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2. Is Feminist Foreign Policy driving progress for women’s representation in diplomacy?
- Author:
- Caroline Green, Marta Kozielska, and Karen E. Smith
- Publication Date:
- 10-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Building on an October 2022 Women in Diplomacy online event, this Strategic Update assesses the implications of feminist foreign policy (FFP) adoption for driving progress on improving women’s representation in diplomacy. Tracking the spread of FFPs globally and the ministers responsible for implementation, this paper focuses on their potential for improving or strengthening the role of women in diplomacy – including in ambassadorial and cabinet foreign-policy roles.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Women, Feminism, and Representation
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
3. China’s Global Strategy as Science Fiction
- Author:
- William A. Callahan
- Publication Date:
- 01-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Xi Jinping is leading China in a new direction, but how are we to understand his global strategy? For most countries, to understand domestic and international politics we would analyse authoritative sources – leaders’ speeches, official documents and statistics, elite interviews and essays, and public opinion surveys. In the 2000s these methods worked well to probe Chinese politics. But since civil society and independent thought have been severely restricted under Xi, it’s necessary to go beyond such “factual” sources. To understand China’s global strategy, it’s best to read fiction, especially Chinese science fiction. This essay critically analyses Liu Cixin’s novels, The Wandering Earth and the Three Body Problem trilogy, to probe how Chinese sci-fi pushes us to think creatively about key topics: the relation of humans and technology, the relation of science and politics, and the relations between political communities, i.e. are we doomed to existential struggle, or can we engage with difference in creative and productive ways?
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Science and Technology, Grand Strategy, Novels, and Science Fiction
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
4. China’s Provinces as Global Actors: Evidence from China-Africa Relations
- Author:
- Charlotte Lenz
- Publication Date:
- 01-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- With the launch in the early 2000s of China’s ‘Going Global’ Strategy, Chinese provinces became one group of actors participating in China’s South-South relations. In this Strategic Update, Charlotte Lenz investigates the role of Chinese provinces as foreign policy actors and explains their internationalisation strategies, challenging the prevalent perception of China as a unitary actor on the world stage. Drawing on evidence from Africa-China relations, the report identifies two strategies employed by Chinese provinces in pursuit of their foreign policy interests: (1) Formal and informal “twinning” as a collaborative model between central and local actors, wherein central actors design policies and provincial governments execute projects; (2) and “clustering” according to a sectoral logic of investment and diplomacy in which a certain Chinese province engages a certain foreign country. Despite ongoing bureaucratic centralisation under Xi Jinping, provinces continue to pursue their own internationalisation strategies to help meet local economic and employment targets. Understanding their agency, interests and limitations is thus key to deriving a better understanding of China’s evolving global presence.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Bilateral Relations, Investment, and Internationalization
- Political Geography:
- Africa, China, and Asia
5. "Best and Bosom Friends" Putin, Xi and the Challenge to the West
- Author:
- Michael Cox
- Publication Date:
- 11-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- In this latest Strategic Update, LSE IDEAS co-founder Professor Michael Cox highlights China as a significant player in the current tragedy occurring within Ukraine. Prof Cox traces the relationship between the People’s Republic and the USSR, through to the latter’s collapse into the Russian Federation, their formation of a strategic partnership against a unipolar post-Cold War order, and the rise in power of Xi Jinping alongside two international crises caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine. This Update finds that, whilst there are limits to their shared interests, China is politically committed to its Russian partner, and this status-quo leaves us in a more dangerous world.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Partnerships, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Russia-Ukraine War
