China in the Sustainable Development Agenda: Key Institutions for International Engagement
China has a large and expansive network of actors working on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) activities. This report maps the foremost key Chinese actors and institutions with an orientation towards international activities.
China’s role in the Sustainable Development Agenda: Considerations for Norway
China’s role as an international development actor is growing, with real and increasing potential to impact Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). On some issues, Chinese initiatives align well with Norwegian interests, but China’s approach to development also diverges on some key practices and norms. While Chinese international efforts meet mixed reactions, Norway should stake out its own course for when and how to engage with China over SDGs.
China in the Sustainable Development Agenda: Key environmental issues and responses
China is dealing with very serious pollution levels and the unsustainable use of many natural resources. Environmental issues, concerning both air, ground, and ocean, have gained increasing recognition in Chinese domestic politics, and China is stepping into more active roles in international environmental governance. By committing to international agreements but insisting on differentiated responsibilities and voluntary contributions, China is taking something of a middle position between developing countries and many higher-income states.
China in the Sustainable Development Agenda: Contributions to health and education
China is scaling up its investments in health and education, making significant contributions to the UN 2030 Agenda and related Sustainable Development Goals. Domestically, China is working to modernize its entire health care system, improve mandatory and additional education, and foster elite academic institutions. Internationally, China is increasing both its bilateral and multilateral support. Looking beyond 2020, the coronavirus crisis is not likely to change this overall trajectory, but China may increase its investment in both domestic and international health and disease prevention systems.
From careful participant to budding partner: China in the Sustainable Development Agenda
China is an increasingly active player in the Sustainable Development Agenda. It has staked out a national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) plan that stresses comprehensive development with serious consideration to environmental issues. Internationally, China’s development role is growing, manifested through increasing trade, aid, and investment and a stronger position within many international organizations. China uses SDG-related activities to promote and align its domestic and international development interests.
Consequences of Investments for National Security (COINS)
How can liberal open societies reap the benefits of open economies, but at the same time protect their legitimate security interests? In the project “Consequences of Investments for Na...
China's Evolving Approach to UN Peacekeeping in Africa
China’s new, assertive role in UN peacekeeping, especially in Africa, represents a significant shift in Beijing’s peace and security posture that is not yet fully reflected in official discourse and rhetoric, but that reflects China’s new confidence with its global power status. Every significant adaptation in its peacekeeping policy has reflected an important shift in the country’s practical foreign and security policy. Tracing and tracking China’s peacekeeping policy and practice is thus a useful proxy for analysing the evolution of its peace and security considerations. In this In this report Senior Research Fellows Kari Osland and Cedric de Coning consider the medium- to long-term trajectory of China’s peace and security practices by analysing its recent activity in Africa, focusing on how China has used its contributions to the UN peacekeeping missions in Mali (MINUSMA) and South Sudan (UNMISS).
Brexit and the future European foreign policy coordination
The UK's withdrawal from the EU has created great uncertainty about European foreign policy cooperation. Does the E3 format have a future after Brexit?
Brothers in Arms and Faith? The Emerging US-Central and Eastern Europe ‘Special Relationship’
In this policy note, we explore the nature, strength and tensions of the contemporary US-Central Eastern Europe relationship. We describe the expanding US-CEE ‘brotherhood in arms’: growing trade relations, intensified military cooperation, and rekindled diplomatic ties. Further, we unpack the striking and largely ignored dimensions of the US-CEE ‘brotherhood in faith’: the many ways in which the United States and Central and Eastern Europe are tied together by overlapping ideologies of national conservatism and a particular version of Christian ‘family values’. This involves addressing the complexities of an increasingly influential and ambitious Visegrád Group, whose key players – Poland and Hungary – may be brothers, but are by no means twins. It also means raising some broader, burning discussions about the future of NATO and the meaning of ‘Europe’. Universalist, multicultural and postnational? Or conservative, Christian and sovereigntist?
A Governance and Risk Inventory for a Changing Arctic
Many government officials, military leaders, and political observers have proclaimed the rise of a new, post-Cold War global great power competition between the United States, Russia, and China with myriad implications. Using this new reality as the backdrop for the Arctic Security Roundtable at the Munich Security Conference 2020, roundtable participants are asked to explore, discuss, and debate this issue in the context of, and implications for the new globalized Arctic. This paper – a primer of Arctic trends, risks, and institutions – provides a useful starting point for the discussion. Discussing Arctic security in high-level forums is important. One might ask why we should take the time to discuss the Arctic if we are not fighting a war there. The answer is this: there is a new ocean opening up due to global climate change. There is a promising track record of governance cooperation in the region that serves as a basis for pursuing sustainable management of and peace in this new ocean. The point of dialogue – with an emphasis on cooperation, joint governance and outlining risks and potential tipping points – is to make sure that we do not add the Arctic to the already far-too-long list of global hot spots. The Arctic Security Roundtable at the Munich Security Conference 2020 provides one such confidential forum for proactive and constructive debate on Arctic security issues.