Diplomacy & Crisis News

The image of Cameroon as an island of peace amidst regional turmoil ended in 2013, when Boko Haram’s violence first crossed the Nigerian border. The militant group is affiliated with so-called Islamic State or Daesh, and even renamed itself Islamic State in West Africa earlier this year. But the brutal form of African jihadism it represents is hardly a result of the Islamic State’s rise in Iraq and Syria. In fact, it is in part a consequence of Africa’s changing religious landscape – not least in Cameroon.

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko speaking at the Atlantic Council (2014), via flickr atlanticcouncil

When asked about the UK government’s decision to double the number of Ukrainian troops it would be training, the Defense Secretary, Michael Fallon, supported the move by arguing that the conflict remains “red hot”. And boy, is he right. On August 11th, the Ukrainian government took one more step in the journey leading democracies astray from the straight and narrow: a book ban.

In what reads like a page from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, thirty-eight Russian books were banned from being imported into the country because the government deemed them “hateful” and “separatist” for challenging the prevalent narrative endorsed by Kiev. One can almost imagine Kiev’s new Western-clad and US trained police officers hunting down suspects guilty of smuggling in ‘propaganda’ books.

Even if the military side of the conflict has recently been injected with a new lease of life, the propaganda war never relented. All conflicts involve a war over territory, territory in the form of land; but also territory over hearts and minds. Indeed, the nature of the propaganda campaign waged by the parties in the conflict can tell us about  the parties themselves. Through the image of the Ukrainian crisis as it is generally framed by leaders and pundits, it is easy to sniff out which side of the conflict is supposed to correspond to which message. The western region of Ukraine is depicted as being drawn towards EU, the US, and NATO, and everything that they imply: liberal democracy, pluralism, and freedom of expression; while the east gravitates towards Russia, meaning authoritarianism, repression, and an intolerance to dissent.

But, as recent developments in the propaganda war illustrate, this division may not be as clear-cut as it appears on paper. The book ban accounts for just one aspect of Kiev’s multi-pronged assault on the freedom of thought, expression, and press in Ukraine. On August 9th, the government issued a blacklist of Russian actors and films that are banned from being screened on its territory, as they pose a threat to the country’s national security. The ban extends also to French films, more specifically the features that star Gérard Depardieu, who recently acquired Russian citizenship. The law just confirms an on-going state of mind among Ukraine’s officialdom – since the beginning of this year, 376 Russian films and TV series have been denied distribution certificates by the Ukraine State Cinema Agency. In the words of the Agency’s director Filipp Ilyenko, “we scrutinize films and TV series to see whether they violate the law banning popularization of the aggressor state and Soviet-era security agencies or not.”

The same critical attitude extends to media channels. Inter, a TV station owned by the leader of the Opposition Bloc Sergei Levochkin and gas mogul Dmitry Firtash, narrowly avoided having its license revoked after a New Year’s Eve broadcast featuring Russian singers performing a satirical song about the Western sanctions imposed on Russia. The performance was described as “a humiliation for the whole country” by the head of the Ukrainian Security Council, Alexander Turchinov, in language that echoes that of the law passed against communist propaganda, in which one clause states that “the public denial of…the just cause of the fighters for Ukrainian independence in the 20th century insults the dignity of the Ukrainian people and is illegal.”

Among those so called national hero fighters, one can find ultra-nationalist groups like OUN and UPA, who worked alongside the Nazis and carried out acts of mass ethnic cleansing against the Poles and Jews in Ukraine. This effort to downplay the Nazi regime atrocities while magnifying those of Russia, and criminalizing any deviation from the official reading of history, is the exact mirror image of legislation passed by Russia itself in 2014 – only in their version, of course, it is the Nazis who shoulder all the blame while Russian crimes are glossed over.  

