Brexit and Trade Ties between Europe and Commonwealth States in Sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities for Pro-poor Growth or a Further Entrenchment of North–South Inequalities?

Abstract

Brexit will of course have major implications for trade between Commonwealth African nations and the European continent. In the short term, the European Commission’s Economic Partnership Agreements with regional groups such as the East African Community will be complicated by the UK’s decision to leave the European project. Moreover, there are longer-term consequences to be considered, not least the role which the UK—as an independent trade actor—will adopt in its trade relations with Commonwealth African countries. This article examines the impact of Brexit for Commonwealth African nations’ trade with Europe (including the UK). It particularly points to several potential pitfalls arising from the Brexit referendum vis-à-vis African development.     

The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Defence,Industry and Strategy

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, if ratified by all parties, is likely to have ramifications for the global defence market and the US’ economic and political strategy towards the Asia-Pacific region. Although the TPP excludes a number of defence-related issues such as defence procurement, the TPP’s provisions on technology transfers and intellectual property rights could bolster the US’ military-technology relations with the Asia-Pacific. For Europe, which is excluded from the Partnership, the likely impact of TPP is uncertain and could raise important challenges and opportunities related to Europe’s own defence-industrial relations with the Asia-Pacific and its wider security role in the region.     

The political economy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership: a US perspective

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), signed in February 2016, is the most ambitious free trade deal of the postwar era. The 12 TPP countries account for nearly 40 percent of the world's economy. Coupled with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership—which is still being negotiated between the United States and the European Union—the TPP represents an attempt by the Obama Administration to lead in promoting regional trade and investment arrangements despite the failure of the Doha Round to reach a comprehensive global trade deal under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. Although the agreement among the 12 TPP countries has been reached, ratification by their legislatures is pending. Ratification by the US Congress remains uncertain due to complex economic and political factors in the United States, including the presidential election of 2016.     

NGO–researcher partnerships in global health research: benefits,challenges, and approaches that promote success

Partnerships involving NGOs and academic researchers (NGO–R partnerships) are increasing in global health research. Such collaborations present opportunities for knowledge translation in global health, yet are also associated with challenges for establishing and sustaining effective and respectful partnerships. We conducted a narrative review of the literature to identify benefits and challenges associated with NGO–R partnerships, as well as approaches that promote successful partnerships. We illustrate this analysis with examples from our own experiences. The results suggest that collaborations characterised by trust, transparency, respect, solidarity, and mutuality contribute to the development of successful and sustainable NGO–R partnerships.     

Commitments and challenges in participatory development: a Korean NGO working in Cambodia

Despite their growing significance in the development field, academic research regarding development NGOs from emerging donors, such as South Korea, is almost non-existent. This study is based on a case study of LotusWorld, a Korean NGO, and its two recent projects conducted in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Based on interviews with Korean staff and with a group of villagers in the local community, the article examines how LotusWorld’s vision and practices of participation have evolved from the first project to the second, as well as the challenges that they faced. Suggestions for further community participation are made for key actors.     

Managing rural landscapes in the context of a changing climate

Global competition for natural resources is intense and the supply of those resources is increasingly more constrained by climate variability and change. Governments and international development agencies have the dual responsibility to meet the socio-economic needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people while preserving and enhancing their natural capital. These responsibilities often are at odds with each other and different stakeholder groups have prioritised one over the other. This paper suggests that the landscape approach provides a solution for stakeholders to achieve climate change mitigation, adaptation, and poverty reduction goals, though not without some trade-offs.     

Being Strategic in Partnership – Interpreting Local Knowledge of Modern Local Government

Broad and international literature exists on networked governance which has both described and informed recent transformations in local government. Reforms in the UK have led to the development of strategic partnerships to join up services and solve wicked issues. In Scotland, these are referred to as Community Planning Partnerships. Evidence from numerous studies has highlighted the partial nature of this transformation, particularly around community engagement, with some of the pioneers of this work now questioning earlier assumptions. This article presents an interpretive policy analysis of strategic partnership in Scotland to add three themes to this literature. First, to demonstrate the historical contingency of ‘joined-up government’; second, to explore the practices and meanings used by policy actors to understand ‘strategic’ and ‘partnerships’. Finally, the article problematises strategic partnership working, suggesting that in and of itself it creates effective barriers to community empowerment and even engagement.     

Configuring ‘country ownership’: patterns of donor-recipient relations

Given the proliferation in the number and type of development actors and an expressed desire by donors to engage them in a more meaningful way, this article identifies multiple ways in which ‘country ownership’ is manifested in practice. Through comparative case research, this article examines the involvement of five sets of actors in: problem identification, resource administration, programme design, implementation, and governance. Three donor-recipient relationship patterns emerge: ‘doctor knows best’, ‘empowered patient’, and ‘it takes a village’, each with specific conditions but overall underrepresentation of recipient country actors, suggesting that their involvement could take place more often than currently occurs.

