Contenu du sommaire : Le Golfe : nouveau centre du Moyen-Orient ?

The economies of the Persian Gulf are highly dependent on their petrol exports, particularly to Asia. However, the demand for this energy source, which is considered to be in part responsible for global warming, is gradually decreasing. The states in the region are preparing for the consequences of this fall in demand by seeking to diversify their economies. They are investing in cleaner energy sources like natural gas and solar power stations.

Iran is involved in several different regional conflicts. As illustrated by the anti-Iranian protests in Iraq, nationalist movements are increasingly challenging Tehran's influence. The Iranian people are also becoming more critical of the regional strategy implemented by their leaders, who are in turn facing internal divisions: while President Rouhani is a pragmatist, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei aims primarily to preserve the legacy of the Islamic Revolution.

During the Cold War, Saudi Arabia used its petrodollars to spread Wahhabism. However, after September 11, 2001, Saudi religious diplomacy changed direction, denouncing the excesses of Jihadists and advocating a “justly balanced Islam.” This new position has been strengthened by the appointment of Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa as secretary general of the Muslim World League. However, there are still grounds on which to question the sincerity and effectiveness of this diplomatic about-turn.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have dramatically increased in stature since their independence in 1971. Over the past decade, they have been establishing themselves on the global stage, deve-loping an ambitious port strategy and engaging increasingly in armed conflicts. Their foreign policy is rooted primarily in the desire to guarantee the survival of the UAE in a volatile environment. This is particularly reflected in their open opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood.

After decades of opposition, Israel and the Gulf countries have been reconciling since the 2000s and in the wake of the Arab Spring. Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates share an obsessive aversion to the Muslim Brotherhood and to Tehran's nuclear program and regional expansion. Their increasingly apparent relationship is developing in the context of the United States' relative withdrawal from the region and the proposal of a “peace plan,” which, while in line with Israeli interests, worryingly overlooks Palestine.

Emmanuel Macron has declared his intention to redefine relations with Moscow. His statements have caused a stir in Germany, where the chancellor and her minister of foreign affairs advocate a hardline approach toward Vladimir Putin, despite the great number of collaborations between the two countries. Part of the political and economic elite in Germany opposes Angela Merkel's Russian policy and wants Germany to be more conciliatory toward Russia.

We must engage in dialogue with Russia. Nonetheless, we must bear in mind that the country has different political roots to Western countries and that its current leader's power-oriented objectives are not compatible with ours. In this article, we emphasize the importance of redisco-vering the concept behind the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) – that is, of dialogue on all areas that concern us, with a European Union that gives up bilateral logic in order to operate uniformly on aims determined collectively.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (Indian People's Party) saw its electoral success in 2019 as an endorsement of its line of Hindu nationalism. This explains the decisions taken on Kashmir, Ayodhya, and the law protecting non-Muslim refugees. The latter sparked a huge protest movement in the country, even if international responses were rather moderate. The government must now choose between a tactical withdrawal and a real cultural revolution, in line with the totality of current nationalist desires.

Is China the leader of global innovation, and thus the main technological competition for Wes-tern economies? The reality is more ambiguous. Chinese authorities in fact consider the country to be falling behind and, in 2015, implemented the Made in China 2025 plan to remedy this. The plan's success is uncertain, due both to the ambiguity of the links between public policies and private dynamics and to the absence of reforms favoring innovation and improvements in productivity.

An irreplaceable reservoir of biodiversity and freshwater, the Amazon basin has become extremely important in this age of climate disruption. The fires that affected the Amazon rainforest in 2019 revealed the fragility of this space and shed light on the profound divergences between the Brazilian government and the international community. Jair Bolsonaro is a climate change denier who considers economic development to be more important than protecting the environment.

As our societies become increasingly dependent on communication technologies, the space en-vironment is undergoing a strategic transformation. Despite still being largely dominated by the United States, access to space has become democratized and privatized. Space is also much more crowded, leading to an increased risk of accidents. There has been a growth in aggressive behaviors in space, prompting the most advanced countries to boost their “space deterrence” capacities.

Nearly thirty years after its creation, the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC) is struggling to meet its objective, despite its widespread recognition by states. There are multiple reasons for this, including errors in its direction and its positioning within the ins-titutional landscape, as well as deficiencies in the constituent treaty itself. In this article are exa-mined these obstacles and offered some suggestions for revitalizing an institution whose role is now more crucial than ever.

The armies deployed in the Sahel are no longer managing to contain the threat of terrorism. The sometimes-indiscriminate military repression even feeds the conflictual dynamics. Faced with this observation, other avenues could be explored to try to stabilize the region. Negotiations with jihadist groups could be an option. However, numerous obstacles stand in the way of this, and negotiations attempted in other areas have not always produced the desired effects.

Since the overthrow of Ben Ali's regime in 2011, Tunisia has established a political system that aims to avoid excessive concentration of power. However, this new system has proven to be inadequate: it has resulted in a dispersion of power so great that public action has become inef-fective and undermined by cronyism. Major reforms must be undertaken in order for govern-ments to gain legitimacy and become more efficient. If not, the allure of authoritarianism could again rear its head.