Am 4. Februar 2022 beginnen die Olympischen Winterspiele in China. Einige Länder haben einen politischen Boykott aufgrund der massiven Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch das chinesische Regime verkündet. In der Geschichte der Olympischen Spiele gab es immer wieder umfassende sportliche Boykotte – unter anderem Montreal 1976, Moskau 1980 oder auch Los Angeles 1984. Ein Blick auf diese historischen Beispiele ermöglicht eine Einschätzung möglicher Wirkungen eines Olympiaboykotts. Die deutsche Bundesregierung konnte sich nicht zu einer eindeutigen Position zu einem möglichen Boykott der anstehenden Winterspiele durchringen. Zumindest tragen die Diskussionen darüber aber dazu bei, national und international die Aufmerksamkeit für chinesische Menschenrechtsverletzungen aufrecht zu erhalten.
Looking back to understand the present: The coup in Burkina Faso and the legacy of regional interventions
The third military coup in West Africa in less than a year happened on 23rd January 2022 in Burkina Faso. The government of ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré was declared deposed, the constitution suspended, and parliament dissolved. The strong man behind the military take-over is Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. Initial international reactions have called on the military to engage in dialogue and return to democratically constituted order. A delegation of ECOWAS and UN high representatives arrived in Ouagadougou to hold consultations in the country which will inform the ECOWAS summit on 3rd February 2022. Eyes are on the regional body following its harsh sanctions applied against neighboring Mali. While comparison with Mali is important to understand developments in the Sahel region, looking at the current situation in Burkina Faso through the prism of previous coups in the country as well as local experiences of regional interventions might yield more fruitful insights to understand what is going on.
Enhancing Coordination within the African Peace and Security Architecture
Over the last two decades, African states have demonstrated increasing agency in addressing conflicts by using their capacities at the national, sub-regional and continental levels. This newfound quest for inward solutions was ushered in by the formation of the African Union (AU) in 2001 which was empowered with normative and institutional mechanisms to coordinate African preventive and reactive approaches to crisis situations. Although this African agency is a welcome development, significant gaps remain in terms of harmonising various capacities within the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). Further harmonization requires a critical rethinking of APSA’s coordination mechanisms in peace and security.
Investment in the Blue Economy for enhanced Maritime Security
The conventional understanding of maritime security is one that is viewed as battle-ready and state-centric. However, a more sustainable approach would be investment in the maritime sector under the Blue Economy (BE) lens. This would bring the general public into the fold of manning the marine space and frontiers, it would be essential in increasing the scope of security factors to be addressed. The incorporation of BE into African Peace and Security Architecture is vital in order to give it the required prominence within the continent’s peace and security agenda.
AI for Arms Control: How Artificial Intelligence Can Foster Verification and Support Arms Control
Time and again, modern technology has enhanced arms control – with satellites, surveillance planes or more potent sensory equipment – to detect traces of forbidden substances. More recently, uncrewed vehicles found their way into the arsenals of arms control inspectors, enhancing verification. A very promising yet more difficult application will be to make use of artificial intelligence (AI) in arms control. However, many people have mixed emotions when it comes to AI, and exaggerated hopes as well as unjustified fears dominate the debate. The aim of this paper is to dispel reservations and, based on small projects, show how AI can be used in a reasonable way to enhance arms control and verification without getting caught up in hype.
Flüchtlingsschutz muss Grenzschutz weichen: Zum Vorschlag der EU-Kommission zur Reform des Schengen-Systems
Im Dezember legte die EU-Kommission einen Gesetzentwurf zur Reform des Schengen-Systems vor. Was auf den ersten Blick die Grenzkontrollen im Rahmen des Schengener Grenzkodexes harmonisieren soll, könnte zur weiteren Erosion der Menschenrechte an den EU-Außengrenzen beitragen. Die Mitgliedstaaten werden primär mit Maßnahmen ausgestattet, die auf Abschreckung und Verhinderung von Asylverfahren ausgerichtet sind. Dies untergräbt letztlich das normative Fundament der Union.
The Tricky Politics of Recognizing Armed Non-State Actors
The new volume “Armed non-state actors and the politics of recognition” by editors Anna Geis, Maéva Clément, and Hanna Pfeifer discusses armed non-state actors and their strategic pursuit of being recognized as political actors. It includes methodological considerations as well as case studies from China, Ireland, Lebanon, Nigeria and, Sudan among others. The contributions study the strategic choices that state leaders, citizens, international organizations, and others make in granting such recognition, denying it, or recognizing on their own terms.
Civil War in Ethiopia. The Instrumentalization and Politicization of Identity
For more than a year, the civil war between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has been causing severe human suffering and fatalities in the thousands. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, both conflict parties have committed serious human rights violations. This Spotlight shows how the shifting dynamics of ethnic power relations and the strategy of elite management pursued by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed contributed to the escalation of violence.
China in Post-coup Myanmar – Closer to Recognition, Further from „Pauk-phaw“
At the close of 2021 China remains one of the few foreign partners for Myanmar. Amid ongoing public resistance to the junta and violent protest suppression, Beijing and the new regime in Naypyidaw are looking for a new mode of mutually beneficial coexistence. The junta tries to buy China’s support and recognition through new bilateral projects, while China aims to create a safety net for its long-term interests in the country.
Non-State Actors in Peace and Security in Africa: Inclusion on Paper but not in Practice
In a speech at the fifth United Nations-African Union Annual Conference on 1 December 2021 in New York, Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres called for continued unity and a high standard of regional co-operation on the African continent. According to Guterres, examples of this high standard of cooperation can be seen in the joint missions and collaborative frameworks designed to overcome both new and old challenges around peace and security. However, since not only states play a vital role in this unity it is important to review the role of non-state actors in peace and security on the African continent.
