return of overt geopolitics: a style of major power politics that does not bother to hide behind international law or multilateral norms. That’s good news for China – and bad news for Taiwan.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States abducting Venezuela’s president,and U.S. President Donald Trump’s public musings about annexing Greenland all point in the same direction. After decades marked by Western dominance, economic globalization and the expansion of multilateral institutions, the ostentatious exercise and threat of raw military power are back at the center of world politics. Overall, we are seeing the return of overt geopolitics: a style of major power politics that does not bother to hide behind international law or multilateral norms. That’s good news for China – and bad news for Taiwan.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States abducting Venezuela’s president,and U.S. President Donald Trump’s public musings about annexing Greenland all point in the same direction. After decades marked by Western dominance, economic globalization and the expansion of multilateral institutions, the ostentatious exercise and threat of raw military power are back at the center of world politics. Overall, we are seeing the return of overt geopolitics: a style of major power politics that does not bother to hide behind international law or multilateral norms. That’s good news for China – and bad news for Taiwan.

After the collapse of the party's "digital wallet" stimulus plan, voters should not be fooled by its recently announced 1 million-baht election sweepstakes.

Asia’s most iconic species makes an ‘improbable return’ in the forests of Russia and China. 

Chinese analysts talk tough but see NATO as divided and European states as lacking hard power – and Trump is making it worse.

“We will establish the power of the people – this is my commitment,” the BNP leader tells The Diplomat.

Der Machtkampf im Südsudan spitzt sich zu, treibt das Land knapp anderthalb Jahrzehnte nach der Unabhängigkeit in einen vielschichtigen Bürgerkrieg – und reiht sich ein in das immer komplexere Konfliktfeld am Horn von Afrika.

We are seeing the return of overt geopolitics: a style of major power politics that does not bother to hide behind international law or multilateral norms. That’s good news for China – and bad news for Taiwan.

President Lee Jae-myung criticized the DP for slowrolling his agenda, and pro-Lee supporters’ anger toward party leader Jung Cheong-rae has snowballed.

Nature provides essential inputs to the economy through ecosystem services. In Asia and the Pacific, accelerating biodiversity loss is eroding these services, increasing vulnerability to shocks, and creating new risks for investors and governments.

European governments present themselves as global defenders of human rights. Yet for many dissidents fleeing repression in Central Asia, Europe has become not a refuge, but another link in the chain of persecution.

Die strategische Lage der Insel und ihre Ressourcen sind der Grund, weshalb seit dem 19. Jahr­hundert in Regierungskreisen der USA immer wieder die Idee diskutiert wird, Grönland zu erwerben. Im Sommer 2019 wollte US-Präsident Donald Trump dem Königreich Dänemark erstmals Grönland abkaufen. Mittlerweile hat Trump den Besitz und die Kontrolle Grönlands zur »absoluten Notwendigkeit« für die nationale Sicherheit erklärt, woraufhin der dänische Geheimdienst erstmals die USA als eine potentielle Bedrohung für die Sicherheit des Königreichs bezeichnete, weil diese nicht länger den Gebrauch militärischer Gewalt sogar gegen Verbündete ausschlössen. Aber geht es Trump tatsächlich um Sicherheit oder nur um den größtmöglichen Immo­bilien­besitz? Wie ist sein Griff nach Grönland zu bewerten und welche Implikationen und Lösungsansätze sind damit verbunden?

The murky trade deal – like all aspects of Taiwan-U.S. relations – has become a battleground issue between the pan-Green and pan-Blue camps.

Chaque mardi, Pascal Boniface reçoit un membre de l’équipe de recherche de l’‪IRIS‬ pour décrypter un fait d’actualité internationale. Aujourd’hui, échange avec Didier Billion, directeur adjoint de l’IRIS, autour de l’accord signé entre Damas et les forces kurdes après de longs mois de conflit ainsi que des enjeux liés à l’intégration des forces et de l’administration kurdes au sein de l’État syrien.

L’article Les kurdes de Syrie : quel avenir ? | Les mardis de l’IRIS est apparu en premier sur IRIS.

The fossil-fuel foreign policy of the United States under President Donald Trump has intensified the conflict between petrostates and electrostates in international climate politics. At COP30 in Belém in November 2025, this cleavage was particularly evident in the dispute over a roadmap for the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF). While an increasing number of countries regard TAFF as a necessary consequence of the global energy transition, fossil fuel producers prevented any substantive progress being made. The conference highlighted the structural limits of the capacity of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to mediate this dis­tri­bu­tional conflict. As a result, the EU faces a strategic dilemma: to further politicise the COP process around TAFF or to prioritise the stabilisation of key mechanisms of the Paris Agreement. Whether it can overcome that dilemma will become apparent during the run-up to the next global stocktake, which is due at COP33 in India in 2028.