Private Military and Security Companies: A New Form of Mercenarism?

“Hiring outsiders to fight your battles is as old as war itself”. Peter W. Singer (2011)

Mercenaries, private contractors, soldiers of fortune, dogs of war, guns for hire, war lords ... These are some of the names given to individuals working for private companies that provide military and security services. The debate around the use of these companies is deeply polarized, with some authors portraying such military contractors as ‘messiahs’, praising their efficiency in modern conflicts and their expertise, while others perceive them as simple ‘hired guns’. However, the debate about legitimacy and legality aside, the privatization of security and of military forces is perhaps one of the most important changes in the security field in recent years. In the past three decades, Africa has seen a significant rise in, and consolidation of, the presence of private military and ...

Si les liens existant entre l’exportation de matières premières et l’industrialisation sont étudiés depuis longtemps, l’entrée résolue de l’économie mondiale dans l’ère de la transition environnementale et numérique leur offre une dimension toute particulière. L’évidence de la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique par la décarbonation de notre monde ne saurait, en effet, faire oublier toute la complexité de la stratégie à adopter pour y parvenir. Il s’agit, pour les pays exportateurs, de valoriser les minerais et métaux nécessaires au développement d’une économie verte, mais également, de tirer profit d’une période transitoire où la demande de gaz naturel restera forte. Une situation quasi-symétrique s’impose pour les pays importateurs :  ...

Beyond Brussels and Addis Ababa: How to make the AU-EU partnership work

The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) have never struggled to list common areas of interest or set up thematic partnerships and joint initiatives. The persistent challenge however is translating these partnerships into impact for both blocs of nations, particularly where interests diverge, such as those related to migration and green transition.

Fifteen years since the critical Lisbon summit and the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, the time to move is now. To make the partnership work, both parties need to reconsider their respective approaches. The EU will need to draw lessons from past limitations and its competitors’ success, and adapt its approach to better reflect African interests and expectations. African countries in turn will need to come together and create suitable continental frameworks that can more effectively respond to the expansive partnership ambitions ...

The Links between Elite Conflict, Education Policies and Economic Complexity: Analysis of the (Similar, yet Different) Developmental Trajectories of Mauritius & Singapore

Using education and elite configurations as the main variables of analysis, this Policy Paper aims to show how higher levels of popular sector incorporation during elite conflicts, namely in the process of formulating and implementing policies related to education reforms, can negatively affect the economic complexity of developing countries. To do so, it analyzes the experiences of Mauritius and Singapore and links foundational political economy theories, particularly developmental state theory, Waldner’s elite conflict paradigm (1999), and state-led innovation (Lee and Yoo, 2007), to economic complexity as an outcome. It essentially argues that popular sector incorporation and mobilization during elite conflict impedes on state-academia-industry coordination, which is a necessity for late developers to develop efficient networks of productive knowledge...

L'impact du COVID-19 sur le marché du travail : Une perspective marocaine

Date limite de soumission : 31 Mars 2022

L’apparition de la COVID-19 a engendré une crise sanitaire mondiale, qui s’est rapidement transformé à d’autres crises bouleversant le vécu des humains de par la planète. En ce qui concerne les marchés mondiaux, notamment du travail, les incertitudes ont fortement impacté les comportements des agents. Aussi, les mises sous restrictions, totales ou partielles, des facteurs de production ...

Sécurité au Sahel à la veille du Sommet Union européenne-Union africaine

Les coups d’état se sont enchainés dans l’actualité africaine, avec quatre pays suspendus par l’Union africaine en une année civile, la sécurité au Sahel avance à reculons. L’invité de ce Podcast nous éclaire sur les multiplications des insécurités au Sahel, les origines du sentiment anti-français ...

حديث الثلاثاء: النوع الاجتماعي بين الإنجازات القانونية والتحديات السياسية

يخصص مركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد حلقة برنامجه الأسبوعي

"حديث الثلاثاء" لتقييم مدى إدراج النوع الاجتماعي بين الإنجازات القانونية والتحديات السياسية مع أميمة عاشور، أستاذة جامعية ورئيسة جمعية جسور ملتقى النساء المغربيات ...

France in command of a Europe in Crisis

Presiding over the Council of the European Union, France has big ambitions but enormous challenges ahead. Migration remains a deeply divisive topic, and European sovereignty in the technological domain remains a challenging task for French president Emmanuel Macron ...