Rebecca BLUM

The 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, separating financial
banking from commercial banking in the aftermath of
the Great Depression, is seeing renewed popularity at the
moment. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have
presented ideas to reinstate Glass-Steagall in their
economic platforms, arguing that it could have curtailed
the 2008 financial crisis, and that reinstating it could
prevent similar future crises. The fact that Glass Steagall
is being reconsidered, makes it relevant in our eyes to
investigate, where the bill’s reputation comes from, how
it was initially brought to the political agenda and how it
gained support leading to its enactment in 1933. Whether
the Glass-Steagall financial regulation could actually
prevent further crises akin to the 2008 global financial
crisis is beyond our expertise and the scope of this paper.
However, by shedding light on the policy-making
process when the bill was initially enacted, we hope to
contribute to a critical understanding of underlying
policy mechanisms when it comes to the debate about
reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act now.

The following research paper aims at explaining the water-energy nexus present in all economies around the world and outlining its specificities in the Gulf Countries. The research scope is rather broad in order to touch on the numerous important issues contributing to the dilemma. I also chose the broad rather than in depth approach keeping the limited word count in mind. In this way I managed to outline the basic underlying structures of the dilemma while especially targeting the necessary governance policies that have to be implemented in order to equalize growing demand, limited availability of resources and the running clock on the world’s climate and sustainability issues.

That Africa’s population and economies are growing is old news. That the continent is in ever growing need of energy supply is a logical consequence. In order to meet this demand, the implementation of interconnected grids based on green energy resources (which the continent offers in abundance) is a possible solution. Several advantages exist. The grid could for example act as cement for continental and intercontinental cooperation. Further, cheap energy can be produced and even exported in order to boost Africa’s economies. A bigger market place and jobs can be created as a result. Cooperation between African states will ultimately be fostered. However, certain challenges present themselves as well. The countries present on the continent often are constraint by significant conflicts and face political insecurity. This discourages investors to pump money into the respective areas, which in turn affects the whole continent. As Africa is generally seen as the third world, GDPs are low, corruption rates are high and incentives for sustainable development are not always given.To what extent is the East and South African Clean Energy Corridor an example for interconnected grids, relying on renewable energy sources and successfully tackling the challenges of bringing sustainable clean energy to developing countries?

Russia’s foreign policy is as shadowy as calculable, as unpredictable as foreseeable but most importantly as brutal as ambivalent. To predict the further outcomes of the ongoing crisis in Crimea is a hard task. European and American politicians stew over how to draft their foreign-policy response to Russia, they cudgel their brains in sleepless night of endless discussions and yet seem to remain clueless. It looks like the outcome of this crisis lays solely in the hands of the Kremlin. What do we have to expect from Moscow in the near future regarding Crimea, the Ukraine and possibly Eastern Europe as a whole?