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, and Asia
6. Turkey’s Involvement in the Libyan Conflict, the Geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean and Drone Warfare
- Author:
- Buğra Süsler
- Publication Date:
- 08-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Dr Buğra Süsler’s Strategic Update explains Turkish foreign policy-making around a fragile Libya, highlighting its impact on power dynamics in the North Africa and the Middle East, as well as opening a gateway to sub-Saharan Africa. The paper addresses Turkey’s regional economic and political motives, the AKP’s increasingly hawkish use of hard power – especially the diplomatic and ethical implications of the Turkish military’s specialisation in drone warfare – and Ankara’s desire to maintain mutually beneficial relations with Libyan power-brokers key to post-civil war reconstruction.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, Drones, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Libya, North Africa, and Mediterranean
7. China’s Digital Silk Road in Indonesia: Progress and implications
- Author:
- Zulfikar Rakhmat
- Publication Date:
- 07-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- This Strategic Update discusses the progress of China’s Digital Silk Road in Indonesia, a major destination, in both its hard and soft aspects, as well as the potential impact of its implementation. Chinese companies are offering a response to Indonesia’s needs, but concerns exist, especially surrounding security and surveillance, that Indonesia’s increasing reliance on China could also further erode its democracy.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Economy, Surveillance, and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
- Political Geography:
- China, Indonesia, Asia, and Indo-Pacific
8. ASEAN’s Cambodian Stress Test
- Author:
- Tan Sri Munir Majid
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has faced an unprecedented challenge since the military junta seized power in a coup in Myanmar in 2020. Departing from its initial premise of ‘non-interference’ in the domestic policies of its member states, the regional group decided to ban Myanmar’s military representatives from meetings and summits. The five-point plan for consensus was supported by most members, however, Cambodia’s tenure as Chair of this organisation has brought the plan’s efficacy and longevity into question. At a time when Europe stands united against Russian actions in Ukraine, with a coherent and consistent response from states across the continent, can ASEAN do the same as it seeks to find a peaceful solution in the case of Myanmar?
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, ASEAN, Regional Politics, and Russia-Ukraine War
- Political Geography:
- Cambodia and Southeast Asia
9. Regime Change No More: Coming to Terms with the Greater Middle East
- Author:
- Henrik Larsen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Reflecting on the ‘farcical retreat from Afghanistan’ back in August 2021, Henrik Larsen discusses the need for a reckoning within US foreign policy and that of its NATO Allies. To focus on the other challenges to transatlantic security with a sense of integrity, these states must come to grips with their failed regime change agenda over the past 20 years. Afghanistan was the first of their interventions in the Greater Middle East since 2001, alongside Iraq, Libya, and Syria, that obscured the pursuit of realistic objectives and prioritised (liberal) ideals that proved to be detached from the local realities. In the wake of NATO’s new Strategic Concept for 2030 and beyond, this Strategic Update seeks to analyse the options for policy in the Middle East going forward.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, NATO, and Regime Change
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Middle East, and United States of America
10. Can Chancellor Scholz Save the West? The New German Government and Global Geopolitics
- Author:
- Maximilian Terhalle
- Publication Date:
- 01-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- In the wake of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s departure from the German Chancellorship, her successor, Olaf Scholz, inherits a Germany which has been lacking in strategic vision and an acute foreign policy for a considerable amount of time. Maximilian Terhalle asks, can Chancellor Scholz provide this vision for his country, and imbue NATO and the EU with a coherent and unified foreign policy in the face of threats from China, Russia, and a divided ‘West’?