That Ukraine is passing legislation that echoes that of repressive regimes may be a cause for concern for its Western backers. Mounting accusations that politicians and journalists opposed to the Kiev government have been murdered for expressing their views should certainly set alarm bells ringing. Instead, the official reaction to the 10 opposition politicians and journalists who have suspiciously died this year has been muted and the case files have been classified as state secrets.

The signs coming out of Ukraine are ominous and the silence of its Western backers is deafening, but as the book ban sinks in, observers would do well to remember Ray Bradbury’s line from Fahrenheit 451, itself a work about the criminalization of thought and expression, “If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war. If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it.”

Quand Lucien Sève est entré en politique, dans l'immédiat après-guerre, Friedrich Engels était mort depuis à peine un demi-siècle et Lénine, depuis deux décennies. En devenant communiste et en se revendiquant marxiste, le jeune agrégé de philosophie adhérait à un mouvement historique qui pouvait se donner (...) / Capitalisme, Colonialisme, Communisme, Histoire, Idées, Idéologie, Inégalités, Mouvement de contestation, Socialisme, Marxisme - 2015/09

Né en 1930, contraint à l'exil en 1975, l'Argentin Juan Gelman n'a cessé, jusqu'à sa mort en 2014, de dénoncer la dictature militaire qui a ravagé son pays et tué son fils, sa belle-fille et nombre de ses amis. Si les livres publiés en France depuis 1981 par des éditeurs clairvoyants lui ont assuré une (...) / Argentine, Art, Culture, Histoire, Langue, Littérature, Violence - 2015/09

RAMSES 2016 propose des analyses couvrant l’ensemble des enjeux internationaux d’actualité, enjeux qui interrogent plus globalement l’organisation de notre monde.
Thème dominant de cette 34e édition : Climat : une nouvelle chance ? RAMSES 2016 interroge aussi l’insertion de l’Afrique dans la globalisation, et les incertitudes de l’espérance démocratique : dans nos sociétés développées, plus au Sud, et pour la société internationale dans son ensemble.

Le RAMSES (Rapport annuel mondial sur le système économique et les stratégies) éclaire un monde en pleine recomposition :

Les Perspectives de Thierry de Montbrial replacent les développements internationaux des mois écoulés dans le temps long de l’analyse.

Trois enjeux pour 2016 : les chercheurs de l’Ifri s’attachent à trois questions décisives :

• La Conférence sur le climat de décembre 2015 pourra-t-elle être un nouveau départ ?
• Les désordres africains conduisent-ils le continent au seuil du gouffre, ou du rebond ?
• L’avancée vers la démocratie est-elle toujours à l’ordre du jour de la planète ?

Le Monde en questions passe en revue l’actualité des conflits, des stratégies, des grandes négociations internationales

Les Repères proposent un important appareil documentaire : statistiques, chronologie, cartes originales créées pour le RAMSES.

Le RAMSES 2016 est également, pour la première fois, accompagné de 7 vidéos de chercheurs de l’Ifri, qui proposent leur synthèse sur les thèmes internationaux les plus actuels.

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Téléchargez le sommaire complet ici.
Téléchargez le dossier de presse ici.
Découvrez la vidéo de présentation de Dominique David ici.

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RAMSES 2016. Climat : une nouvelle chance ?
336 pages, 32 euros
Ifri/Dunod
ISBN : 978-2-10-073839-7
Disponible en librairie depuis le 2 septembre 2015.
En vente en ligne sur Dunod.com.

