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Ukraine is an eastern outpost for the West and a western threshold of Europe for the East. The country needs strategic thinking today, and the EU’s Eastern Partnership can help achieve this.

There are two alternatives - either gradual convergence of the EU’s and Russia’s policies toward the countries, or a new period of competition. Then we could get an answer to the question of whether the EP can be a uniting platform for new relations between Russia and the EU, or whether it will be a source of discord?

To open up with the conclusion of this piece: The short war between Russian and Georgian forces in 2008 has not altered the strategic landscape of Europe. Rather, the clash has cleared the air from the smog of illusionary rhetoric about a new order for the continent. After the fact, the realities of power and dependence, of cooperation and conflict, the dilemmas of order and principle have become more obvious and debatable.

Soon after 2000, the European Union (EU) began to aspire to an increasingly robust role in conflict prevention and resolution in the South Caucasus. It sought to expand its role in the Georgian-Abkhaz, Georgian-Ossetian and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution efforts. A turning point for its engagement was the 2008 Georgian-Russian war. The EU’s speedy response to that crisis was impressive and the Union has been actively engaged in addressing that conflict since.

Before 1989 the world was much simpler. Belonging to the Western camp and projecting decent democratic credentials guaranteed that a country would sooner or later be welcomed into the fold of European and Euro-Atlantic organisations. Today, the relationship between the European Union (EU) and its Eastern neighbours is much more complicated, as the ultimate question of 'Europe's borders' continues to haunt the EU and its members.

Since women and children are both vulnerable groups in our country, I will mostly focus on and consider these two groups. They face problems by any new evolution and changes in the country, Taliban regime is a clear example of it. If I get the chance to be a parliamentarian I would like to establish an advocacy group to lobby for women and children rights.

"A legitimated government comes from its parliament transparency”. I would like to focus on passage and approval of new and updated laws according to Afghan context. In addition I want to establish an active group who can transparently observe government work and fill the gaps present in some current laws of Afghanistan.

Media in democracies is often referred to as"the fourth pillar of power", and rightfully so. Ideally, this is what they do: Exerting control over politics by reporting on what they see and learn on what is happening. To be part of a decision making process, citizens need to be informed on all aspects relevant to them. What the media finds out and reports about might, however, differ from the image politicians want to give. In this case, hardly anybody is self-critical enough to admit flaws in his or her policy but rather blames it on the media.

The Archiv Grünes Gedächtnis (which translates as 'green memory archive') collects materials relating to the new social movements and to the German Green Party. This includes documents from federal and regional party headquarters, as well as from the European, German, and regional German parliaments. There is also a collection of posters, recordings, and photographs. The archive has a library which is open to the public.

The publication is an edited collection of short essays by Indian authors on economic structures, relations and principles that are needed to serve the goals of sustainable economic and human development, poverty eradication, social justice, and empowerment of the most vulnerable segments of society: women.

Contact addresses and websites of the foreign offices of the Heinrich Böll Foundation

Jens Siegert, head of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Moscow, states in a commentary article that a verdict of "not guilty" in the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial may show a sign of political weakness on behalf of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, while a "guilty" verdict could end all hope for a thorough modernization of Russia.

The AIHRC, as an active member of the Governance cluster, is assertive and supportive of the priorities on Rule of Law, Justice and Human Rights. All of these priorities are inter-related that each of them effect the achievement of other. Achieving these priority objectives will, definitely, have positive impact on promotion of human rights and civil responsibilities, and finally, it furthers trust between the citizens and government.

The Kabul conference is an important milestone for the Afghan government. With the biggest event ever hosted by Afghanistan, it will be a demonstration of the capabilities the government has developed over the last years. If the conference is not disturbed by major security incidents, this indeed will encourage other countries confidence in Afghan sovereignty and encourage them to hand over more and more responsibilities in the cluster areas as defined in the London conference.

We women need peace more than anybody else, because we lose more than men in war. War rubs us of the little rights we have fought for over the long years as well as of the economic, political, social and cultural opportunities. At the same time, we believe that achieving a lasting peace is impossible without realisation of justice, good governance, rule of law and respect for human rights.

A surprising omission is the balanced inquiry into what climate change and its effects mean for democratization, and what democratization could mean for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and climate adaptation. This paper draws attention to the little explored relationships between climate change and democratization.

Dr. Soraya Sobhrang, one of the most prominent Human and Women's Rights defenders in Afghanistan, was awarded the sixth Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk in Dublin in 2010.

The final document of the 2010 NPT Review Conference includes reference to the convening of a conference in 2012 to discuss the idea of a Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free-Zone (WMDFZ) for the Middle East.

This conference report summarizes the key debates of the two-day conference "The Great Transformation - Greening the Economy". Additionally audio recordings of all sessions are available as well as video recordings of several key notes.

Africa is celebrating. Never in the history of the Mundial has the game of football inspire an entire continent to dream and hope for a brighter future than the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup. The soccer event, brings hope and joy to a continent long ravaged by poverty, wars and diseases.

Organizations for women’s rights in Afghanistan can be proud: While in the beginning the government considered to have only 20 women among the delegates, now more than 340 women joined the National Consultative Peace Jirga. This is due not only to lobbying of activists but more importantly to a long-term effort that started ahead of the London conference.

Developing countries are strongly affected by the consequences of climate change. So what can they do to protect themselves? How to act if those responsible for environmental pollution and climate change do not.

On Wednesday, June 2, the long-announced Peace Jirga starts in Kabul. 1600 delegates from all over Afghanistan will come together to discuss whether and how peace can be achieved. People are unsure what to expect from a gathering on which even a day before it is happening neither participants nor agenda have been made public. More easy than to know who will be attending the Jirga is to know who will not be there: The armed opposition has not been invited, the political opposition declares its boycott and women have only reluctantly been included.  

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is currently being attacked by radical islamists. Recently a UNRWA summer camp for palestine boys and girls has been set on fire. John Ging about the humanitarian crisis due to the Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip in violation of international law.

On May, 28-29 a live-stream and chat for the international conference "The Great Transformation: Greening the Economy" will be available here. The international conference deals with the political framework, regulatory instruments, as well as leading technologies, key projects and new alliances for the economic-ecologic turnaround.

The international conference deals with the political framework, regulatory instruments, as well as leading technologies, key projects and new alliances for the economic-ecologic turnaround. On May, 28-29 a live-stream will be available.

How can we switch our economy to a modus operandi that will not emit additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? How can we feed most resources back into a circular economy? What changes to key sectors of our economy are necessary to achieve this? A green transformation of industry and economy is one of the greatest challenges facing us in the 21st century.

The ecological challenges are enormous. As long as there are financial incentives that point the other way, we will not be able to solve these and other environmental problems within a market economy. State finances will have to be put on a new base.