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, NATO, European Union, Geopolitics, Olaf Scholz, and Russia-Ukraine War
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Europe, and Germany
11. Education, Training and Capacity Building in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) 2021: Multilateral and Bilateral Ambitions Twenty Years On
- Author:
- Kenneth King
- Publication Date:
- 04-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- The latest Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) took place in Dakar, Senegal in November 2021. Among the huge range of pledges and agreements, one of the most extensive was capacity building through scholarships, targeted training and people-to-people exchanges. In this Occasional Paper, Kenneth King analyses China’s pledges not just in the sphere of formal education, but across the many different sectors of China’s collaboration with Africa for the next three years. While the impact of COVID-19 can be seen in the reduction of some face-to-face opportunities in China, the extent of what is agreed to be implemented in Africa remains significant. Though these ambitious promises are agreed multilaterally with the whole of Africa, they are delivered bilaterally across the continent in more than fifty different country settings, reflecting how the Africa-China relationship remains strong after two decades of growing engagement.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Education, International Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, Multilateralism, Training, and Capacity Building
- Political Geography:
- Africa and China
12. UK Economic Diplomacy in the 21st Century: The LSE Economic Diplomacy Commission Final Report
- Author:
- LSE Economic Diplomacy Commission
- Publication Date:
- 02-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- The LSE Economic Diplomacy Commission was convened in 2019 to establish a strategic direction for a new age of foreign economic policy, to understand the domestic ramifications of changes to the UK’s trade agenda, and to present recommendations that may best advance the UK’s priorities at home and abroad. The aim of the Report is to position the UK optimally in a changed 21st century global economy while maintaining the UK’s support for an open, multilateral trade and rules-based international system. The Report proposes a refined economic diplomacy framework that seeks to balance commercial openness with strategic domestic and foreign policy aims, broadly defined.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Economics, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
13. FOCAC at 21: Future Trajectories of China-Africa Relations
- Author:
- Chris Alden, Stephen Paduano, Mzukisi Qobo, Lukas Fiala, Iginio Gagliardone, Yu-Shan Wu, Gidon Gautel, and Lina Benabdallah
- Publication Date:
- 10-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- The China-Africa relationship has continued to evolve over the last years. In light of the 8th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that will take place later in 2021, the latest report from LSE IDEAS China Foresight brings together an international team of experts to shed light on emerging and consolidated areas of engagement between China and Africa that will likely shape the relationship in the years to come.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, and Engagement
- Political Geography:
- Africa and China
14. President Biden’s Africa Policy
- Author:
- Rebecca Rattner and Bjorn Whitmore
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Joe Biden’s administration has committed to transforming America’s relationships across the globe. This period of reform presents the opportunity for a long-overdue reimagination of America’s policy in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this Strategic Update, Rebecca Rattner and Bjorn Whitmore argue a successful new relationship between America and Sub-Saharan Africa must rely on genuine partnership, support to local actors, and strong regional institutions. Their piece considers how to apply these principles in practice by examining the nuanced socio-political realities in East, West, Central, and Southern Africa.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, and Joe Biden
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States of America, and Sub-Saharan Africa
15. Facing A Strategic Endgame? The US and the Ambiguities of Strategic Thinking
- Author:
- Christopher Coker
- Publication Date:
- 06-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- The disastrous strategic failures by the US in the past 30 years can be explained by its failure to understand what strategy actually is and how ambiguity lies at its heart. As a result it has stumbled from crisis to crisis. There is no reason to think that it is any better placed under Biden to address the challenges of a ‘post-hegemonic’ world, argues Christopher Coker.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Hegemony, Crisis Management, and Strategic Interests
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
16. The Dragon Lands in Belgrade: The Drivers of Sino-Serbian Partnership
- Author:
- Vuk Vuksanovic
- Publication Date:
- 07-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- In recent years, the partnership between Serbia and China has been elevated to a historically unprecedented level. This partnership manifests itself through Chinese economic statecraft, technological partnership, security partnership, with political ties reaching an unprecedented degree during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as Vuk Vuksanovic examines, the future of this partnership will be dependent on the trajectory of China’s relationship with the West. As US-China relations are becoming adversarial, and as China’s relations with the EU are shaken, it will become increasingly difficult and risky for Belgrade to maintain its ties with Beijing. From ‘vaccine diplomacy’ to ‘debt-trap diplomacy’, this Strategic Update examines the Sino-Serbian partnership we are witnessing and what the future has in store for Serbian policymakers.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Economics, Partnerships, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Serbia
17. Shaping the Indo-Pacific? Japan and Europeanisation
- Author:
- Yee-Kuang Heng
- Publication Date:
- 11-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- In this Strategic Update, Professor Yee-Kuang Heng investigates European power projection and presence in the Indo-Pacific, and its converging nature with Japan’s attempt to shape the regional environment in its favour. While UK threat perceptions have converged significantly with Japan’s since former Prime Minister David Cameron’s promulgation of a “golden era” in relations with China, managing expectations of Japan’s attempt to ‘shape’ and encourage Europeanisation remains crucial. But is it fair to conclude that Japan has been successful in encouraging a stronger European presence to help it shape the Indo-Pacific order?