Trafic de drogue, assassinats, extorsion et, désormais, gestion portuaire… L'emprise des organisations criminelles sur l'Etat mexicain semble ne connaître aucune limite. Le massacre de quarante-trois étudiants au mois de septembre dernier a cristallisé la colère de la population. / États-Unis (...) / États-Unis (affaires extérieures), Mexique, Criminalité, Narcotrafic, Économie, État, Jeunes, Mouvement de contestation, Violence, Mafia, Pacifique, Commerce, Drogue, Corruption - 2014/12

Les chaînes Starbucks et Subway proposeraient des aliments naturels, traiteraient leurs employés avec respect, favoriseraient le commerce équitable, etc. Apôtres de nouvelles manières de consommer, elles sont parvenues à conquérir la planète. / États-Unis, France, Agroalimentaire, Alimentation, (...) / États-Unis, France, Agroalimentaire, Alimentation, Communication, Entreprise, Idéologie, Mondialisation, Multinationales, Santé, Stratégie, Syndicalisme, Travail, Groupe de pression, Nouvelle-Zélande - 2015/08

Las dificultades crecientes para resolver la crisis surgida en la frontera entre Colombia y Venezuela muestran un fracaso preocupante de los mecanismos regionales para resolver pacíficamente las controversias internacionales. En los próximos días, todos los países de la región deberán hacer un esfuerzo por encarrilar esta discusión, obligar a todos a guardar calma, y proporcionar soluciones prácticas a la frontera entre Colombia y Venezuela.

Urging governments and partners to join forces for universal literacy as a key component of &#8220the future we want,&#8221 the United Nations is emphasizing that literacy is essential to reach the newly-proposed Sustainable Development Goal on promoting inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all.

Roberto Lovato’s article claiming to be about the bona fides of our client's democratic credentials wasn't that at all.

(Own report) - The German natural gas company, Wintershall Holding GmbH, is intensifying cooperation with Russia's Gazprom and will receive direct access to large Siberian gas fields. Last Friday, the two companies announced they would finalize an asset swap this year, which would allow Wintershall to participate in the exploitation of two blocks in the Achimov formation of the Urengoy natural gas field. The deal had been signed back in 2013, but was canceled by Moscow in late 2014, because of the escalation of the conflict with the West. This resumption enables BASF's subsidiary, Wintershall, to continue its rise in the global gas sector. The Austrian company, OMV, since July 1, under the management of former Wintershall CEO, Rainer Seele, is also participating. Gazprom, Wintershall, OMV and other gas companies have agreed to expand the Russia-to-Germany "Nord Stream" pipeline with two more pipelines. German business circles explicitly describe both as "flagship projects" and push for a rapid re-intensification of cooperation at the political level.

America can — and must — do more to help Europe’s migrants. I’m living proof of why.

Britain and other European governments want the U.N. Security Council to authorize their navies to help fight the worst migrant crisis in decades.

Denouncing the systematic cultural cleansing afflicting societies in Syria and Iraq as &#8220crimes against all of humanity,&#8221 United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, met in Paris today to discuss the destruction of cultural heritage and possible measures to counter the rise of violent extremism.

The United Nations special envoy on the Middle East today expressed deep sadness that Reham Dawabsha has succumb to the wounds she received in a terrorist attack in a West Bank village in late July that also killed her husband and infant son, calling the tragedy &#8220a shocking example of the destructive nature of extremism.&#8221

While the world&#39s forests continue to shrink as populations increase and woodlands are converted to agriculture and other uses, over the past 25 years, the rate of net global deforestation has slowed down by more than 50 per cent, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report published today.

As the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) continues to face challenges in funding its emergency response in Syria, the agency&#39s Executive Director Ertharin Cousin has thanked U2 lead singer and ONE co-founder Bono, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Ireland&#39s Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney for their efforts to give voice and support to the world&#39s hungry poor.

Supporting the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be a key focus for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in years to come, Director General Yukiya Amano told a meeting of the Agency&#39s Board of Governors in Vienna today, where he also provided an update on the application of nuclear safeguards in Iran, Democratic Republic of Korea and Syria.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed to European leaders &#8220to be the voice of those in need of protection&#8221 and to quickly find a joint approach to the refugee and migration crisis that shares responsibilities equitably, as Germany and Austria continue to welcome thousands of people fleeing their war-torn homelands.

On the International Day of Charity, marked annually on 5 September, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on people everywhere to volunteer and act charitably in the face of human suffering.