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The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU comes at a watershed period. Europe and the world are being shaken by a global crisis. Many people agree, however, that the watershed concerns more than just the economic crisis.

America’s planned missile defence system in Central Europe is supposed to protect against terrorists and “rogue states” – but, in reality, they’ve set up a confrontation between NATO and Russia.

Sixty years ago the European Union didn’t exist; now it’s a fully mature political entity. It’s time for NATO to recognise Europe’s capacity for independent foreign and military policy.

Shlomo Brom analyses the objectives of the Israeli campaign in Gaza and suggests possible ways for Israel to maximise a sound exit strategy in light of these objectives.

It is clear that Operation Cast Lead will end with a new ceasefire. Still, it remains to be seen what the new US Administrations policies for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are.

Far from achieving the intended blow against al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents in Iraq, the recent American incursion into Syrian territory undermines voices of moderation in Syria, and facilitates the recruitment efforts of extremist Islamist groups in a country that has every reason to be wary of the terrorist threat.

Ethnic and religious conflicts have increased significantly. The international community was largely helpless in the face of genocide in Rwanda and the Balkan wars. Nation building and state building in fragile states has thus become an instrument of international policy. Managing ethnic and and religious conflicts involves finding equilibrium between the territorial integrity of a state and its inherent promise of stability and the principle of a peoples' right to self-determination.

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With Barack Obama the USA will become both more american and more european. By entering into dialogue with its international partners, America will also expect them to shoulder more of the responsibility. This will not necessarily be comfortable for Europe.

A report on a conference in Beirut with the goal to highlight regional environmental problems and search for and discuss sustainable solutions.

Excerpts from Ahmed Rashid’s Annual Foreign Policy Conference, September 11, 2008

The EU has its own balancing acts to perform. If Belarus were to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the window of opportunity for improved relations may close almost as soon as it opened.

The 2007 food crisis was an accident bound to happen due to policy mistakes in agriculture and food security. This paper considers why prices rose, who was affected and how, and proposes policies to make agriculture a fairer and more sustainable sector.

Traditional emphases of the Heinrich Böll Foundation include support for environmental activists and grassroots groups in the areas of mining, biodiversity and water. Both currently and in the future, the topic of "Energy" will come to the forefront as well.

Patriarchal social systems still dominate in Africa today. The Heinrich Böll Foundation supports organizations that stand up for women’s rights and demand greater political, social, and economic participation for women.

In Africa’s newly democratized countries, churches, trade unions, journalists’ associations, or women’s organizations act as an important corrective to government power. The Heinrich Böll Foundation helps civil society organizations to mobilize the public through knowledge transfer, campaigns, and communication.

Only if Georgia succeeds in building a dynamic and attractive democracy, the populations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will have a real choice – between a democratic Georgia and an authoritarian Russia.

The three decades of conflict in Afghanistan have taken the lives of more than a million people and the country and its people have suffered the gravest violations of human rights.

Die Nato muss den Afghanen zeigen, dass sie bereit ist, die notwendigen Ressourcen für die Stabilisierung des Landes zur Verfügung zu stellen. In den kommenden Monaten müssen die Nato-Mitgliedsstaaten darüber hinaus die Rolle der ISAF in der Reform des Sicherheitssektors definieren und sich darüber einigen, in welchem Verhältnis Sicherheit und Wiederaufbau stehen, fordert Julianne Smith.

This special section of “Voices from Afghanistan” wants to give those people a say whose voices usually go unheard in the debates about the reconstruction and democratisation process in Afghanistan.

Heinrich Böll Foundation, Regional Office Pakistan/Afghanistan 2007