In 2001, the world began talking about BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China – as a potential powerhouse in the world economy. After the 2008 international financial crisis, BRIC gained prominent momentum and the world saw them as a serious actor to be watched. Today, BRICS (South Africa became a member of the bloc in 2010) are being closely watched because there is no certainty as to their future.

The Shanghai-based New Development Bank was launched in this context and in answer to the institutional crisis that the world observed with concern when US-guided international economic institutions could not lead the way out of the 2008 crisis and into recovery.

While each country around the globe lives its own domestic reality, the Trump phenomenon in the United States has erupted on the international stage and is proving to lead the still largest economy in the world onto the opposite path of the one set by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

These events as well as the roles played by the UN and the G20 are the subject of this article. They are analyzed in order to provide a framework from which to answer the following questions: Is the Shanghai-based New Development Bank a fledgling alternative to the World Bank, and are the BRICS a possible alternative to a more cooperative future? 

This paper subsumes the mysticism of Chinese law by distinguishing it from other bodies of law, while also rendering it transcendental in the contemporary universal legal context. It is also an attempt to romanticize Chinese constitutional law, as afertile ground that can be used to re-thread the fabric of Eritrean constitutional order. The root of this research is nournished by an extravagance of ideas and desires, which if applied can make the ubiquity and plasticity of the rule of law flow across what is perceived to be “unyielding” borders. Eritrea has just turned twenty-five and despite a tangled post-independence period, the country has been successful in articulating and advancing the vision of the pre-independence generation. Today, Eritrea envisages rejuvenating its governance with a new constitution that not only talks to post-independence Eritreans, but also triggers sustainable development with substantive emphasis on the rule of law. Eritrean endeavours can easily open up to the seductive appeal of the rich conceptual enigma of Chinese constitutional polity, China being one of the countries with the oldest legal traditions in the world. It is axiomatic that Chinese constitution-centred governance, which is well adorned with Chinese characteristics, is pre-eminent, for it has influenced China since 1949 to aptly rise as the world’s second largest economy. This paper illustrates that Eritrean constitutional polity can be examined through a Chinese lens, to be calibrated in such a way as to exhibit Eritrean characteristics, and still govern by the rule of law.

In countries with a large Muslim population who are not willing to trust their savings to traditional banks, as well as a significant number of Muslim entrepreneurs who are not using the services of traditional banks, the creation of Islamic financial institutions can improve the efficiency of the financial market and accelerate its development. Russia is one of these countries. Islamic financial products can attract both Russian companies as well as traditional companies oriented to the observance of the Quran. While Russian legislation does not provide opportunities for the application of Islamic financial products, the issues of adaptation and the possibility of realising these projects in Russia are becoming very relevant. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a study devoted to the analysis of possibilities of the application of Islamic financial products in Russia.

War and peace perpetually alternate and peace is always seen as an endless project, even a dream, to be realised in brotherhood by everyone all over the earth. Present generations should ensure that both they and future generations learn to live together in peace with the highest aspiration of sparing future generations the scourge of war. The UN Charter is the most solemn pact of peace in history, which lays down the necessary basic principles for an enduring peace. Recently, in the context of the joint effort in the recognition of the high importance of practicing tolerance, dialogue, cooperation and solidarity among all human beings, peoples and nations, the General Assembly has raised the voice of victims to strongly condemn war and to openly reiterate their inalienable right to enjoy peace such that all human rights are promoted and protected and development is fully realized.

As is the case in many countries, in Ethiopia human trafficking causes multi-dimensional harmful consequences on individuals. With a view to addressing the problem, in 2012 Ethiopia acceded to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. For the purpose of translating the requirements of the UN Trafficking Protocol into reality, the government has taken various steps including legislative measures. Proclamation No. 909/2015 (Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Proclamation) is the most recent law adopted to deal with smuggling of migrants and human trafficking. The Proclamation comprises four key aspects: criminalization and prosecution; prevention; protection, rehabilitation and compensation; and cooperation. This article critically examines whether the criminalization and prosecution aspect of the Proclamation complies with international standards.

The Joint International Forum of Political Parties, Think Tanks and NonGovernmental Organizations of the BRICS took place in Fuzhou, China on 10–12 June 2017. The event was hosted jointly by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the China Council for BRICS Think Tank Cooperation and the China NGO Network for International Exchanges.

For the first time in the story of BRICS cooperation the countries’ representatives witnessed the renewed format of the BRICS Academic Forum – two traditional tracks (academic conference and civil track) were supplemented by the assembly of political parties. Taking its turn in chairing the multinational BRICS association in 2017, China proposed this new Forum format and joined together three dialogues that had grown out of the BRICS Academic Forum, which took place now for the ninth time.1 Another innovation on China’s part was the outreach format – representatives of 28 countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Argentina, Chile and Mexico among others took part.

The Joint International Forum was a truly large-scale international event – 37 political parties of 26 countries, 105 think tanks, and over 400 representatives of 79 civil society organizations were in attendance.2

The Forum participants engaged in separate deliberations at the BRICS Academic Forum on “Pooling Wisdom and New Ideas for Cooperation,” the BRICS Civil Society Organizations Forum on “Stronger People-to-People Bond for Better Cooperation,” and the BRICS Political Parties Dialogue on the “Guiding Role of Political Parties in Promoting Cooperation.” The Forum was a complete success with broad consensus.