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 122 – The Radicalization of Russia in the Ukrainian Crisis The Controversial Burden of Political and Economic Sanctions
By Thomas Lindemann
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n° 122
The drastic fall of the Russian ruble, the plunge of energy revenues, the freeze of leaders’ assets held abroad: Russia has already paid a heavy price for the annexation of Crimea…
PAC 121 – The Emergence of a Transnational Citizenship The Umbrella Revolution, September-December 2014
By Justin Chiu
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°121
On August 31, 2014, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) adopted a restrictive plan designed to impede the election of an executive leader of Hong Kong in 2017. At the end of September, this decision sparked a significant mobilization of civil…
PAC 120 – The Objective Alliance of Interventionist Liberalism and Realism Operations Sangaris, Serval, Barkhane in the Central African Republic
By Jean-Jacques Roche
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°120
One year ago, on December 5, 2013, France launched operation Sangaris1 in the Central African Republic, its 7th since the African nation’s independence in 1960. The French army arrived in Bangui with the mission to remove the militiamen of the Seleka…
PAC 119 – Individual Dynamics in the face of Climate Change Popular mobilization for the climate, September 21, 2014
By Weiting Chao
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°119
On September 21, 2014, hundreds of thousands of people protested in major cities around the world in favor of the fight against global warming. Led primarily by the NGO Avaaz-Le Monde en Action…
PAC 118 – The Illusory Confinement of a Health Crisis The Ebola epidemic in West Africa
By Clément Paule
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°118
The first Ebola virus contamination outside the African continent was confirmed on October 6, 2014: a Spanish nurse’s aid supposedly contracted the illness in Madrid while treating a repatriated missionary…
PAC 117 – An Inadequate Neopatrimonialism The Overthrow of President Blaise Compaoré in Burkina Faso
By Philippe Hugon
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°117
At the end of October 2014, in Burkina Faso, youth movements led to the departure of the president for life Blaise Compaoré, in power since 1987…
PAC 116 – A Global Marketing Ceremony The live presentation of the iPhone 6, September 9, 2014
By Justin Chiu
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°116
On September 9, 2014, high-tech journalists from around the globe as well as the general press gathered at the Flint Center in Cupertino to attend the presentation of the iPhone 6…
PAC 115 – The Confirmation of a Humanist Orthodoxy The French Writer, Patrick Modiano, Nobel Laureate for Literature
By Josepha Laroche
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°115
On October 10, 2014, the Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to the French writer Patrick Modiano. After J.M.G. Le Clézio, who obtained the award in 2008, this author…
PAC 114 – Hegemonic Use of Law and Money BNP Paris Sanctioned by the American Justice System
By Yves Poirmeur
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°114
On June 3, 2014, BNP Paribas concluded a final agreement with the American justice system. Whereby, after having pled guilty, it accepted to pay an 8.834 billion dollar fine (6.5 billion euros)…
PAC 113 – Biodiversity Threatened by the Market The 65th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission, Portorož, September 11-18, 2014
By Valérie Le Brenne Translation: Lawrence Myers
From September 11-18, 2014, the IWC (International Whaling Commission) convened in Portorož, Slovenia for its 65th biannual meeting. During this gathering which brought together nearly 90 states…
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PAC 112 – Controversial Development Diplomacy The Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation
By Florent Bédécarrats* Translation: Lawrence Myers
On April 15-16, 2014, Mexico hosted the meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation, the fruit of an OECD initiative…
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PAC 111 – FIFA’s Sovereign Intrusion The World Cup in Brazil (June 12-July 13, 2014)
By Élie Landrieu Translation: Lawrence Myers
While the 20th edition of the World Cup will be held in Brazil between June 12-July 13, 2014, the institution in charge of its organization, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)…
read morePAC 110 – The Normative Coercion of Rating Agencies The Lowering of Argentina’s Sovereign Ranking by Moody’s
By Elie Landrieu
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°110
On March 17, 2014, the rating agency Moody’s lowered the score of securities issued by the Argentine state onto financial markets to “Caa1”. It qualified the nation’s risk of defaulting on payment as “very high”…
PAC 109 – Oceans, Menaced Public Goods The Banning of Pulse Trawling in Europe in an Institutional Impasse
By Florian Hévelin Translation: Lawrence Myers
On January 30, 2014, the fishing fleet of the French group Intermarché – Scapêche – committed itself to no longer plunge its nets beyond 800 meters depth…
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PAC 108 – A Cooperative Rivalry The Failure to Mediate between Apple and Samsung
By Adrien Cherqui
Translation: Lawrence Myers
Passage au crible n°108
February 19, 2014, marked the end of mediation between Apple and Samsung Mobile Communications during which the directors were supposed to negotiate an agreement. Let us recall that the attempt…
