Lo scorso agosto a Johannesburg si è tenuto il vertice del gruppo Brics, in vista di un allargamento previsto per gennaio 2024. Si tratterebbe dell’ingresso di sei paesi che consentirebbe l’ampliamento di una politica che si dice alternativa a quella d’influenza americana. Il nuovo anno prevede diversi eventi che potrebbero mettere a dura prova queste ambizioni e sbilanciare l’assetto odierno del quadro internazionale. 

Are the Western Balkans' aspirations for European Union accession being impeded by discussions about Kyiv's potential membership? We delve into the complexities of the EU enlargement process to find a way for the Western Balkans to revitalize accession prospects.

One of the most important challenges concerning South European (SE) countries - Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain - is their high degree of geographical (and socio-economic) fragmentation. In this sense, since the 1981-86 rounds of enlargement that let SE countries inside the European Communities (EC), important issues have arisen regarding their integration. Considered part of the conservative model, SE welfare systems are shaped by an important local dimension (role of family, reliance on breadwinner). In addition, resource allocation was not balanced with central interventions, both in terms of qualitative standards and financial resources. Externally, regarding the influence of SE countries upon international relations, they have not proved to be effective international actors, in terms of their incapacity to produce collective decisions and their impact on events. In other words, as the bloc has repeatedly tried to be the principal voice of the developed world (especially Latin America), the bloc is not yet a fully genuine international actor.

Since the 2016 Brexit referendum, Scotland National Party (SNP) has been pushing for independence and a willingness to return to the European Union, with waves of consent often hard to ignore. Today, this feeling seems not yet to be dormant: is a new wave of independentism taking place in the region?

Netanyahu’s government has always faced criticism. But after the 7th of October, there was a peak in public discontent: according to The Jerusalem Post, many Israelis think that Netanyahu must resign. At the moment, many of Israel's social problems seem to have been put aside. However the debate on social-economic inequality has been at the center of public discourse for several years now. Along with the protests against the judicial reform, the public unrest was also directed towards inequality between different groups within Israeli society.

Si ritorna a parlare di annessioni territoriali in America Latina. È infatti previsto per il 3 dicembre un referendum voluto da Nicolás Maduro, presidente del Venezuela, per consultare i suoi concittadini sulla possibilità di espandere la frontiera del paese a discapito di quello vicino, la Guyana. In ballo c’è l’integrazione dell’Essequibo, regione ricca in giacimenti petroliferi, attualmente sotto l’amministrazione guyanese. La disputa fa parte di una serie di rivendicazioni territoriali nel Centro e Sud America, come il confine tra il Belize e il Guatemala o l’appartenenza del fiume Silala tra Cile e Bolivia.