AU Gets Membership G20 Membership & more– 12th Sep 2023

Saluton from Keswick Village! This is Rorshok Multilateral Update from the 12th of September twenty twenty-three A summary of what's going down in the world's major multilateral institutions

The African Union (or AU) gained permanent membership in the G20, during the bloc’s summit held on Saturday the 9th and Sunday the 10th in Delhi.

African leaders were enthusiastic about this change of status, as they believed it will provide the continent with a stronger voice and increased influence on global matters.

The move is seen as a significant step in recognizing Africa's potential for growth and its capacity to shape global decisions.

With fifty-five member nations and a collective GDP of $3 trillion US dollars, the AU's inclusion in the G20 is expected to bolster its ability to address pressing global challenges, particularly those related to the climate emergency and sustainable development goals.

NATO is gearing up for its largest joint command exercise since the Cold War, called Steadfast Defender, scheduled for next year.

Steadfast Defender will span Germany, Poland, and the Baltic region and is part of NATO's new training strategy.

This exercise aims to simulate how NATO would respond to Russian aggression against one of its member states.

It reflects NATO's shift from a crisis response to becoming a war-fighting alliance, a response triggered by the Ukraine conflict.

The exercise will feature around 500 to 700 air combat missions, over fifty ships, and approximately 41,000 troops.

It will also employ real-world geographical data for more realistic scenarios. In other words, they will use hi-tech in order to apply real-world conditions to their simulation

Notably, if Sweden gets NATO membership, the total number of involved nations will be thirty-two.

Since we mentioned Sweden’s bid to join NATO, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said the country is waiting for Turkey to ratify the application

Sweden submitted its application to join the defense alliance last year; however, it requires approval from both Turkey and Hungary.

Billström expressed Sweden's readiness for NATO membership during a news conference in Riga after a meeting of Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers.

Sweden anticipates that Turkey will proceed with the ratification when the country’s parliament convenes in October, in accordance with the agreement reached with President Tayyip Erdoğan in a NATO summit that took place in July.

Moving on to Africa, Niger's military has accused France of assembling troops and equipment in West African countries, suggesting possible military action against the junta.

Colonel Amadou Abdramane, a spokesperson for Niger's coup leaders, said that France was deploying forces in the Economic Community of West African States (or ECOWAS) member nations to attack Niger.

He mentioned that French military cargo aircraft had transported significant war materials to Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin, and other locations.

Tensions have risen between Niger and France since the military took over on the 26th of July, with France refusing to withdraw its troops and envoy.

Additionally, ECOWAS has threatened military intervention if diplomatic efforts to reinstate the deposed President Mohamed Bazoum fail.

In response, protesters from the military and many civilians in Niger have called for the departure of French soldiers from a nearby military base, while the United States relocates its troops from the capital Niamey to Agadez as a precaution.

In Southeast Asia, on Tuesday the 5th, China rejected Japan's proposal to join the International Atomic Energy Agency's system to monitor seawater near Fukushima.

This comes after Japan began releasing treated radioactive water into the ocean, a move that faced strong opposition from China.

In response, Japan has expressed its displeasure with China's ban on Japanese seafood and submitted a complaint to the World Trade Organization (or WTO), urging China to lift the prohibition.

Japan is investing over 100 billion yen to support its domestic fisheries industry to mitigate the impact of the seafood ban, even though marine products account for less than 1% of Japan's global trade.

On Wednesday the 6th, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a stark warning, saying that "climate breakdown has begun" in the Northern Hemisphere after a record-breaking summer caused by global warming.

Guterres emphasized that the planet had just experienced the hottest summer on record, with extreme weather events impacting every region.

He noted that scientists had long forewarned of the consequences of our reliance on fossil fuels, and the climate was deteriorating faster than humanity could manage.

Urging leaders to take immediate action for climate solutions, he stressed that there was no time to waste.

The same day the UN’s Secretary General expressed his concerns on climate, the International Energy Agency (or IEA) actively participated in the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi.

Led by Executive Director Fatih Birol, the IEA delegation engaged with government, industry, and civil society leaders during the event.

Birol emphasized Africa's immense clean energy potential and called for a "New Energy Pact for Africa."

The IEA unveiled a report developed in collaboration with the African Development Bank Group (or AfDB) titled Financing Clean Energy in Africa, which explores solutions to lower barriers to global clean energy investment in the continent.

Dr. Birol also co-chaired a high-level dialogue aiming to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

The IEA's commitment to African energy issues includes expanding cooperation with Kenya and hosting energy efficiency events in Nairobi in twenty twenty-four.

On Friday the 8th, Paraguay announced its intention to seek international arbitration within the South American Common Market (or Mercosur) to address the ongoing dispute with Argentina concerning tolls imposed on barges navigating the Paraná River Waterway.

President Santiago Peña said they based their complaint on the nineteen ninety-two Waterway River Transport Agreement signed by Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Rubén Ramírez, Paraguay's Foreign Minister, had previously lodged a protest with the Argentine Ambassador over the Argentine Coast Guard’s "irregular" detentions of barges carrying fuel.

The Paraná Waterway is crucial to Paraguay's trade, representing 80% of their national product transportation. President Peña also mentioned a financial issue related to the Yacyretá Binational Entity and indicated a halt in their support for Argentina in multilateral organizations due to the accumulating debts and national interests.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation (or OSCE) in Europe has launched a Limited Election Observation Mission (or LEOM) to Poland ahead of the national elections in October.

The mission will focus on recent legislative changes, campaign financing, and media roles. Douglas Wake will serve as Chief Observer, and Tamara Otiaschvili as Deputy Chief Observer.

The mission's format is based on the Needs Assessment Mission that took place earlier this year, which highlighted concerns about Poland's polarized media landscape, restrictions on media ownership, campaign rhetoric, and the use of publicly funded events for campaign purposes.

The team comprises eleven international experts in Warsaw and twenty long-term observers deployed across the country.

They will assess the elections for compliance with OSCE commitments, international obligations, and national legislation, and monitor various aspects of the electoral process, including media coverage.

And to close this edition, UNESCO has called for urgent regulation of Generative AI (or Gen AI) technology, emphasizing the need for user age limits and data privacy safeguards.

The organization seeks to protect the educational system from potential risks associated with Gen AI and advocates for government-supported AI curricula to be taught in schools and vocational education programs.

UNESCO's guidelines also emphasize the responsibility of Gen AI developers for legal and ethical practices, the prevention of hate speech and dissemination of misinformation, and the protection of teachers' and researchers' rights.

The organization is concerned that excessive use of Gen AI may hinder students' development of social and cognitive skills acquired through experimentation, real-life experiences, logical thinking, and social interaction.

Some countries are taking steps to regulate Gen AI, with the EU's AI Act seeking approval.

UNESCO's move comes amid growing interest in Generative AI, with technologies like ChatGPT gaining popularity in education.

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