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Europeanization, and Strategic Competition
- Political Geography:
- Japan, China, United Kingdom, Europe, and Indo-Pacific
18. The Russian Diaspora in the Baltic States: The Trojan Horse that never was
- Author:
- Sarah Coolican
- Publication Date:
- 12-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Thirty years ago this month, the world shook as one of the only two Superpowers unexpectedly collapsed, creating enormous ramifications for the 25 million ethnic Russians who found themselves as non-titular citizens outside the borders of the newly formed Russian Federation. This ‘beached diaspora’ has been left marginalised and treated with fear, by the Baltic States in their nation-building policies and has left many to think of this community as ‘ripe’ for Russian influence. This Strategic Update will analyse Russian soft power policies and the development of ‘Russkii Mir’ as a tool for utilising this diaspora to further its foreign policy. Tools, which have been seemingly unaffected to a community of autonomy seeking citizens.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diaspora, and Regional Power
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Eurasia, and Baltic States
19. China in One Country: interdependence or globalisation 'with Chinese characteristics'?
- Author:
- George Magnus
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Globalisation has faltered, and faces significant political challenges. In both the US and China, voices are calling for a reduction of economic interdependence between the two countries. In the US, this has taken the name of decoupling, in China, self-reliance. At the same time, China’s President, Xi Jinping has vocally championed globalisation in various global fora in recent years. Understanding of China’s systems of government and business, as well as its global interests, is lacking when compared to that of the US. In this Strategic Update, George Magnus investigates what is meant when China’s leadership speaks of globalisation, and what the implications of the answer are for the rest of the world.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, Globalization, and Leadership
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and United States of America
20. Economic Diplomacy in the 21st Century: Principles and Challenges
- Author:
- Linda Yueh
- Publication Date:
- 08-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Economic diplomacy in the 21st century will face a different set of challenges stemming from the changed global economy, US-China tensions, as well as a backlash against globalisation, among others. Therefore, the conduct of economic diplomacy, i.e., how a country manages its foreign economic relations including trade and investment, must adapt. The framework for economic diplomacy should seek to balance commercial openness with strategic foreign policy aims, broadly defined. It should situate a country within the 21st century global economy with its new drivers, promote a rules-based system in order to mitigate Great Power tensions, and recognise that all foreign economic policy is ultimately also domestic. There is no one general approach but there are several principles, each with their own challenges, for governments to consider, which is set out in this Strategic Update.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Investment, Trade, and Economic Diplomacy
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, North America, and United States of America
21. All Hands on Deck: the Crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Need for US Leadership
- Author:
- Alexandros Zachariades
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Crisis has returned to the Eastern Mediterranean where Greek and Turkish economic interests, legal claims, and armed forces are squaring off. In this Strategic Update, Alexandros Zachariades explores how the two NATO powers arrived at the current confrontation, how the contest intersects with issues ranging from China to Libya, and how the international community can resolve the tension.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, NATO, Economics, and Leadership
- Political Geography:
- China, Turkey, Greece, Libya, United States of America, and Mediterranean
22. Battleground Southeast Asia: China's Rise and America's Options
- Author:
- Charles Dunst
- Publication Date:
- 03-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- LSE IDEAS
- Abstract:
- Southeast Asia, while still a reservoir of goodwill for the US, has in recent years come increasingly under China's umbrella. In this Strategic Update, Charles Dunst analyzes China's expansion there, discusses Southeast Asians' American predeliction, and offers steps the US can take to "win back" the region.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Politics, International Affairs, and Strategic Competition
- Political Geography:
- China, Southeast Asia, and United States of America