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On February 7 2015, a referendum "on protecting the family" to define marriage as a "unique union between one man and one woman" will be held in Slovakia. The article outlines how Slovak parties deal with the referendum.

The main victims in the fight to reach peace and security are young people. Nonetheless, in government decision making, the role of young politicians is negligible; this shows what the government’s motivations actually are.

On 2 February, Angela Merkel visits Hungary. The German-Hungarian friendship has undergone fundamental changes in the recent past - and the rewriting of Germany’s Russia policy also entails reshaping its ties to Hungary.

Why leaving Afghanistan might be the preferred choice for the young and restless.

Hannah Arendt would have found a lot to dislike about today’s Russia. But she would have loved Pussy Riot. An excerpt from the lecture of Ralf Fücks upon the occasion of the 2014 Hannah Arendt Prize.

With the attacks on the French magazine "Charlie Hebdo", a new debate on free speech started, aksing i.e. where does freedom of expression end and where do xenophobia and defamation begin? Does Islam allow for critical self-reflection? In 2011 we organized a conference in Beirut, adressing those question. A documentation.

Violent communication has relevant effects on queer feminist internet activism. This article focuses on options and necessities of regulating such forms of violent anti-feminist and racist communication. How to prevent or to stop violent online-communication?

Assad and ISIS appear to be perfect opposites. In reality, however, they are rather complementary. Whatever aspirations one may have for a cooperation with the regime, neither an end to the war nor safety will be gained through it.

Newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in September to make his first official visit to the United States. On January 26, US President Barack Obama will visit India.

The coming set of Sustainable Development Goals will seek to protect ecosystems, conserve resources, and, as with the Millennium Development Goals, lift millions of people out of poverty. Now that solid legal ground must be developed further.

There's little hope for an improvement of the Syrian situation. Nonetheless, there are civil society activists who are still working on non-violent resistance and democratic change.

More than six million Syrian refugees are in search of a different, a safer place in their home country and yet only arrive at places that are currently slightly less ghastly.

How do you organise a drama festival with international guests on a 6,000 € state subsidy? Well, you need a lot of enthusiastic volunteers, as well as visitors, who are completely committed to the cause.

“We were born to the world to be at home in it somewhere,” wrote the Hungarian author Áron Tamási. Yet not only the feeling of being at home, but also that of homelessness may be a common denominator among people who live in the same space – in the same cyberspace.

According to its mission statement, Trafó House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest is a receptive venue unique to Hungary, where various genres are presented in an individual and authentic manner. An Interview with Managing Director György Szabó.

Hungary continues to extend its energy relations with Russia causing another major tension in the already heavy-loaded Hungarian-EU relations.

It is not only constitutional democracy that Viktor Orbán’s regime treats as its enemy; the Hungarian government has also launched a forceful attack on the welfare state. A concise overview of the latest reforms - and an assess of their consequences for poverty and social inequality.

Almost three years have passed since the enactment of changes to the general law in Hungary. The overall message of the Orbán government’s new education system is:  you belong where you were born. An analysis.

Since May this year, when I started writing this blog, I have started appreciating the strength of Indian democracy. As I followed the unraveling of the national elections, and thereafter the elections in various states of our country, I became acutely aware of the power of Indian voters and their ability to choose their own destiny in a peaceful and democratic manner.

Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) in the Pakistani Parliament, in collaboration with Heinrich Boll Stiftung organized a one-day roundtable meeting to initiate a dialogue with political parties on best ways to strengthen capacities of women police in Pakistan.

How does Prime Minister Viktor Orbáns emphasise on the importance of Christianity in Hungary’s history effect recent politics? An analysis of new regulations concerning religious freedom and churches, which redefine the relationship between the state and certain churches.

A presentation by Ulrich Kühn (The Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy) at the conference "The Impact of the Crisis in Ukraine on the Future of Arms Control" held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in December 3, 2014.

The conference “Legal Remedies for Resource Equity”, whick took place on September 15th, focused on the use of environmental law to prevent the negative impacts of global resource extraction. A documentation of Barbara Unmüßig's keynote and presentations of the speaker's corners.

The COP 20’s “Lima call for climate action” is no wake-up call but a worrisome sign of a feeble multilateral climate process plagued by political deafness and leaving poor and vulnerable communities alone with the impacts of climate change.

Oceans have always played a key role for life on earth. In his lecture, marine conservation biologist and author Callum Roberts (University of York, England), describes the distressing dimension that the relatively short human rule of the seas has reached throughout the past decade.

There is still no trace of the students of Escuela Normal Rural of Ayotzinapa who disappeared towards the end of September. We spoke with María Luisa Aguila from the Tlachinollan Centre about the situation, the role of the Mexican government and the responsibility of the European Union in the Ayotzinapa case.

Lili Fuhr and Niclas Hällström sharply criticize climate-change goals that are based on risky or underdeveloped technologies.

Natural resources should be a major contributor to development in some of the countries that need it most. And yet, in some of world’s poorest and most fragile states, they bring just the opposite.

Organization of women in parliamentary politics in collaboration with HBS organized a round table consultation on International Human Rights Conventions Ratified by Pakistan on 28th of October, 2014 at Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS).

PM Modi faced its first stern test in the elections to the state assemblies of Maharashtra and Haryana. Avani Tewari explains in the India-Blog why the Modi magic works.