CDSP - News
AN OPEN MARKET? Political Obstacles and Chinese Investment in Europe
March 4, 2010. 5th of March this International Conference will be arranged by Clingendael Asia Studies and Nyenrode Business University at Institute Clingendael. This one-day International Conference addresses the relationship between economic and political considerations that are relevant for the inflow of Chinese investments into Europe. These considerations relate to both European governments and Chinese investors. At present, Chinese investments in Europe represent only a fraction of the total bilateral investment flows (Chinese FDI inflow into the European Union was 0.1 billion euro in 2008). This is set to change in the coming years, however. In September 2009 Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, announced that Beijing would use its foreign exchange reserves to support and accelerate overseas expansion and acquisitions by Chinese companies. Estimated at more than 1,500 billion euro, the Chinese foreign exchange reserves are the largest in the world. Read more »
Changes in Consular Assistance and the Emergence of Consular Diplomacy
February 4, 2010. The latest issue in the Clingendael Diplomacy Paper series, by Clingendael Research Fellow Maaike Okano-Heijmans, analyses the consequences of change in individual and collective (crisis) assistance by foreign ministries, arguing that consular activity increasingly has the potential of being 'upgraded' to a diplomatic matter that becomes a concern in relations between two (or more) countries. Okano-Heijmans finds that as consular challenges grow and government funding decreases, foreign ministries in the years ahead need a forward-looking consular diplomacy strategy to balance the tension between securing national interests and protecting the narrow interests of individual citizens. The paper is published by the Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Programme. Download PDF »
Official opening of the Sixth Clingendael Course for Junior Diplomats from South Eastern Europe
January 20, 2010. The Clingendael Institute welcomes diplomats from all over the world in its diplomatic training programmes. On Januray 11th, for the sixth time since the start of the program, the Clingendael Institute has welcomed the participants of the Clingendael Course for Diplomats from South Eastern Europe. On this joyful occasion mr. Klaas van der Tempel, former Dutch Ambassador and senior research fellow at the Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Program, gave a keynote speech on “Eurasia: authoritarianism versus democracy in a brave new world”. Read more »
The limits of China’s soft power in Europe: Beijing’s public diplomacy puzzle
January 18, 2010. A new issue of the Clingendael Diplomacy Paper series, by Clingendael Research Fellow Ingrid d’Hooghe, analyses the rapid decline of China’s high favourability rating in Europe after 2006, indicating that China’s soft power in Europe has reached its limits. D’Hooghe looks at the projection of China’s soft power towards three European countries - France, Germany and Great Britain – and discusses obstacles to the projection of soft power in Europe at both the sender’s (China) and the receiver’s (Europe) side. The paper is published by the Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Programme and Clingendael Asia Studies. Read more »
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