Configurer l'« appropriation par les pays » : schémas des rapports bailleurs de fonds-récipiendaires

Au vu de la prolifération du nombre et des types d'acteurs de développement et du désir exprimé par les bailleurs de fonds d'intervenir de manières plus significatives, cet article identifie des manières multiples dont se manifeste l'« appropriation par les pays » dans la pratique. À travers des recherches comparatives sur des cas particuliers, j'examine le rôle joué par cinq ensembles d'acteurs dans : l'identification des problèmes, l'administration des ressources, la conception des programmes, la mise en ?uvre et la gouvernance. Trois schémas des rapports bailleurs de fonds-récipiendaires se sont dégagés : « le docteur a toujours raison », « le patient autonomisé » et « il faut tout un village », chacun doté de conditions précises, mais avec dans l'ensemble une sous-représentation des acteurs des pays récipiendaires, ce qui suggère que leur participation pourrait avoir lieu plus souvent que ce n'est le cas à l'heure actuelle.

Configurando la “apropiación nacional”: patrones de relaciones entre donantes y destinatarios

Tomando en cuenta la proliferación numérica y el tipo de actores participantes en el desarrollo, así como el deseo expresado por los donantes de relacionarse con éstos de manera más profunda, el presente artículo señala las distintas maneras en que la “apropiación nacional” se manifiesta en la práctica. A través de investigaciones realizadas por medio de comparación de casos, la autora analiza la participación de cinco conjuntos de actores en materia de identificación de problemas, de gestión de recursos, de diseño de programas, de implementación y de gobierno. Identifica tres patrones de relación entre donantes y destinatarios: “el médico lo sabe todo”, “el paciente empoderado” y “hace falta una aldea”, cada uno con sus condicionantes específicos. Sin embargo, en general, los mismos adolecen de la baja representatividad de los actores en el país destinatario, lo cual apunta a que éstos deberían participar con una frecuencia mayor que aquella con la que actualmente lo hacen.

Configurando a “propriedade de país”: modelos de relações de doador-recebedor

Dada a proliferação no número e tipo de agentes de desenvolvimento e uma vontade expressa dos doadores de engajarem-se de maneira mais significativa, este artigo identifica várias maneiras pelas quais a “propriedade de país” é manifestada na prática. Através de pesquisa de caso comparativa, eu examino o envolvimento de cinco conjuntos de agentes: identificação de problema, administração de recursos, montagem de programa, implementação e governança. Três modelos de relação doador-recebedor surgiram: “o doutor sabe mais”, “paciente empoderado” e “é preciso uma aldeia inteira”, cada um com condições específicas, mas no geral com sub-representação de agentes do país recebedor, sugerindo que seu envolvimento poderia ocorrer de maneira mais frequente do que ocorre atualmente.     

TPP的政治化与中国崛起

尽管跨太平洋伙伴关系协议（TPP）是太平洋国家间的一项着力于经济事务的议题,但它自然地具有一定的政治向度。美国参加TPP后掌握其主导权,逐渐使之显现出了政治化的趋势,成为配合美国近期战略调整的工具。这对中国在东亚的政治和安全地位带来消极的影响,甚至有可能挤压中国在东亚乃至亚太的正当利益和正常战略空间。虽然存在政治化的需求,但在政治向度上的进一步深化使TPP面临着许多困难。尽管中国是否参与尚在未定之天,但中国在现阶段对TPP应积极关注、冷静应对、适当作为。     

Of veto players and entity-voting: institutional gridlock in the Bosnian reform process

Entity-voting in the Bosnian Parliamentary Assembly is a veto mechanism in Bosnia's consociational institutional setting and an important reason for the country's orientation towards the political status quo. An empirical analysis of the number and nature of adopted and rejected draft laws during the legislative period 2006–2010, embedded in George Tsebelis's veto player approach, leads to the conclusion that the veto players in the parliament – either delegates from Republika Srpska or delegates from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – have pushed the consociational system of checks and balances to its extremes. Entity-voting enables the veto players to “hijack” the parliament for their exclusionary ethnic interests and discourages cooperation and compromise between the veto players. Significant legislation, which in the present article is defined as legislation relevant for the European Partnership, faces severe obstacles to getting passed. In the light of these findings, the article discusses three policy implications: institutional redesign, a change of the actors, and an active role of the European Union for providing the actors with a realistically achievable goal which they equally share. This should reset the current calculus of self-interest and encourage cooperation between the veto players.