Specific Editions of the GIGA Focus Series

The arrival of AI-powered chatbots has made many people think once again about the skills needed for the "digital future of work." Poorer countries in particular exhibit large “digital skills gaps.” This GIGA Focus looks at digital skills in the Global South.

In 2023, German and European authorities expect refugee numbers to rise further. Whether existing attitudes towards refugees in Germany can be changed by positive or negative statements made about their further admission in future is discussed in this Focus Global.

The G20 is now a central forum for solving the current global polycrisis. It has also become a place where Global South governments, like India’s or Turkey’s, seek to acquire and project higher status on the world stage. Policymakers need to understand and embrace this key foreign policy dynamic.

The war against Ukraine has created possibilities for emerging actors in Africa – such as Iran and Turkey – to scale up their engagement with the continent. This Focus deals with the question of how the changing global dynamics are allowing Iran and Turkey to boost their ties across the African continent.

Just in time for President Xi Jinping’s return to the world stage, from which he had been absent for nearly three years of pandemic, the 20th Party Congress has set China’s ideological course. The paper analyses the foreign policy and security agenda Xi has in store.

Ad hoc coalitions are increasingly visible, highly specialised crisis-response tools that operate outside of established international organisations. What motivates countries to set up ad hoc coalitions, and are they only complementary? These and other questions inform this GIGA Focus.

A cross-regional comparative analysis of the effects of COVID-19 on violence shows high levels of variation between contexts and in terms of specific armed actors. While Latin America along with the Middle East and North Africa have experienced an overall reduction, violence in sub-Saharan Africa has increased.

Recent military coups underscore that democratisation is under pressure in Africa. While long-term trends paint a positive picture, current threats to democratisation beyond the coups include socio-economic challenges, violent conflict, power-hungry elites, and external support for autocrats.

Pan-African cooperation faces stiff challenges but continues to hold great promise. “Agenda 2063,” the AU’s flagship programme, describes “the Africa we want.” It also details the Africa that Europe should support – but this requires a partnership of equals that respects and promotes African agency.

Digital technology is becoming increasingly popular in sub-Saharan Africa for its advertised ability to stem electoral fraud. However, evidence from recent elections – including Nigeria’s in 2023 – calls for a re-evaluation of the exact credibility guarantees of such technology in this context.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has accelerated international competition for influence in Africa. Structural weaknesses and post-pandemic instabilities continue to threaten democratic governance, peace, and development. We present a selective list and analysis of “ten things to watch” in Africa in 2023.

Digital election technology is controversial, but it can be an enhancement rather than a replacement. The pioneering Kenya election showed that widespread digital connectivity can effectively strengthen the integrity of paper-ballot voting.

Digitalization is gaining momentum in Africa. Thanks to significant private investment in the continent’s digital infrastructure, more Africans have access to the internet and mobile phones. Building on this, a new wave of African startups is driving innovation and transforming African economies.

Six of the 25 countries with the highest proportion of women in parliament are in sub-Saharan Africa. Some African countries also sit atop lists of numbers of women on corporate boards. How did women attain such leadership positions in these countries, and what can Germany and the EU learn from them?

Growing geopolitical rivalries, military modernisation, and related developments could lead to the escalation of simmering conflicts in the Indo-Pacific. Regional powers and actors should enhance existing Confidence-Building Measures to increase stability. Europe should assist them.

Recent polls suggest anti-Chinese sentiment is on the rise in South Korea. Statistical analyses show that such negative feeling is strongly correlated with growing support for alignment with the US. These findings carry key implications for the Yoon administration’s foreign policy orientation.

The Pacific Islands region is increasingly on Germany’s foreign policy radar. This Focus examines the challenges faced by this world region, takes stock of extant ties with Germany, and discusses possible future key areas of cooperation here.

Why do some subnational units respond better to crises than others, despite having the same constitutional authority to act? This GIGA Focus investigates the cases of four Indian states to identify factors contributing to successful COVID-19 crisis management.

Indonesian state and non-state actors are increasingly engaging in an Islamic peace diplomacy with global ambitions. By promoting moderate interpretations of the faith, they seek to weaken Arab dominance within Islamic discourse and rebrand Indonesia as a role model for the Islamic world.

Comparing US and European China policies of recent years reveals a widening gap. While the Biden administration’s China policy is fixated on competition and national security, and preoccupied with renewing US global leadership, the EU essentially remains open to cooperation with China.

The European Union and Germany are implementing strategies for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. How does South Korea fit into the picture? In this GIGA Focus Asia, we share findings from a collaborative, policy-oriented research project examining the potential scope for closer cooperation here.

In Latin America, most violence is considered “criminal.” But a clear-cut distinction between political and criminal violence does not exist. Policies to reduce violence meander between repression and dialogue but lack comprehensiveness, and a focus on prevention, the rule of law, and human rights.

As the strategic value of the region has increased for Europe, the EU is now seeking to renew its partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean. But many of the latter’s governments prefer an active non-alignment in international politics. An EU-LAC summit is planned for July 2023.

The Nicaraguan government’s attack on Catholic priests is bringing the former alliance between the government and the Church to breaking point, while contributing also to the gradual implosion of the authoritarian regime. While the Pope encourages dialogue, the space for civil society has eroded.

Courts are highly relevant in controlling executive abuses of power in exceptional situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin America’s courts were ready and able to set such limits. Illiberal presidents may heavily undermine judicial independence if they have the legislative support to do so.

The Lula government will realign Brazil with its multilateral diplomatic traditions and be more in sync with EU foreign policy. But the country will face considerably more political and economic challenges vis-à-vis Lula’s first term in office.

Although Chileans are overwhelmingly in favour of a new constitution, in a referendum held on 4 September, 62 per cent of those who voted rejected the proposal drawn up by a democratically elected Constitutional Convention. The struggle for a new constitution is thus entering the next round.

COVID-19 paved the way for a left-wing government winning in Colombia’s recent elections. The pandemic has deepened structural inequalities, promoting an unprecedented wave of protest against the right-wing incumbent. Answering with high levels of violence only further increased the call for change.

After the Arab uprisings, Tunisia would emerge as the only Arab democracy. President Kais Saied’s July 2021 coup has, however, led to the autocratisation of the state. This GIGA Focus traces Saied’s base of support, his strategies, and rhetoric, as well as their implications for Tunisia’s future.

The Focus examines the extent, contours, and impact of the foreign funding of mosques in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the end of the Bosnian war of 1992–1995. It presents the different actors involved and highlights the implications of this funding in terms of architectural and religious practices.

This Focus analyses Turkey’s sociopolitical conflict constellations ahead of the country’s upcoming presidential elections on 14 May 2023, and assesses what the opposition’s chances are of ousting incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The legacy of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq left its imprint on successor regimes post-2003 in terms of institutions, policies, and infrastructures. How to address these development challenges while also ensuring continued political stability is the task now facing both domestic and international partners.

“Ecologisation” is a strategy by which state actors present mismanagement and bad governance as the unavoidable accompaniments to natural disasters. In future, it will be important to acknowledge this strategy’s use so that climate action and human rights cannot be played off against each other.

Iran’s uprisings carry strong implications for states that have adopted a feminist foreign policy. For Germany, this is an opportunity to showcase the potential of its recent turn towards a new feminist foreign policy agenda.

When Israel signed the Abraham Accords in 2020, reactions were split. Two years later, normalisation dynamics in the region are stronger than many had anticipated, though they differ in degree and scope. Further progress is limited by, for instance, the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict.