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Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

"Enorme Fortschritte" durch Abkommen zwischen Syrien und Kurden

SWP - Mon, 30/03/2026 - 12:03
Ahmed al-Scharaa ist Islamist, will aber keine Theokratie, sagt die Wissenschaftlerin Muriel Asseburg. Die Lage für die Kurden habe sich durch das Abkommen vom 30. Januar gebessert. Vor Abschiebungen nach Syrien warnt sie.

Warum dieser Krieg ein echtes Dilemma ist

Der Krieg gegen den Iran zerreißt die westlichen Gesellschaften. Er ist völkerrechtlich kaum zu rechtfertigen, doch sein Abbruch wäre das schlimmste aller Ergebnisse. , Der Krieg Israels und der USA gegen den Iran spaltet die westlichen Demokratien wie kaum ein geopolitisches Ereignis der jüngeren Geschichte. Die Frage, ob dieser Krieg gerechtfertigt ist, lässt sich nicht mit einem einfachen Ja oder Nein beantworten. Wohl aber lässt sich sagen, was das Schlechteste ...

Bab al-Mandab strait: Iran’s Houthi allies enter the conflict, raising fears over key trade route

SWP - Mon, 30/03/2026 - 09:49
As Iran’s Houthi allies enter the conflict, Iran has threatened to disrupt shipping in the Bab al-Mandab Strait – a strategic waterway linking the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal – with the help of its Houthi allies in Yemen. While disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz primarily affect Asia, blocking access to the Gulf of Aden could affect European energy supplies and imports from Asia.

"Für Irans Bevölkerung ist das eine desaströse Situation"

SWP - Sun, 29/03/2026 - 13:20
Die Bilanz von vier Wochen Krieg fällt für die iranische Bevölkerung verheerend aus, sagt die Iran-Expertin Azadeh Zamirirad im Interview. Was bedeutet das für den Wunsch nach einem Regimewechsel und für die Opposition?

L'Ukraine a-t-elle recruté des combattants volontaires en Côte d'Ivoire ?

France24 / Afrique - Fri, 27/03/2026 - 21:49
Ce sont des révélations faites par un consortium de médias internationaux, dont les Observateurs de France 24. Un réseau d'agents russes spécialisés dans la désinformation propage sa propagande anti-Ukraine dans toute l'Afrique et en particulier en Côte d'Ivoire depuis plusieurs années. Son nom : la "Compagnie". Décryptage de Jules BOITEAU dans Info Intox. 

Institutional layering as (counter-)hegemonic strategy: unpacking China’s Global Development Initiative

The People’s Republic of China has recently announced several global governance initiatives, with the Global Development Initiative (GDI) at the forefront. Launched in 2021, the GDI is simultaneously embedded within United Nations (UN) frameworks surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals and supposed to advance ‘true multilateralism’ aligned with China’s broader vision for world order. In doing so, the GDI complicates both ‘status quo’ and ‘revisionist’ interpretations of China’s engagement with global governance, alongside efforts to refine this binary. Bridging historical institutionalism and Neo-Gramscian political economy, we argue that the GDI constitutes a form of ‘institutional layering’ that serves as a component of a broader counter-hegemonic strategy: Rather than displacing existing frameworks, China seeks to embed new practices, principles, and alliances within them to advance its material, ideational, and organizational interests. We demonstrate how the GDI functions as a low-cost, low-risk component of a ‘war of position’ that leverages UN legitimacy while incrementally contesting liberal norms and assess its transformative potential for altering the nature of global (development) governance.

Institutional layering as (counter-)hegemonic strategy: unpacking China’s Global Development Initiative

The People’s Republic of China has recently announced several global governance initiatives, with the Global Development Initiative (GDI) at the forefront. Launched in 2021, the GDI is simultaneously embedded within United Nations (UN) frameworks surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals and supposed to advance ‘true multilateralism’ aligned with China’s broader vision for world order. In doing so, the GDI complicates both ‘status quo’ and ‘revisionist’ interpretations of China’s engagement with global governance, alongside efforts to refine this binary. Bridging historical institutionalism and Neo-Gramscian political economy, we argue that the GDI constitutes a form of ‘institutional layering’ that serves as a component of a broader counter-hegemonic strategy: Rather than displacing existing frameworks, China seeks to embed new practices, principles, and alliances within them to advance its material, ideational, and organizational interests. We demonstrate how the GDI functions as a low-cost, low-risk component of a ‘war of position’ that leverages UN legitimacy while incrementally contesting liberal norms and assess its transformative potential for altering the nature of global (development) governance.

Institutional layering as (counter-)hegemonic strategy: unpacking China’s Global Development Initiative

The People’s Republic of China has recently announced several global governance initiatives, with the Global Development Initiative (GDI) at the forefront. Launched in 2021, the GDI is simultaneously embedded within United Nations (UN) frameworks surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals and supposed to advance ‘true multilateralism’ aligned with China’s broader vision for world order. In doing so, the GDI complicates both ‘status quo’ and ‘revisionist’ interpretations of China’s engagement with global governance, alongside efforts to refine this binary. Bridging historical institutionalism and Neo-Gramscian political economy, we argue that the GDI constitutes a form of ‘institutional layering’ that serves as a component of a broader counter-hegemonic strategy: Rather than displacing existing frameworks, China seeks to embed new practices, principles, and alliances within them to advance its material, ideational, and organizational interests. We demonstrate how the GDI functions as a low-cost, low-risk component of a ‘war of position’ that leverages UN legitimacy while incrementally contesting liberal norms and assess its transformative potential for altering the nature of global (development) governance.

EU-Erweiterung: Sonderfall Ukraine – Regelfall Westbalkan

SWP - Fri, 27/03/2026 - 15:20

Seit Russland 2022 seinen vollumfänglichen Aggressionskrieg gegen die Ukraine begonnen hat, verfolgt die EU ihre Erweiterungspolitik unter geopolitischen Vorzeichen. Wie es bei der Europäischen Kommission und bei Kandidatenstaaten inzwischen heißt, könnte die EU ab 2028 neue Mitglieder aufnehmen; die Ukraine fordert sogar, 2027 beizutreten. Doch hohe Hürden stehen der Erweiterung im Weg. In der EU stagniert der Reformprozess, der ihre Handlungsfähigkeit verbessern und sie für eine Mitgliederzahl von 30 oder mehr fit machen soll. Beitrittsreife der Bewerber und Absorptionskraft der Union sind aber Schlüsselkriterien, die die deutsche Europa-Politik traditionell hochhält. In der EU wird nun intensiv über schrittweise Integra­tion, neue Schnellspuren und zusätzliche Sicherheitsklauseln debattiert, um den Ziel­konflikt zwischen geopolitischer Dringlichkeit und integrationspolitischer Solidität zu minimieren. Gegenüber den Staaten des Westbalkans sollte die EU am erprobten Beitrittsprozess festhalten. Im Fall der Ukraine ist die Lage so akut, dass es die poli­tische Verpflichtung, das Land aufzunehmen, zu bekräftigen gilt. Als Vorstufe zur Mitgliedschaft sollte die EU Kyjiw eine Beitrittsassoziierung neuen Typs anbieten, die auch eine Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspartnerschaft umfasst.

Principles for ethical boundary spanning between science, policy and practice: a guide for knowledge brokers

Knowledge brokers have emerged as a key mechanism for facilitating knowledge exchange across institutional and epistemic divides to enable more inclusive, informed, and context-sensitive decision-making. However, despite growing recognition about their value and importance, critical gaps remain related to how knowledge brokers operate that hinders their effectiveness and efficiency in practice. One such gap relates to the ethical dimensions of their work, which remain underexplored and lack formal conceptualization. This perspective addresses this gap by examining the overarching ethical challenges knowledge brokers face, and proposing a set of twelve experientially-derived principles to guide more ethically grounded knowledge brokering. For each principle we also outline a suite of practical behaviours, attitudes and actions to support their realisation in practice. In doing so, our goal is to help recognize and engage with the depth of ethical complexity that knowledge brokers must navigate, support those working in these often-invisible roles, and contribute to a broader conversation about how to strengthen the interface of sustainability science, policy and practice. We conclude by calling for greater institutional support, leadership, and a shift toward ‘ethics by design’ approaches that embed ethical reflection and practices in knowledge brokering efforts from the outset.

Principles for ethical boundary spanning between science, policy and practice: a guide for knowledge brokers

Knowledge brokers have emerged as a key mechanism for facilitating knowledge exchange across institutional and epistemic divides to enable more inclusive, informed, and context-sensitive decision-making. However, despite growing recognition about their value and importance, critical gaps remain related to how knowledge brokers operate that hinders their effectiveness and efficiency in practice. One such gap relates to the ethical dimensions of their work, which remain underexplored and lack formal conceptualization. This perspective addresses this gap by examining the overarching ethical challenges knowledge brokers face, and proposing a set of twelve experientially-derived principles to guide more ethically grounded knowledge brokering. For each principle we also outline a suite of practical behaviours, attitudes and actions to support their realisation in practice. In doing so, our goal is to help recognize and engage with the depth of ethical complexity that knowledge brokers must navigate, support those working in these often-invisible roles, and contribute to a broader conversation about how to strengthen the interface of sustainability science, policy and practice. We conclude by calling for greater institutional support, leadership, and a shift toward ‘ethics by design’ approaches that embed ethical reflection and practices in knowledge brokering efforts from the outset.

Principles for ethical boundary spanning between science, policy and practice: a guide for knowledge brokers

Knowledge brokers have emerged as a key mechanism for facilitating knowledge exchange across institutional and epistemic divides to enable more inclusive, informed, and context-sensitive decision-making. However, despite growing recognition about their value and importance, critical gaps remain related to how knowledge brokers operate that hinders their effectiveness and efficiency in practice. One such gap relates to the ethical dimensions of their work, which remain underexplored and lack formal conceptualization. This perspective addresses this gap by examining the overarching ethical challenges knowledge brokers face, and proposing a set of twelve experientially-derived principles to guide more ethically grounded knowledge brokering. For each principle we also outline a suite of practical behaviours, attitudes and actions to support their realisation in practice. In doing so, our goal is to help recognize and engage with the depth of ethical complexity that knowledge brokers must navigate, support those working in these often-invisible roles, and contribute to a broader conversation about how to strengthen the interface of sustainability science, policy and practice. We conclude by calling for greater institutional support, leadership, and a shift toward ‘ethics by design’ approaches that embed ethical reflection and practices in knowledge brokering efforts from the outset.

Libye : 15 ans après Kadhafi, Benghazi renaît de ses cendres

France24 / Afrique - Fri, 27/03/2026 - 11:29
La Libye marque cette année les 15 ans depuis sa révolution qui a déposé Mouammar Kadhafi. Malgré une relative stabilité sécuritaire, le pays reste divisé en deux. L'ouest est dirigé par un gouvernement reconnu par la communauté internationale. L'est et une grande partie du sud sont, eux, dirigés par le régime militaire du maréchal Khalifa Haftar. Reportage à Benghazi, dans l'est du pays.

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