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Global Events Forecast - August 2018
31 July 2018
Every month, the GGI compiles a list of upcoming international events that have some implications for its work. Here is a compilation of global meetings and events coming up in August 2018.
| 4 August | ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore From 30 July to 4 August, Singapore is hosting a series of ministerial meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On Saturday, 4 August, the ASEAN Regional Forum will bring together the foreign ministers of the ten ASEAN states and their international partners to take stock of regional integration, trade, security and other issues. North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho is also expected to attend, meeting his regional and international counterparts for the first time since the warming of relations between the two Koreas as well as Pyongyang and Washington. |
| 6 August | First set of US sanctions against Iran to take effect Following the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the US will be re-imposing secondary sanctions against Iran. The first set of sanctions, which will take effect on 6 August, will target trade in gold and other key metals, as well as aviation and the car industry. Despite the re-imposition of US sanctions, the European signatories are still negotiating with Iran over how to save the nuclear deal. However, according to the French foreign minister, they are unlikely to be able to put together a viable economic package before November when the remaining set of US sanctions will hit. |
20 August | New currency rollout in Venezuela In an effort to curb inflation and stabilise the economy, Venezuela will roll out a new currency on 20 August, slashing five zeroes off the refurbished Bolivar rather than three as originally planned. The new currency Bolivar Soberano (Sovereign Bolivar) will also be linked to the recently launched state-backed Petro cryptocurrency. Venezuela’s economy has been in steady decline since oil prices plunged in 2014 and the International Monetary Fund has recently predicted inflation to reach one million percent by the end of the year. |
| 20 August | Greece to conclude ESM bailout programme Greece is set to exit the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) stability support programme on 20 August, ending eight years of bailout. Eurozone members had reached a final agreement in June that includes another 15 billion euros in new credit to be used as a ‘cash buffer’ to support investors’ confidence and facilitate market access. However, Athens will remain under surveillance and has to stick to austerity measures and further reforms. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has expressed hope that the agreement will mark a new beginning for his country but also stressed that the Greek people must be able to enjoy concrete benefits of the recovery quickly. |
| 25 August | Pope Francis to visit Ireland Pope Francis is set to visit Ireland on 25 and 26 August for the conclusion of the World Meeting of the Families event. He will be the first pontiff to travel to Ireland since 1979 when Pope John Paul II drew crowds of over 2.5 million people. This time, however, the Pope’s visit is expected to also draw public protests in light of the abuse scandals in the Irish Catholic church. |
| In August | Possible agreement on NAFTA deal Mexico and the United States have expressed optimism that a basic agreement on updating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could be reached by the end of August. Renegotiations on NAFTA have been underway for a year but had stalled after the Trump administration slapped tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Mexico and Canada and both countries responded with tit-for-tat measures on US products. |
| Notable Anniversaries and International Days |
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For more global events, especially those related to peace and security issues, please refer to the website of the IPI Global Observatory.
