Intl. Politics - Heinrich Böll Foundation

International Politics

Photo: b00nj. Licence: Creative Commons BY-SA-NC 2.0. Original: Flickr

Introduction

International Politics

After the end of the cold war foreign and security policies have been subject to rapid change. This development has been further accelerated after September 11. Traditional security policies such as deterrence and containment have been replaced by risk prevention, crisis intervention, and preemptive policy measures.

Increasingly questions of foreign, security, and developmental policy have become intertwined.
The debates surrounding the war on Iraq have brought to the surface tensions between the USA and Europe – as well as within Europe itself. Against this background we would like to continue the debates on the future of transatlantic relations - and this against the background of new security policy risks, crisis prevention, and preemptive policies.

Concerning EU and European policy our focus is mainly on the following areas: Democracy and participation in the European Union; ecology and sustainable development; EU enlargement; a common European foreign and security policy; and the future of work and of social policy.

Foreign Affairs and Security

Interview

"Syrian revolutionaries owe nobody an apology"

April 11, 2013 -

The Lebanese author and leftist activist Fawwaz Traboulsi has followed the the Arab revolutions as a writer and analyst, writing down his insights 2012 in his book „Democracy is Revolution“. Mohammad al-Attar met him for the interview about Syria in Beirut.

Post-Election Gender Roadmap for the Israeli Knesset

- March 4, 2013 - The results of the elections to the 19th Knesset hold a potential for a significant change in the gender thinking of Israel’s legislative body. Out of 120 parliamentarians, 27 women will be serving in the Knesset - the largest number of women MKs since the establishment of the state. What are the necessary conditions for bringing this potential to fruition? Anat Saragusti more»

Lecture

In the Name of Prosecution: Striking a balance of the International Criminal Court’s work in the first decade

- February 11, 2013 - "It is not enough for a court to just produce legal debates in the courtroom, and to be ignored in the management of massive violence." In her lecture, Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), comments on the achievements and challenges of an international criminal justice system. Fatou Bensouda more»

Photos of the event

Conference Report

Democracy and security in the Middle East – How are Germany and the EU responding to the upheavals in the Arab world?

- December 18, 2012 -

The Arab Spring, which was welcomed euphorically two years ago, has now given way to a sobering political reality. At our 13th Annual Foreign Policy Conference in early November, numerous policymakers and experts from Germany and elsewhere discussed ways of interacting with political Islam, the geopolitical context of the Arab Spring, and possible strategies for action by the EU.

Torsten Arndt more»

Resource Governance

Dossier Resource Governance

To Have and Have Not - Resource Governance in the 21st Century

Transparent, sustainable, fair, and just governance of natural resources is a key for peace and sustainable development worldwide. “To Have and Have Not – Resource Governance in the 21st Century” is an international civil society Memorandum. more»

Photo: ShellyS (photo is under the creative commons licence Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)

Research Project

From Money to Metals

- Despite the current financial "crisis" investors are pouring money into mining companies and projects, with potentially negative consequences for thousands of communities around the world. Launched in 2008, and now available as a regularly-updated data base, "From Money to Metals" is a vital resource to discover who is funding what, and where, in one of the most potentially destructive of all global industries. By Nostromo Research, 2009. more»

Dossier

Log, Stock and Barrel - Financial Institutions in the Resource Sector

- Financial institutions play a major role in the exploitation and trade of natural resources. Over the years activists and organisations worldwide have used a variety of strategies to address these issues. The objective of the dossier Log, Stock and Barrel - Financial Institutions in the Resource Sector is to collect information on financial institutions, their role in the resource sector, and put together mechanisms, tools and strategies to address policy issues.

Oil Slick, Foto: arbyreed, Quelle: flickr.com, Lizenz: CC BY-NC 2.0

Dossier

Unconventional Oil: A Challenge for Local Communities

- With conventional oil production in decline, the global oil industry is investing heavily in dirtier and riskier forms of oil and also in unconventional resources, such as tar sands, and oil shale. All are difficult and costly to produce, usually more carbon intensive than conventional oil and may have calamitous long-term impacts on the local environment.

