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Imagine for a moment that the so-called Western Balkan countries were as rich and democratically consolidated as Switzerland, Norway or even tiny Iceland: would you doubt for a second that the EU leaders would not beg them to join the Union? Especially after Brexit has instilled so much impending doom into minds of the political class in Berlin, Paris and elsewhere. Accepting rich and politically straightforward new members would be a welcome remedy against Angst in the corridors of power throughout the continent!

At its Twelfth Ordinary Session in February 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Assembly of the African Union requested the Commission of the African Union “in consultation with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to examine the implications of the Court being empowered to try international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes”.

The long–strained relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC) recently reached the highest point of tension. For a long time, since the entry into force in 2002 of the Rome Statute, the African continent has been the Court’s almost–exclusive focus of attention, which sparked criticisms for a perceived bias in the administration of international justice. Such tension culminated in an “ICC withdrawal strategy” adopted by the African Union (AU), in January of this year, under the impulse of some countries.

NATO has just opened a Regional Centre in Kuwait: it is the first such presence in the region. This step can support and enhance the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), the practical cooperation framework launched in 2004 between NATO and the Gulf states (United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain). But the partnership road is still ahead.