Passage au crible
A short Critical Analysis of International Current Affairs
The intention of the critical analysis reports Passage au crible on international current affairs is to encapsulate and clarify the mechanisms of world affairs. Using a transnational approach, the reports are delivered in a concise and educational format each week proposing: 1) A brief and factual reconstruction of a significant event; 2) Historical context; 3) A theoretical framework which gives the non-specialist, with an interest in international relations, access to an approach which goes further than the simple empirical descriptive approach. 4) A specialist’s analysis; 5) A short bibliography providing key references – official documents, books, articles – by recognised specialists on the matter.
PAC 107 – The Protection of Intellectual Property as a Monopolistic Weapon The Sale by Google of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo
By Robin Baraud Translation: Lawrence Myers
On Wednesday, January 29, 2014, Google announced the sale of Motorola to Lenovo for only 2.91 billion dollars, while the group had acquired it in 2012 for 12.5 billion. This resale of a pioneer of mobile…
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PAC 106 – The Global Restructuring of the PC Industry Microsoft’s Forced Restart
By Justin Chui
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°106
On February 4, 2014, Satya Nadella succeeds Steve Ballmer and thus becomes the third general manager of the American giant Microsoft. As for the group’s founder, Bill Gates, he is leaving his position …
PAC 105 – The Disinvestment of Public Health Investors World Aids Day
By Michaël Cousin
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°105
Since 1988, World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1st. Upon the occasion of this event, public and private stakeholders publish, inform and mediatize the latest…
PAC 104 – A Discredited Organization Between Denial and Impunity The United Nations Facing the Cholera Epidemic in Haiti since October 2010
By Clément Paule
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°104
On January 12, 2014, the Republic of Haiti commemorated the fourth anniversary of the destructive earthquake that devastated the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and the immediate surrounding region…
PAC 103 – The Transnational Subversion of Whistleblowers The Loyalties of Edward Snowden, a Paradigmatic Case
By Adrien Cherqui
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°103
According to the files of the NSA (National Security Agency) revealed by Edward Snowden in July 2013, more than two billion emails and phone calls from Brazil were allegedly intercepted by the United States for a period..
PAC 102 – NGO’s Boycott, Defensive Diplomacy The Warsaw Global Warming Conference
By Weiting Chao
Translation : Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°102
From November 11-23 2013, the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Warsaw and the 9th session…
PAC 101 – Afghanistan Grappling with the Transnational Trafficking of Opiates The UNODC’s Alarming Analysis
By: Michaël Cousin
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°101
On November 13, 2013, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published its latest report and gave an alarming analysis concerning Afghanistan…
PAC 100 – Reciprocal Concessions for a Common Uncertainty November 24, 2013: The Temporary Accord on the Iranian Nuclear Program
By: Josepha Laroche Translation: Lawrence Myers Passage au crible n°100 Source : Wikipedia After ten years of successive failures, a temporary accord on the Iranian nuclear program was signed in Geneva on November 24, 2013, between Iran – by Mohammed Javad Zarif – and the representatives of the group 5+1, namely the five permanent members of the Security Council (China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Russia) and Germany. This document predicts a renewable period of six months before final negotiations will be undertaken. For the moment, the participating parties have agreed on a substantial deceleration of the Iranian nuclear program. It has therefore been established that its uranium enrichment cannot exceed 5%, and this in order to distance the spectrum of a military nuclear program. As for the existing stock of uranium already – enriched to 20% near the military level – it will have to be neutralized. Lastly, the planned new centrifuges must remain non-operational. Similarly, it will be necessary to stop the work in progress relative to heavy water. In return for this series of obligations, Iran will obtain a partial lifting of the sanctions that until now have been weighing it down. For example, the country will be able to access previously inaccessible funds, which reached 4 billion dollars. However, the essential aspects of the embargo measures remain in place, in particular those concerning the exportation of oil and financial transfers from Iran. It is certain that this conversation constitutes a first step towards the appeasing of tensions, but it remains entirely reversible. > Historical background > Theoretical framework > Analysis > References Historical background The NPT (Treaty... read more
PAC 99 – The Central African State Dominated by infra-State Forces France’s Military Intervention
By Philippe Hugon
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°99
On December 5, 2013, under Chapter VII of the charter, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted for a resolution authorizing French intervention in the Central African Republic…
PAC 98 – The Return of the State as a Risk Factor Japanese Authorities’ Management of Fukushima Disaster
By Clément Paule
Translation: Marion Marchet
Passage au crible n°98
The removal of more than 1,500 nuclear fuel rods immersed in the reactor 4’s pool of Fukushima Daiichi’s damaged plant – a huge enterprise expected to last about a year – has started…
PAC 97 – A Private Contribution to Israeli Diplomacy The creation of the global media i24News
By Adrien Cherqui
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°97
i24News has just been created. This new international news station is based in Tel Aviv. Since July 17, 2013, it broadcasts news in French, English and Arabic for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and China…
PAC 96 – The Infiltration of Criminality into Drug Production The IRACM report (Institute of Research Against Counterfeit Medicine)
By Michaël Cousin
Passage au crible n°96
On September 25, 2013, the IRACM (Institute of Research Against Counterfeit Medicine) presented a report on counterfeit medicine as organized crime. This study intended to better expose…
PAC 95 – The Dangerous Policy of Immigration Control The Shipwreck of Lampedusa
By Catherine Wihtol de Wenden
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°95
The drama in Lampedusa, followed by new arrivals between Malta and Lampedusa, have since October 2013, led to new international negotiations on migration politics, both on the European…
PAC 94 – The African Union’s Ambivalence in the Face of International Justice Summit of the African Union, October 11-12, 2013
By Yves Poirmeur Translation: Lawrence Myers
The trial of Kenyan vice president, William Ruto, began in front of the ICC (International Criminal Court) on September 10, 2013. The same will be true for the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, on November 12…
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PAC 93 – The Nobel Diplomacy as a Symbolic Interventionism The Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons)
By Josepha Laroche
Translation: Frédéric Ocrisse-Aka
Passage au crible n°93
While for several weeks, all international media were expecting the young Pakistani activist Malala Yousufzai to be the next recipient, it is finally the OPCW that received…
