Le président Vladimir Poutine s'est félicité jeudi des importantes ventes d'armes de la Russie en 2006, d'un montant de six milliards de dollars, qui font de la Russie l'un des premiers vendeurs d'armements au monde. “Cette année, nous atteignons les six milliards de dollars” pour les ventes d'armes, a déclaré Vladimir Poutine lors d'une réunion retransmise sur la première chaîne russe.

The event launched the debate on the European Defense Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). Speakers discussed why the EDTIB is reeded for ESDP to be efecctive, what industrial capacities will be needed in the future, the particular characteristics of the defense sector, and the importance of security of supply and industrial sustainability.

The top 1250 R&D–active companies in the world invested £249bn in R&D in 2005/06, up 7% on the previous year (compared to a 5% increase in 2005) and accounting for well over 50% of estimated global business RR&D. This £249bn of R&D is highly concentrated in firms from 5 countries (82% in the USA, Japan, Germany, France and the UK), in 5 sectors (70% in technology hardware, pharmaceuticals, automotive, electronics and software) and in the top 100 companies (61% of the total). There are 72 UK companies in the Global 1250 contributing over £13bn of R&D, an 8% increase over the previous year. Figure ES1 shows the country and sector concentrations.

Since the 1960s, relations between the EU and India have developed rapidly. Nowadays, EU–India relations have a strong institutional architecture, including regular summits (political and commercial), meetings of ministers and senior officials and so on. Within this institutional framework, the EU and India have launched a comprehensive and fruitful cooperation. There is much active political collaboration, such as in the reform of the United Nations and the fight against terrorism, based on common values. Trade and investment between the EU and India are experiencing strong growth but lack symmetry.

In September 2006, EADS Defence & Security Systems Spain received a EUR 24.5 million contract for the system design and development of the "COMbatiente FUTuro" (COMFUT) program. EADS-DS Spain will lead a group of Spanish sub-contractors including Elint, Fedur, GMV, Iturri and Tecnobit in the first round. Their team will design and develop COMFUT, then provide the Spanish Army with prototypes to equip 3 suqads (36 soldiers) over a 3-year period ending in 2009. If the tests and evaluations go well, the Spanish Ministry of Defence could acquire up to 7,000 COMFUT sets in the future... but all of the standard caveats and issues re: the global "Future Soldier" trend still apply, and the EDA is raising new concerns about lack of interoperability between the various country projects.

Two weeks ago, European Commissioner of Competition Neelie Kroes arrived in the United States on a mission of economic cooperation. Increasingly, however, that cooperation is hard to find, especially for American firms doing business in Europe. More often than not, the European vision of cooperation is capitulation, with American companies forced to accept onerous conditions or else abandon the European marketplace altogether.

The world’s weakest states are poor states that lack the capacity to fulfill essential government functions, chiefly: 1) to secure their population from violent conflict; 2) to competently meet the basic human needs of their population (i.e. food, health, education), and; 3) to govern legitimately with the acceptance of a majority of their population. The Brookings-CGD project defines weak states as poor states that suffer from significant “gaps” in security, performance and legitimacy. We classify states as “weak” if they meet the “low income” standard and exhibit “gaps” in at least two of the three fundamental government functions. This paper identifies fifty-two weak states in the world, and expounds on the multifaceted reasons this weakness poses a global security challenge. These states are high-risk zones that in a rapidly obalizing world may eventually, often indirectly, pose significant risks to far-away countries.

Production delays. Political infighting. Cost and time overruns. Sounds like a typical day at any large aircraft corporation, and last week's news of another big setback for delivering Airbus's A380 550-seat mega-jetliner fits this pattern. Yet the market isn't taking all these problems at the European plane maker in stride, wiping away much of Airbus parent company European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.'s gains since it was created six years ago. Investors were far more understanding a few years back when Boeing went through similar crises. A double standard? If only it were so.

With the Concorde now mothballed or in museums, Airbus is fast becoming the current airborne testament to the hubris of state-led industrial policy in Europe. Driven as much by political ego as business sense, the aircraft maker flew for the sun only, like Icarus, to see its wings start to melt away.

Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha Development Agenda or “Round” of global trade talks, launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001, a “once in a generation opportunity” to expand trade. President Bush has identified their success as his administration’s top trade priority. Due to various U.S. notification and consultation requirements, concluding the negotiations in 2006 is essential for a Doha agreement to qualify for congressional consideration under U.S. Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which expires July 1, 2007. A ministerial meeting among the WTO’s 149 members was held on December 13-18, 2005, in Hong Kong, China, to make decisions needed to advance the talks.

In recent years the environment for international investment has differed quite strongly across countries. The macroeconomic performance of the high-growth economies in Asia and certain other developing regions has contrasted sharply with the sluggish economic growth in much of continental Europe. Between the two extremes, the continued economic recovery in some countries – e.g. the United States – has allowed for a gradual restoration of investor confidence. In recent years the environment for international investment has differed quite strongly across countries. The macroeconomic performance of the high-growth economies in Asia and certain other developing regions has contrasted sharply with the sluggish economic growth in much of continental Europe. Between the two extremes, the continued economic recovery in some countries – e.g. the United States – has allowed for a gradual restoration of investor confidence.