Europe’s security, now as in the past, can only be achieved with Russia’s co-operation.

Mr Putin’s all-out war against Ukraine has failed. Precisely because of that, he will fight until he can declare some sort of “victory”. Presumably this will involve Ukraine’s acceptance that Crimea is part of Russia, its promise not to join NATO and the independence of the two “republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk. The challenge is whether Russian troops are able to control Donbas after occupying it.

But it will lose Russia’s partnership. And it is only a matter of time before America takes on China again.

It expresses understanding of Russia’s “legitimate concerns” over NATO’s expansion, while underlining that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected”.

IF THE ENEMY of my enemy is my friend, is the enemy of my friend also my enemy?

Of Russia’s top ten scientific collaborators, according to publication statistics from Nature Index, a database that tracks scientific output, only China has failed to impose post-invasion academic sanctions on Russia. There is thus a looming funding crisis for dozens of Russian research and data stations that were maintained by Western support.

Russian researchers have, for example, been “disinvited” from academic conferences, such as the Arctic science summit

Two-thirds of Russia is covered by permafrost, and this frozen ground locks up huge amounts of organic material. As it melts and that organic material decays, greenhouse gases in the form of methane and carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. Without good data on these emissions, understanding about their contribution to climate change will decline.

Sanctions, says Dag Rune, rector of the Arctic University, in Tromso, “will have devastating consequences for Arctic research, and the consequences for climate change are obvious. Projects in the Arctic”,

Information from stations in Siberia and buoys in the Arctic Ocean provide irreplaceable data on climate change.

Hundreds of long-standing partnerships like Dr Aspholm’s have been put on indefinite hold and projects involving Russian researchers have either suspended their participation or been put on ice entirely.

Sanctions permit the sale of oil and gas to most of the world to continue uninterrupted. And a spike in energy prices has boosted revenues further.

we estimate that Russian imports have fallen by about 44% since the invasion of Ukraine, while its exports have risen by roughly 8%.

Some simpler rules are much more likely to help. Define the parameters of a brainstorming session upfront. Try to make a specific thing work better rather than to shoot for the Moon. Involve people you don’t know, as well as those you do. Start by getting people to write their ideas down in silence, so extroverts and bosses have less chance to dominate. And be clear about the next steps after the session is over; the attraction of holding a “design sprint”, a week-long, clear-the-diary way for a team to develop and test product prototypes, is that the thread connecting ideas to outcomes is taut. All of which would make brainstorming a little more thought-provoking and a tad less heart-sinking.

“Step-laddering

“Figure-storming”

Some personalities are immediately comfortable saying what they think; others need to be coaxed to share their opinions.

different personalities and different styles of thinking

f decision-makers are not in the room, then the suspicion will grow that time is being wasted

managers and non-managers.

The most feasible suggestions were generated at the start of brainstorming sessions, presumably because they were also more obvious, and the most original ones came later.

to produce suggestions that can actually be translated into reality

One tension is between creativity and feasibility

Normal routines afford employees precious little time to think.

Tesla, his electric-car company and source of most of his wealth, has lost 29% of its market value—$305bn—since the Twitter plan was hatched

to check Twitter’s claim that no more than 5% of its users are bots,

to avoid dangers, seize opportunities and maximise the space for manoeuvre.

Some see it as a Vienna for the 21st century—the natural place for antagonists in Asia’s growing Great Game to meet.

“We have always invested a lot of time and resources trying to understand the environment we live in,” says one Singaporean policymaker. The country’s diplomatic corps, for its size, is one of the savviest in the world, and by far the most effective among the ten-member Association of South-East Asian Nations. A plethora of academic institutes, all with ties to the state, specialise in covering the region.

The tiny state of 5.7m was born at a time of turmoil in South-East Asia. Its position on the narrow Malacca Strait, through which much of the world’s shipping and energy passes, gives it a precarious sense of being a nut that could be smashed in a fight between great powers. Regional rivalry between China and America has grown sharply.

For that, Singapore has better prospects. Some China-based journalists wound up in the city-state by chance—the Financial Times’s Beijing bureau chief happened to be in Singapore with his family as China locked down and has stayed. Others are drifting in as China remains all but closed, including from Hong Kong. Crucially, it is not only journalists who are coming to Singapore. The Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy in Beijing is a joint venture between an American think-tank and one of China’s most prestigious universities. It aims to encourage dialogue and collaboration between scholars in China and the West. Its American head, Paul Haenle, a former White House official, now resides in Singapore. Some Western countries have spread staff who were formerly based in Beijing to other embassies around the region, including missions in Singapore. Such arrivals jokingly refer to their new home in the city-state as “Beijing South”. Few say they will never return to China if or when it reopens—but nor do they openly commit to doing so. Meanwhile, a trickle of expat business executives moving to Singapore from Hong Kong is turning into a steady stream. The country’s attractions are undeniable. Its people are refreshingly direct. English is universally spoken, which is not the case in Hong Kong. Clean, green, prosperous and safe, it is, as one of its officials jokes, “Asia-lite”—easy for many Westerners to adjust to, but with plenty of exotic brushstrokes.

