week 3

MONDAY

1. THEORY

Commonwealth of Independent States

2. ANALYTICS

Russia Needs Immigrants but Lacks a Coherent Immigration Policy

WEDNESDAY

3. CURRENT ISSUES

4. THE WORLD THIS WEEK

VOCABULARY & GRAMMAR

KEY TERMS

designate	to nominate or select; assign
respective	relating individually to each; particular
comprehensive	of large scope; covering or involving much; inclusive
expenditure	money spent; expense
stipulate	to specify in terms of agreement
assume	suppose; postulate; posit; to take over the duties or responsibilities of
resolve	to settle or solve (a question, dispute, etc.)
plenipotentiary	a diplomat given full power to conduct business for someone else
statutory	relating to or authorized by statute (a law passed by a legislature)
elaborate	to work out in great detail

FOCUS WORDS

shrink	сокращать, сокращаться, сжиматься
encounter	сталкиваться, наталкиваться
adherent	сторонник, приверженец
inevitable	неизбежный, неминуемый
albeit	хотя, тем не менее, даже хотя
stringent	строгий, точный, обязательный, веский, убедительный
obtain	получать, приобретать, добиваться, достигать
forbid	запрещать, не позволять
permit	лицензия, пропуск
articulate	ясно выражать, формулировать

PREPOSITIONS

to shrink by
accompanied by
encounter X xenophobic attitudes
with respect to
aware of
access to
with regard to
engage in
integrated into
similar to

WORDS FOR REPORT

a clear age gap on the issue

compared with a smaller share

more likely to favor

the survey explored the public’s views about

Overall,

In regard to the negative consequences,

substantial majorities

no statistically significant difference by age

GRAMMAR PATTERNS

National leaders must guide their ministries and step in as needed to resolve stubborn issues.

Technical experts and policymakers must stay focused on analyzing excluded and sensitive products’ implications for intraregional trade and value chains, so that governments and industries can adapt accordingly.

The COMESA and EAC regions already have functional competition-policy regimes and institutions, which can serve as models for the CFTA.

The phase-two negotiations can be expedited by drawing on global, regional, and national models that have already proved effective.

The annex discussions can be streamlined with a more efficient procedural framework.

Another immediate priority is to persuade 22 countries to ratify the CFTA agreement so that it can enter into force before the end of 2018.

It is hard to say when the next 19 ratifications might arrive.

Now, similar roles might be assigned at the micro level to facilitate the process of formalizing individual annexes.

To expedite the process, the AU Commission should dispatch emissaries to aid national leaders in securing ratification from their governments or legislatures.

The lessons from the first phase should come in handy for the second, assuming they are heeded.

Those talks need to be finalized, and their protocols submitted for adoption, by the time of the January 2020 AU Summit.

Delegates could then refer areas where there is no immediate consensus to the ministerial level, thereby ensuring that all annexes are at least subjected to technical review.

Contentious and unresolved issues could then be revisited later, perhaps with instructions from the relevant governments.

If new proposals did not readily invite a consensus, discussions would revert back to the existing text.

But time is pressing, and policymakers will need to maintain the momentum if they are to meet looming deadlines.

If all of this happens, Africa will take a giant step toward achieving continental economic integration.

Though structural issues will remain high on the development agenda, the immediate priority is to finish the basic unfinished work needed to get the CFTA up and running. Securing ratification from each member state will require gentle pressure on governments, so that the agreement can enter into force sooner rather than later.