Policy Exchange

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.

The International Affairs centenary special issue, edited by GIGA President Prof. Narlikar and Prof. Drezner, is a ‘how not to’ guide for international relations. It brings together 14 experts examining historic failures and how policy practitioners and researchers can get it right together.

In this introductory article, GIGA President Prof. Narlikar and Prof. Drezner, guest editors of the International Affairs centenary special issue, outline this ‘how not to’ guide. They explore a Hippocratic oath for international affairs and suggest going beyond this minimum ‘do no harm’ requirement.

The WTO has become an almost perfect example of how not to negotiate. In this article, GIGA President Prof. Narlikar identifies three broad categories of bargaining failures and explores the impact of narratives on the course of events, giving us a clear list of dos and don’ts for international negotiation.

For the launch of the International Affairs Centenary special issue “International relations: the ‘how not to’ guide”, Chatham House invites for a discussion with Prof. Drezner, Prof. Narlikar, and Prof. Rosoux on how policymakers and researchers can learn from the worst pitfalls.

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.

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.