Tether is not only a financial bridge between crypto and conventional money—ie, dollars in bank accounts—but also between all kinds of crypto pairs that are traded on exchanges.

These act as a bridge between conventional banks, where people use dollars, and the “on-blockchain” world, where people use crypto.

The market capitalisation of crypto has slumped to just $1.3trn, from nearly $3trn in November.

After enduring colonialism, decades of unfair economic practices and covid-19 vaccine apartheid, we cannot accept regressive climate policy as another injustice.

The EU’s recent decision to label natural gas and nuclear power as green investments recognises a critical truth: different countries will follow different paths in the energy transition.

This is partly because of a naive belief in leapfrogging, the assumption that, like skipping landlines for mobile phones, Africa can ‘leap’ to new energy technologies.

President Muhammadu Buhari has also pledged that Nigeria will reach net-zero emissions by 2060.

If our continent’s unmet energy needs are already huge, future demand will be even greater as populations expand, urbanisation accelerates and more people move into the middle class.

we will need reliable low-cost power for facilities such as data centres and, eventually, for millions of electric vehicles.

Total electricity use for more than a billion people, covering all 48 sub-Saharan African countries except South Africa, is less than that used by Spain (home to just 47m)

We need to adapt to digital diplomacy and host targeted seminars to sell South Africa.

Diplomats need to be more innovative and find new ways of practicing their craft.

Twinning provinces and cities is one way to forge economic relations with countries abroad.

We will defend our non-aligned position and maintain an independent foreign policy.

It has disrupted global supply chains, driven up the price of essential commodities and plunged the world into a new era of economic instability and uncertainty.

Powerful countries must no longer be allowed to disregard international law.

The current formation of the UN Security Council is outdated and unrepresentative.

Publicising our successes in advancing democracy, good governance and human rights must form an essential part of our public diplomacy efforts.

The African Peer Review Mechanism is a critical tool to advance good governance and democracy under Agenda 2063, but beyond African countries themselves, there is still not enough awareness about what the APRM has achieved.

Africa has found a new voice that is bold and unapologetic.

South Africa’s voice on the international stage has been amplified.

This stance has put us firmly on the side of social justice and principled solidarity, and reaffirmed our commitment to progressive internationalism.

It was South Africa, alongside India, that initially sponsored the proposal to the WTO for a temporary TRIPS waiver to enable countries to produce their own vaccines.

has also changed the diplomatic landscape.

shaping a refreshed progressive global architecture through BRICS

the trend from the pandemic era of digital conferencing

to engage with prospective investors and take the initiative to personally

Economic diplomacy

the African Agenda

the complete overhaul of the UN system

We have not seen concomitant actions with regards to other conflicts, including those where the laws of war and the UN Charter have also been breached.

The need for a rules-based multilateral system is more urgent now than ever in our history.

to maintain robust trade relations with a plethora of countries across the political divide of the Cold War. This approach is as valid today as it was then.

Non-aligned countries like South Africa

“Positioning South Africa’s Diplomacy to Advance our Domestic Priorities.”

The world has changed significantly since the advent of Covid-19, and so should our diplomatic craft.

disseminating information on different social media platforms and at appropriate events.

strong public diplomacy machinery as primary currency to strategically position South Africa’s foreign policy in host countries.

youth development programmes, and coproduction in the film industry and arts and crafts, among other things.

to identify relevant platforms and structures, working with local communities – business, youth and NGOs – in the countries of accreditation.

cultivate tolerance, and promote cultural understanding and appreciation.

to strengthen and encourage people-to-people relations through engagement

to promote and position South Africa as a preferred destination for tourism, trade and investment

With rigidity, there is little room for real innovation, and efforts must be made to avoid it in our recovery strategy.

developed mechanisms that are able to quantify the value that our missions bring into the country’s trade and investment landscape.

reviving the economy in line with the economic reconstruction and recovery plan.