Christopher Walker more»

After spring comes? Recent development investments into the MENA region

- October 31, 2012 - In the wake of the Arab Spring, G8 countries and other nations have pledged major sums to stabilize the region. These financial and economic support packages could also fail to stabilize the region. Successfully managing the wide range of risks involved in the region requires addressing vulnerabilities directly in order to turn what will be a low-carbon and resource-constrained future from a risk into an opportunity. Sabrina Schulz more»

World Trade

Interview

Resource Governance: "China's quota system is transparent"

January 4, 2011 - China is the world leader in exports of rare earths, which are mainly used for the production of hi-tech products. The Heinrich Böll Foundation talked with Dr. Zha Daojiong, a professor at the School of International Studies of Peking University, about the important raw materials and the role of China.
more»

Heinrich Böll Stiftung India with partners at the Asia Europe People’s Forum

- December 7, 2010 - During the official Asia Europe Meeting in Brussels in October, our office in Delhi joined organizing the Asia Europe People’s Forum. This civil society forum strives to advance people’s voice in shaping Asia Europe relations and questions the neo-liberal ASEM agenda on grounds of citizen’s rights, economic, social, political and environmental justice. A report By Shalini Yog more»

Seoul: The 4th G20 summit takes place in the capital of South Korea.

The G20 Summit in Seoul - A turning point?

- November 10, 2010 - The G20 Seoul summit is discussing the most important issues of the global economy. This article presents the dynamic among G20 members on exchange rates, institutional reform, and global rebalancing. Sandro Gianella more»

Europe and Transatlantic

Videos

Energiewende – Think European!

April 11, 2013 - Our international conference took place on April 9th/10th and gave speakers from across Europe a chance to talk about the opportunities in and obstacles towards an Energiewende in Europe. Here you find video recordings of the talks and discussions. more»

Analysis

Some factual notes on the Fourth Amendment to Hungary’s Fundamental Law

- April 2, 2013 - Since 2010 the Fidesz-KDNP coalition adopted a new constitution with so far four rounds of constitutional amendments. This analysis issued by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and the Eötvös Károly Institute highlights the specific concerns in relation to the Fourth Amendment. Nóra Novoszádek more»

Comment

The lesson of the latest amendments to the Hungarian constitution

- March 15, 2013 - With the constitutional amendments adopted on the 11th of March, Viktor Orbán has once again caused a surprise. The reactions of the Western European public show that there is still an inadequate grasp of how political power is exercised by Orbán’s government. European democrats now finally need to formulate a common position against the power centralization in the country. Eva van de Rakt, Kristóf Szombati more»

Dossier: "Focus on Hungary"

Notes on the current phase of electoral reform in Hungary

- December 17, 2012 - After passing the Electoral Procedure Act, we are still far from knowing the final rules less than a year and a half ahead of the next parliamentary elections. However, the new electoral system turns out to be a measure of the governing party to increase its chances of winning the 2014 general election, while oppositional parties will be forced to organise their activist network and engage in a door-to-door campaign more effectively than before. Róbert László more»

The Crisis as Opportunity for Greater Sustainability and Distributive Justice

- December 10, 2012 - The debt and financial crisis in Europe has accentuated three major areas in need of reform: national debt, the stability of the financial system, and the unbalanced distribution of incomes and wealth. There are instruments of reform that could work effectively for all three areas. Simon Wolf more»

15.5.	Sicherheitspolitik im Wandel - Beweist Syrien das Ende des Prinzips der Schutzverantwortung? Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin
17.5.	„Footprints of my Other“ - Filmabend und Diskussion - Filmreihe “Her Stories - Filmmakers with African Roots”
21.5.	Understanding Pakistan: Media in the political process – a fourth power in the state? - Lecture Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin
31.5.	Ungarn 2014 - Herausforderungen für die demokratische Opposition Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin
3.6.	Understanding Pakistan: Educating the youth - financial burden or future potential? - Lecture Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin
11.6.	„Green Lecture“ mit Michael T. Klare: Die Welt im Rohstoffrausch - Was bleibt übrig? - Internationale Vortragsreihe zu Zukunftsfähigkeit, nachhaltiger Entwicklung und Ressourcengerechtigkeit Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin
13.6.	Kurzfilme von Afro-Europäischen Fimemacherinnen - Filmreihe “Her Stories - Filmmakers with African Roots”
20./21. 6.	High-Tech-Kriege - 14. Außenpolitische Jahrestagung - Herausforderungen für Frieden und Sicherheit in Zeiten von Drohnen, Robotern und digitaler Kriegführung Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin
20./21. 6.	High-Tech Wars - 14th Annual Foreign Policy Conference - Challenges to peace and security in times of drones, robots and digital warfare Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin
1.- 11.9.	Chicago - Hamburgs Partnerstadt in den USA

Facebook	Twitter
YouTube	Flickr
SoundCloud	Feeds