CSS Blog NetworkThe CSS Blog features the analyses of CSS experts, entries in the CSS Mediation Perspectives series and graphics produced by the CSS, which cover a range of international relations and security-related issues.
This graphic displays public attitudes in Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states towards the creation of the organization. For an insight into the role of the EAEU in Russia’s Eurasian strategy, see Jeronim Perović’s chapter for Strategic Trends 2019 here.
This week’s featured graphic provides an overview of Algeria and Egypt’s top trading partners. Russia’s absence from the top five trading partners list of either country highlights that despite Moscow’s revival of its ties with Cairo and Algiers, it remains overshadowed by other actors in the economic sphere. To find out more about Russia’s strategy in the Middle East and North Africa, read Lisa Watanabe’s chapter for Strategic Trends 2019 here.
This article was originally published in Conflict Trends 2019/1 by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) on 24 June 2019.
“The small is as important as the bigger picture. It is these smaller things, if they are coordinated, that can lead to the transformation of the bigger picture” (p. 10). These are the first two sentences of a recently published book on mediation in fragile contexts, written by Kenyan-Somali peacebuilder, Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, and Swiss researcher-practitioner, Simon Mason. These opening lines capture the essence of the book. The book is broadly concerned with how to deal with violent societal conflict ranging from intercommunity and community-state to nationwide ethnopolitical conflict. A common thread throughout the book is how small steps in peace processes taken by mediators and conflict parties from the bottom up can eventually lead to peace.
This graphic shows how the the overall level of internal trade among the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) remains relatively low at 14.6 percent, especially when compared to the European Union (EU), where around 64 percent of trade was between members in 2017. The graphic also shows the percentage of external trade for both unions. For an insight into Russia’s policy towards the EAEU and how this fits into Moscow’s Eurasian strategy, see Jeronim Perović’s chapter in Strategic Trends 2019 here.
This graphic provides an overview of the nations in which major cyber theft incidents were initiated as well as the countries affected by these attacks between 2000 and 2018. To find out what this highlights about the eclipse of Western military-technological superiority, read Michael Hass’ chapter for Strategic Trends 2019 here.