“We need to adapt to digital diplomacy and host targeted seminars to sell South Africa.”

research and analysis of global developments and how these may affect the home country, advice on the home governments’ response to prevailing global situations, engagement with foreign diplomats and the host country, public diplomacy events, and trade and investment seminars and road shows.

Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view

It is through their work that South Africa can be positioned as a preferred destination for trade, investment and tourism, among many other key strategic sectors geared towards building our economy.

to be open, in principle, to those jurisdictions which accept the objectives and principles

interoperability with other data protection and privacy frameworks.

globally to facilitate data protection and free flow of data;

review data protection and privacy standards

a forum for information exchange and cooperation

the Global CBPR and PRP Systems;

an international certification system based on the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR)

the importance of strong and effective data protection and privacy in strengthening consumer and business trust in digital transactions;

that regulatory barriers threaten to undermine opportunities created by the digital economy

not just for big, multinational technology companies, but for companies across all sectors of the economy, and for micro, small- and medium-sized businesses, workers, and consumers as well;

the following points

Of the European SMEs that the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) surveyed in 2021, 90% stated that cybersecurity issues would have serious negative impacts on their business within a week of the issues happening, with 57% of them likely to become bankrupt or go out of business.

on shared trade concerns regarding third-countries measures

successful digital and green transitions,

to promote internationally recognized labor rights and to help workers

A new Cooperation Framework on issues related to information integrity in crises, particularly on digital platforms

An early warning system to better predict and address potential semiconductor supply chain disruptions as well as a Transatlantic approach to semiconductor investment aimed at ensuring security of supply and avoiding subsidy races;

a U.S.-EU Strategic Standardization Information (SSI) mechanism

privacy-enhancing technologies

trustworthy Artificial Intelligence and risk management

on exports of critical U.S. and EU technology

They are collaborating closely on emerging technology standards, climate and clean tech objectives data governance and technology platforms, information and communications technology services’ (ICTS) security and competitiveness, and the misuse of technology threatening security and human rights. The TTC working groups are also coordinating on export controls, investment screening and security risks, and a range of global trade challenges, including countering the harmful impact of non-market, trade-distortive policies and practices on technological development and competitiveness in sectors of shared priority

by expanding access to digital tools for small- and medium-sized enterprises and securing critical supply chains such as semiconductors

disagreements on tariffs

AU Agenda 2063

he African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) and African Single Market (ASM) 3)

Less than 10 countries have established the office of the national data commissioner, a critical office under the Malabo Convention.

“Cyber direct” project: contribute to the development of a secure international cybersphere, to support the principles of single open stable free secure cyberspace which adheres to the values of democracy and human rights. The initiatives promote the UN framework for responsible states' behaviour to ensure the stability of cyberspace.

Africa is diverse and each state has its context,

Taking the example of the Malabo convention, the failure or refusal to ratify this convention may have political dimensions rooted in our diversity (political, cultural, historical) in addition to the lack of capacity despite many initiatives, confidence building measures and capacity building, led by the AUC.

The continent should be interested in issues related to Cyber Diplomacy because cyberspace like any global environment is only as strong as its weakest link, and Africa must NOT be the weak link.

and that does that but Kat Dr Katarina Höne,

oday we will discuss the impact of AI on diplomacy and mediation.

Center on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding, Graduate Institute in Geneva

Number of internet users and world trade by sector

Open trade should not have to suffer in this global reordering. But that outcome is not guaranteed. It requires us to combine the pursuit of a rules-based international order with a drive to reduce our strategic vulnerabilities.

three-quarters of Europeans are in favour of a common EU defence and security policy.

The single market allows the EU to use its economic weight to steer openness in a rules-based direction, and to set values and standards in other parts of the world – which it already does via the so-called Brussels effect

a form of “managed globalisation” within our single market

over 70% of the euro area’s participation in global value chains was already regional in 2019

Having spent decades investing in regionalisation, the EU is well placed to succeed in a world where the global order is more fragmented,

“open strategic autonomy”

Fragmentation at the global level may ultimately spur greater integration at the regional level because the latter can help to manage the costs of a changing world.

for the first time, we may see these two forces diverge

to offset cost pressures emanating from higher energy prices and the associated elevated transportation costs.

for deeper regional risk-sharing

a fallback, regionalisation allows countries to recreate some of the benefits of globalisation on a smaller scale and to limit these costs.

the first best option is still to defend the rules-based multilateral trading system that powered the rise of global trade

establishing fully domestic semiconductor manufacturing supply chains within the United States could cost up to USD 1 trillion, according to one estimate

lower international risk-sharing and higher transitional costs.

