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The tension between the imperatives of “market sovereignty” and the entrenched principle of “state sovereignty” of authoritarian oligarchies will define the open-ended tendencies and outcomes of the ongoing regionalisation process in Southeast Asia.

Although ASEAN’s efforts to balance economic growth and environmental sustainability are growing, they are often overshadowed by the group’s economic integration agenda.

Some countries, as Vietnam, fear it, others, like Thailand, have high hopes - what can be expected of ASEAN's neo-liberal project? About its future perspectives and an alternative vision.

It was a roller-coaster of an election that redefined what was possible in Canadian politics. On October 19, when the votes were counted, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau ousted Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  What does this historic election mean for Canadian progressive politics? 

Southeast Asian cities will play a critical role in the unfolding of the ASEAN Economic Community, which is to be launched at the end of 2015. A discussion of the inter-linkages among economic growth, urbanisation, consumption, and the environment.

For the last 30 years, the Kurdish movement has given birth to a myriad of organisations. Its newest offspring is the Democratic Peoples’ Party (HDP – Halkların Demokratik Partisi) that received more than six million (13.12%) votes (80 seats) in the last election. With new elections looming in November 2015 and new clashes flaring up between the Turkish government and the PKK, the HDP’s future hangs in the balance as well.

"A new model of sustainability is needed, driven by ingenuity and the capacity of our technologies to extract more from less" says Anthony Giddens in his foreword to "Green Growth, Smart Growth".

We are facing a very important moment in environmental diplomacy and an opportunity to overcome the old fashioned contradiction between economic development and environment protection. Lecture by Ralf Fücks on his recently published book "Green Growth, Smart Growth".

As the so-called advanced economies fail to fulfill their commitments to stop climate change, people in Vietnam, Myanmar or on the island states of the Pacific have to pay with their lives. Big Oil, Big Gas, and Big Coal need to accept responsibility and start making real contributions.

The multimedia scroll documentation "Ackerbunt" by Jakob Fuhr, Christine Anas and Elisabeth Weydt is one of six winning projects presented at "EcoFair Media – Good food for all!" that artistically and substantively tackle the issue of the human right to food.

On October 13th a large coalition of environment, climate and indigenous peoples organizations has posted a letter to the board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The group demands that the EITI’s principles, standards and procedures have to take into account climate change impacts, and the consequences of necessary legal and policy reforms and associated risks to the fossil fuel industry.

In the 90s and early 2000s, Canada's Liberal government begged to differ. During its international heyday, Canada became the patron of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). Whatever happened to Canada's commitment to the R2P under Harper's Conservative government?

While Russia’s recent military involvement in the Syrian war theatre has caught much of the West by surprise, the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine has increasingly slipped off the public’s radar. We spoke with Marieluise Beck, Member of the German Bundestag.

Prominent voices, such as former White House Coordinator for the Middle East Phil Gordon, have advocated for striving for a negotiated interim solution in Syria that defers the question of Assad’s fate. Bente Scheller, director of our office in Lebanon, addresses some of the underlying myths and arguments shaping the current debate.  

Xenophobia and efforts to turn public opinion against “social welfare migrants” are not a new invention. But the fact that every solution that comes from the EU is ignored – this is something new.

It remains to be seen whether the majority decision on the redistribution of 120,000 refugees was a clever move. In Central Eastern Europe, the voices against the “dictate of the majority” cannot be ignored.

Since taking office in 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has focused on turning Canada into an energy superpower. The strategy behind this is the proposed doubling of the extraction of oil from Canada’s bituminous tar sands, located primarily in the western province of Alberta.

The Gezi protests have energized the LGBTIQ movement in Turkey, giving it a sustainable boost. The history of the movement, however, began at the start of the last century at the latest.

Will the Greek crisis return? Will Tsipras be able to stave it off? The road to national dignity is paved with good intentions and even better proclamations.

Press-Statement: Over the last two days (21/22 September 2015), civil society actors and think tank experts from Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Germany have met to confer on the crisis of the European security order and on ways out of the current political-military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

A special EU summit of heads of state and government will take place on 23 September. After years of neglect, however, a solidary EU refugee policy cannot be elaborated in summary proceedings and under pressure. A commentary by Eva van de Rakt.

In the nine years under the Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada has focused primarily on its oil industry without regard for the environment and local populations. However, that line of reasoning is now losing its force.

This Sunday, September 20, Greek citizens will go the polls for the third time in just eight months. While the refugee crisis in Europe has ousted Greece from the international headlines, the country’s political landscape is undergoing some deep and significant shifts. We spoke with Olga Drossou, director of our regional office in Thessaloniki.

If the EU is serious about an ambitious agreement at the UN talks in Paris, it must prioritise adaptation and resilience to climate risk in the negotiations, write Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's Presidents Barbara Unmüßig and Ralf Fücks and E3G's Chief Executive Nick Mabey.

Ahead of the 19 October election, there is a tight, three-way race to run Canada. The embattled incumbent - conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper – is running neck-in-neck with two contenders: Tom Mulcair, Leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberals.

For Europe, the current refugee crisis presents a two-fold challenge: Will we uphold our humanitarian values, that is, do we view the refugees as people in need and with a right to a safe haven? And will the EU act as one – or will national selfishness erode European togetherness?

After images of Budapest’s Keleti train station illustrating the need for a fast EU assistance programme for refugees: the governments of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia reaffirmed their vehement “no” to refugee quotas.

David Bollier and Michel Bauwens of the Commons Strategies Group/P2P Foundation discussed the role of the commons and peer to peer production in meeting people’s needs and the many enclosures of the commons that are abridging their fundamental rights.

After Danish Jews fled to their neutral neighbours in 1943 and Sweden agreed to offer temporary refuge to some thirty thousand survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, a country deeply averse to foreigners transformed. So can Europe today. An article of the "Berlin Anthology".

Europe has always been a continent of refugees und migrations. The debate surrounding how to deal with these challenges has only just begun. An article of our "Berlin Anthology".