AFGHANISTAN
- UN Refugee Agency chief Filippo Grandi called on Thursday for sustained international support for Afghanistan’s people, where the country’s humanitarian crisis is worsening. UN News – World must deliver support to Afghans: UN refugee chief
- The expedient withdrawal of the US armed forces followed by the Taliban’s resurgence to power in Kabul has spiralled Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation into a catastrophe. As a result of which, millions of Afghans are now facing widespread income losses, cash shortages, and high food costs with thousands displaced, killed, and wounded amidst the Taliban advances. However, amongst them, it is the women—violations of whose rights continue to remain central to the ideology of the Taliban—who are paying a much greater price. Akanksha Khullar – ORF – The deafening silence: Global inaction on the Afghanistan crisis
AUSTRALIA – SOUTHEAST ASIA
- To get a handle on Australia’s economic cooperation with Southeast Asia, consider these two statistics. One, Australia has more international direct investment in New Zealand than in all of the ten members of ASEAN combined. Two, only a couple of Southeast Asian countries make it into Australia’s top ten trading partners. Peter McCawley, Melissa Conley Tyler – East Asia Forum – Less talk and more action for Australia’s Southeast Asia economic links
DIGITAL – CRYPTOCURRENCIES
- Since 2018, eight African countries have launched initiatives to create government-controlled cryptocurrencies, otherwise known as central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Coming in the midst of a fintech boom that has seen investments in African startups surge from $130 million to $2.3 billion, a mammoth 20-fold rise, the effects of greater government involvement in the digital payment space are of interest to everyone—investors, banks, and consumers alike. Bright Simons – Brookings – African governments are turning to cryptocurrencies but can they team up?
- Although the African continent receives only 2 percent of the global value of all cryptocurrencies, their rapid growth will transform financing in an increasingly digital and urban sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, a recent report by Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, found that between July 2020 and June 2021, Africans received $105.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency payments—an increase of 1200 percent from the year before. Notably, Chainalysis ranks Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria among the top-10 countries for cryptocurrency use. Bitange Ndemo – Brookings – The role of cryptocurrencies in sub-Saharan Africa
- I provvedimenti UE che limitano le informazioni provenienti da media russi hanno spalancato la porta su scenari nuovi e inquietanti per la protezione dei dati e la loro libera circolazione nella Digital Age, oltre che per l’applicazione del diritto fondamentale UE relativo alla libertà di informazione e di opinione. Franco Pizzetti – Agenda Digitale – Libera circolazione di dati e diritti fondamentali: così la guerra ha cambiato tutto
GLOBAL
- The shocking images of innocent civilians streaming out of Ukraine are a vivid reminder of war’s brutality, but also the need for preparation in a world where events can change quickly. Several years ago, I wrote a Brookings Press book entitled Megachange: Economic Disruption, Political Upheaval, and Social Strife in the 21st Century. It argued we live in an era of large-scale transformation and that we should expect surprising developments in the 21st century. At the time, I did not imagine a Russian invasion of Ukraine nor millions of refugees being forced by violence to move into Poland, Hungary, or Romania. Darrell M. West – Brookings – Surviving digital war
- The pandemic is not over yet. About 2.9 billion people are still waiting for their primary dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The crisis precipitated by Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine has diverted public attention and is causing a ripple effect on the multilateral institutions and global interconnectedness. The Ukraine crisis has the potential to further complicate an already weak and ineffective global response for providing equitable access to essential medicines and vaccines to the developing countries. Debates regarding public health and access to medicine have garnered astonishing international attention; however, the momentum built to address the challenges of global health and the pandemic is likely to be undermined by the unfolding of the balance-of-power conflict in Ukraine. Nishant Sirohi – ORF – Our fragile world: Conflict, Pandemic, and vaccine inequity
INDIA
- Until 2010, there were 20 million users in the budding video gaming industry of India. By 2020, this number saw a whopping 22x rise, with 450 million users playing a wide range of casual, hyper-casual, classic, mid-core, and hardcore games. In the last five years, the industry has seen phenomenal development and is predicted to triple in value to US $3.9 billion by 2025. Tanway Devi, Ovee Karwa, Sahil Deo – ORF – A lot left to play: The under-researched Indian gaming landscape
JAPAN
- Japan is arguably well prepared for its frequent and devastating natural disasters. Having dealt with major earthquakes, tsunamis and seasonal torrential rains among other calamities, regular emergency drills and strong educational campaigns have helped the Japanese population cope well and recover quickly following rapid onset events. David Green, Justin Whitney and Matthew Linley – East Asia Forum – Bolstering disaster preparedness among Japan’s foreign residents
RUSSIA – UKRAINE (impact, reactions, consequences)
- The West has been intensifying sanctions against Russia following the crisis in Ukraine and it would appear that this is likely to continue. These sanctions, although intended as punitive measures against Russia, could entail hefty socio-economic repercussions for the Central Asian Republics (CARs) too, given their economic dependence on Moscow. Saaransh Mishra – ORF – A tough road ahead for Central Asia
- Wars challenge the human spirit like few events. They degrade, demoralise and dehumanise. Yet, in their own way, wars can also be ennobling, allowing mortals to envisage the possibility of immortality. They allow us to recognise what is truly valuable and for what we must fight. They contain within them the seeds of a new order — some more lasting than others, but all equally significant in the larger scheme of things. Harsh V. Pant – ORF – Strategic Clarity Via Ukraine
- In late February 2022, the crisis between Russia and Ukraine escalated. The global economy was just beginning to recover from COVID-19 after recording the worst economic performance since the great recession. The 2022 outlook for the global economy now seems bleak and South Asia will also be affected. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Sri Lanka and Ganeshan Wignaraja – East Asia Forum – The Russia–Ukraine crisis will hurt South Asia
THAILAND
- Over the past decade, Thailand has made extraordinary progress in its transformation towards the digital economy. A number of indicators of digital infrastructure and accessibility have shown some improvement for large segments of the population. Thailand’s e-commerce market is one of the fastest growing in Southeast Asia where gross online merchandise value grew by 68 per cent in 2021 and is expected to expand by 14 per cent between 2021 and 2025. Juthathip Jongwanich – East Asia Forum – Is Thailand ready for the digital economy?
USA
- President Biden entered office in January 2021 with the promise to end the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitate an economic transformation to “build a better America.” With several simultaneous priorities—improve and protect public health, address the legacy of systemic racism, take forceful action on climate change, and build a job-rich and inclusive economy—his administration has undertaken an urgent and ambitious agenda. Anthony F. Pipa, Krista Rasmussen, and Kait Pendrak – Brookings – The state of the Sustainable Development Goals in the United States
- On July 15, 1979, President Jimmy Carter addressed a nation engulfed by instability. Years of inflation and job losses had weakened the domestic economy. The Cold War was still raging and new tensions were appearing in the Middle East. And at the center of it all was an oil crisis ignited by upheaval in Iran, resulting in empty gas pumps around America. Adie Tomer – Brookings – The Russian oil embargo proves we a need a clean energy revolution