from globalisation to regionalisation

semiconductors or pharmaceuticals

is aiming to double its share of the global market for semiconductor production to 20% by 2030.[21]

International firms will still face strong incentives to organise production where costs are lowest, but geopolitical imperatives might restrict the perimeter in which they can do so.

in which geopolitical biases are being introduced into strategic supply chains at the expense of efficiency considerations

By late 2021 almost half of companies had diversified their supplier base, in contrast to just 5% that had implemented reshoring measures.

we are likely to see a greater focus on diversifying suppliers and stockpiling essential inputs.

a “Goldilocks” scenario of relative economic and geopolitical stability

The euro area is highly dependent on Russia for, among other things, cobalt and vanadium. These are key inputs for the 3D printing, drone and robotics industries.

China was estimated to control over half of the global rare earths mining capacity in 2020, and 85% of rare earths refining.

extremely vulnerable to disruptions in the face of global shocks that affect multiple sectors at once

the vulnerabilities of this model.

Integration with global value chains led to lower import prices, technology spillovers, and productivity gains from the international division of labour

Trade as a share of GDP rose from 31% to 54% in the euro area between 1999 and 2019, whereas in the United States it rose from just 23% to 26%

trade safer

These are the shifts from dependence to diversification, from efficiency to security, and from globalisation to regionalisation.

nickel, palladium we rely on that can—goes into catalytic converters, can end up raising the prices of cars. A wide range of commodities.

Ukraine and Russia provide more than 20 percent of global food exports, we’re seeing skyrocketing wheat, corn prices, energy.

more secure energy supplies.

to adopt high standards with respect to labor, the environment, privacy protections, digital—you know, treatment of digital business and services that these countries might band together and form partnerships, you know, that can be open partnerships that other countries can join, participate in, so that it’s not a closed grouping; it’s a plurilateral but open grouping that would encourage other countries to join.

friend-shoring means—and you’ve seen this in action—that we have a group of countries that have strong adherence to a set of norms and values about how to operate in the global economy and about how to run the global economic system, and we need to deepen our ties with those partners and to work together to make sure that we can supply our needs of critical materials.

the dollar’s over 60 percent of global reserves,

that makes investors all around the world feel safe in relying on the dollar as a store of value and means of exchange, so there will be a desire to avoid sanctions, to replace the dollar, but I don’t think we will likely see that happen.

he benefits of continued efficiencies in production by having a group of partners who work to shore up supply chains and make them more resilient.

China relies in many ways on state-owned enterprises and engages in practices that I think unfairly damage our national-security interests.

can the dollar reserves be weaponized?

I don’t think we need to invent a completely new financial architecture, but we do need to enable these institutions to address modern-day challenges.

pivot point,

a new Bretton Woods

broader spillovers of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

strengthening the global health architecture to boost pandemic preparedness and response.

a more secure and cleaner energy future

Experts put the funding needs in the trillions, and we’ve so far been working in billions.

financial firefighter

to reform profit reallocation rules

to end the race to the bottom in corporate taxes

our

a network of plurilateral trade arrangements to incorporate elements of the modern economy that are growing in economic importance, especially digital services.

harmonize our approaches to protecting the privacy of data.

trusted countries

friend-shoring of supply chains

free but secure trade

to build trust and cooperation to improve our ability to provide the global public goods

committed to a set of core values and principles

China cannot expect the global community to respect its appeals to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity in the future if does not respect these principles now when it counts.

the unified coalition of sanctioning countries will not be indifferent to actions that undermine the sanctions we’ve put in place.

With over 275 million people facing acute food insecurity, I am deeply concerned about the impact of Russia’s war on food prices and supply, particularly on poor populations who spend a larger share of their income on food.

energy, food, fertilizer,

finance and foreign policy and national security are interconnected

The need for common values and geostrategic compatibility will now increasingly shape trade and investment flows. The GATT and the WTO were predicated on the assumption that trade could and should flow freely between countries irrespective of any potential security or philosophical divergences.

have had the luxury of focusing primarily on economic efficiencies and the pursuit of greater profitability.

to be binding the North Atlantic partners together more tightly in order to fortify their combined capacity to counter China and Russia.

a new cabinet post – Minister for Economic Security – which is an explicit recognition of the increasingly vital linkage between trade and security considerations that both Yellen and Lagarde described.

by a call for trade to be increasingly conducted within a much more narrowly defined basket of “friends” who share common “values”.

Both have embodied the strong pro-globalization, pro-free trade conventional wisdom that has been dominant in Washington, Brussels and many other world capitals since at least the 1980s.

such as respect for international law and human rights.”