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The statement by SAIIA Chairperson Fred Phaswana discusses the role of media and military neutrality in North African uprisings and the importance of legitimate elections in Africa. It highlights South Africa's challenge in balancing energy security with climate commitments ahead of COP17 and evaluates the country's role in the UN Security Council and BRICS to ensure international engagement delivers domestic benefits.

The document examines the current investment incentive mix in Lao PDR, highlighting a 'double subsidy' of tax holidays and low-cost land concessions. It argues that these incentives provide minimal returns in tax revenue, job creation, or technology transfer, and recommends replacing them with a uniform corporate tax rate and targeted incentives for green infrastructure, public services, and human capital development.

India's engagement with Africa has evolved from a post-colonial focus on decolonisation and non-alignment to a pragmatic 'enlightened national interest' approach. This modern strategy is driven by India's need for energy security, specifically crude petroleum, and its ambition for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Trade has grown significantly, with bilateral trade reaching $39 billion in 2008–09, and Indian investment has expanded across hydrocarbons, mining, agriculture, and ICT. India continues to support African capacity building through the ITEC programme and the Pan-African e-network project, aiming to marry its traditional idealistic goals with contemporary economic and strategic needs.

The document examines the evolving India-Africa partnership, highlighting energy as a primary driver due to India's rising import dependency. It details India's diversification strategy across coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium, while arguing that the relationship extends beyond energy into trade, defence, and capacity building. The analysis contrasts India's approach with that of China and the West, emphasizing the need for sustainable energy governance to avoid the 'resource curse' and energy poverty in Africa.

The Middle East contains approximately 6 percent of the world's coral reefs, with nearly two-thirds currently at risk from local threats, most notably overfishing. While some areas of the Red Sea remain under low threat, the Persian Gulf is highly stressed, with over 85 percent of its reefs considered threatened. Projections indicate that thermal stress and ocean acidification will push all reefs in the region to threatened status by 2050. Currently, only 12 percent of the region's reefs are within Marine Protected Areas, though Egypt has significant coverage with about 50 percent of its reefs protected.

The document examines the complex interdependence between Northern and Southern Sudan as the South moves toward independence. It highlights the critical role of oil co-management, as Southern Sudan derives 98% of its income from oil exports that must travel through Northern infrastructure. The author argues that while the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) provided a path to secession, significant risks remain, including unresolved border disputes in Abyei, the potential for continued insurgency in the North, and the fragile internal governance of the South. Regionally, the document notes the potential for a new independent South Sudan to shift the balance of power within the Nile Basin Initiative, potentially challenging Egypt's historical dominance over Nile water rights.

The paper examines the JinFei ETCZ in Mauritius as an anomaly in China's African investment strategy, which usually targets large markets or resource-rich countries. It argues that the project was realized through the proactive agency of the Mauritian government, which leveraged its stable 'soft infrastructure' and strategic location to position the island as a business platform between Asia and Africa. Despite initial delays due to land disputes and the 2008 financial crisis, the project was rescued by high-level Chinese political intervention and the entry of large state-owned enterprises from Shanxi Province, shifting the zone's focus from light manufacturing to services, real estate, and logistics.

The IISD Global Connectivity Program examines how the 'global connectivity system'—including ICTs and internet governance—can facilitate the flow of knowledge and leadership required for sustainability. The program identifies key trends such as the rise of 'smart' systems for resource efficiency, a global digital economy that exceeds the agriculture and energy sectors in consumption and expenditure, and the shift toward networked, social-media-driven information exchange. IISD emphasizes the need for open, accessible communications infrastructure to gather environmental data and monitor resources, while simultaneously seeking to minimize the negative environmental impacts of ICTs.

The document analyzes recent trends in the annulment of awards under the International Convention for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). It reviews seven publicly available decisions from 2009-2010, evaluating how ad hoc committees interpret the narrow grounds for annulment provided in Article 52. The analysis highlights the high threshold for successful annulment, the discretion of committees, and the distinction between the non-application and erroneous application of law.

The document examines the 2011 uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, alongside the political responses in Algeria and Morocco. It identifies systemic corruption, youth unemployment, and political exclusion as primary drivers. It specifically analyzes the Libyan civil war, the role of the African Union and European Union, and the potential for these revolutionary dynamics to spread to Sub-Saharan Africa. The report concludes that the African Union's response was slow and lacked a clear framework for dealing with popular democratic revolutions compared to military coups.

The report examines the potential secession of Southern Sudan, highlighting unresolved issues such as border demarcation and oil revenue division. It assesses the risks of the new state becoming a 'weak state' with limited control over its borders and the proliferation of small arms, while also noting opportunities for regional economic integration and trade with Kenya and Uganda.

