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The new Hungarian Constitution disempowers the political community, curtails  fundamental rights and confronts citizens with the prospect of having to live in a state which exhibits authoritarian tendencies in general. But fatalism is not an option.

The Hungarian political system rests on a powerfully centralised party machine, a viable alternative is not in sight. The opposition is scattered and lacks of democratic structures and identity. What are potential sources for a democrativ change? László Lengyel and Eszter Nova (Financial Research Institute in Budapest) about possible sources of change in a country not used to democratic self-defence.

In a recently published online article György Schöpflin, Hungarian political scientist and member of the European Parliament for Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, laments that foreign countries do not understand Hungary. For Schöpflin Hungary is a “small culture with its own very different language”, which is not heard by the rest of the world. Wolfgang Klotz, director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, analyzes the values of Hungary's conservatives.

The people of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) have held their 8th Peoples Forum (APF) /ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC) in Cambodia from March 29-31, 2012 in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia where the ASEAN Summit took place beginning of April. 

Green technologies in themselves will not bring about the change we need. Growth at any price must no longer be the paramount goal. Agriculture is one of the sectors in which reform is most urgent – and, at the same time, most difficult.  

The semi-civilian government of Myanmar has begun to initiate first democratic reforms. But the careful change raises major challenges to the country, especially well-trained professionals are a scarce commodity. Zeya Thu talked in an interview with the Heinrich Boell Stiftung about the recent changes in his country.

In this essay, the president of the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Barbara Unmuessig, critically reflects on the opportunities for and the shortcomings of the concept of a "Green Economy" to influence economic policy making globally, its relationship to the paradigm of sustainable development and the need to rethink our understanding and focus on growth.

The definition of "good life" depends mostly on political, economical and cultural circumstances, but due to the effects of climate change and global warming, it also depends on issues of nature and environment. Georg Koessler investigates the relationship between climate change and living conditions.

We should be bold and say that the current paradigm of sustainability is obsolete. The paradigm needs an additional pillar: culture.

Looking at the upcoming parliamentary election in Iran, the sociologist Dr. Hosein Ghazian analyses the challenges of this election in the light of recent political developments in Iran.