The document analyzes the emergence of political Islam and extremist movements in North Africa, arguing that poverty, unemployment, and political exclusion drive youth toward extreme ideologies. It examines various movements, from the Muslim Brotherhood's transnational networks to the violent activities of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). The text highlights how North African states have used 'triangulation'—playing different Islamist factions against each other—to maintain stability, while also noting the role of transnational 'ummah' identities in blurring national borders.

The Fourth African Commanders' Conference (ACoC), held from November 1-3, 2010, in Jinja, Uganda, focused on enhancing the effectiveness of African Peace Support Operations (PSOs) and the African Standby Force (ASF). The conference emphasized the need for 'commonalité' in military education and training across African staff colleges to improve interoperability. Key discussions addressed the multidimensional nature of PSOs, highlighting the critical roles of civilian and police components, and the necessity of coordination between Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The conference reviewed the 'Exercise Uhuru' (SADC) and ECOWAS joint exercises as models for operational planning. A significant portion of the proceedings focused on the ACoC's sustainability, specifically the need to diversify funding beyond the UK government and to seek official recognition from the African Union (AU). The conference concluded with decisions to draft a formal Memorandum of Understanding for staff colleges and to pursue the establishment of a pan-African staff college, with Libya taking a lead role in the proposal.

The paper argues that since 2000, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has shifted from a border struggle back to an ethnic conflict, characterized by a 'status quo' regime of Israeli control. This regime utilizes settlement expansion, the Separation Barrier, and the strategic division of Palestinians to maintain Jewish ethnic superiority. The author contends that the two-state solution is currently unachievable due to deep-seated religious radicalization within the settler movement and the IDF, as well as a US policy focused on process over structural change. The document concludes that Israel will only move toward a two-state accommodation when the international costs of maintaining the current regime outweigh the domestic costs of dismantling it.

The report examines South Africa's entry into the BRICS, contrasting it with the IBSA forum. It highlights that while membership offers symbolic recognition and a platform to advance African priorities, economic benefits are not automatic due to market barriers in other BRICS nations and competition for African markets. The text notes that BRICS is an informal dialogue forum rather than a formal alliance, with varying degrees of congruence on issues like climate change and global trade.

The document argues for a paradigm shift from linear to circular urban metabolism in sanitation, emphasizing the recovery of water, energy, and nutrients. It critiques conventional centralized sewerage for its high energy costs and nutrient loss, proposing instead a variety of decentralized and source-separating systems. The report provides a multi-level planning framework (Sanitation 21) and highlights the importance of participatory, demand-driven approaches to overcome socio-cultural and institutional barriers, illustrated through global case studies.

The document analyzes the mediation efforts of Thabo Mbeki, chair of the AU High Level Implementation Panel for Sudan, in negotiations between the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). It outlines four potential post-referendum scenarios ranging from complete separation to a unified Sudan, while highlighting critical challenges such as oil governance, border disputes, and the risk of unilateral actions. The brief emphasizes that the outcome of the referendum will serve as a test case for the African Union's approach to secession and colonial borders across the continent.

The document argues that the rise of emerging powers—specifically the BRIC nations—provides an opportunity for South Africa and the broader African continent to shift the global economic center of gravity toward the South. Minister Nkoana‐Mashabane emphasizes that South Africa seeks to balance its memberships in IBSA and BRIC to amplify the voice of developing nations in multilateral processes and the reform of Bretton Woods Institutions. For Africa to transition into an emerging power itself, the Minister identifies four critical priority areas: Infrastructure, Intra-trade, Industry, and Integration. The speech frames these geopolitical shifts not as a zero-sum game, but as a means to address shared global challenges including climate change and energy security through cooperation between the developed and developing worlds.

The document assesses Saudi Arabia's transition toward a diversified, non-oil-dependent economy and the resulting commercial opportunities for South Africa. It highlights Saudi Arabia's economic reforms, including the development of six mega-cities and the opening of its investment climate through SAGIA. The authors argue that South Africa is currently lagging behind other emerging powers like China and India in exploiting these opportunities and recommends reviving dormant bilateral mechanisms such as the Joint Economic Commission to attract Saudi investment and expand South African trade in the Gulf region.

The report examines the environmental, social, and economic impacts of unconventional oil extraction, focusing on tar sands and oil shale. It highlights that these resources produce significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil and cause severe local ecological damage, such as boreal forest destruction in Canada. The document criticizes the EU's Fuel Quality Directive for potentially underestimating the carbon intensity of these fuels and urges the EU to discourage their import and investment. It also details the involvement of European companies in projects across Venezuela, Madagascar, Congo, Russia, Jordan, and Morocco, warning that such developments in countries with weak governance risk exacerbating the 'resource curse' and undermining Millennium Development Goals.