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The attacks of 11 September 2001 represented a historic turning point of a scope comparable to that of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. This year’s annual foreign policy conference took stock of the “war on terror” and formulated a vision for Afghanistan, the Middle East and global politics.

The concept of a “good life” touches many layers of everyday life. Our art project SurVivArt creates an international bridge between sustainability, climate change, gender equity, art and culture. With the support of our international offices, SurVivArt shows perspectives and views from artists from different regions of the world,  mainly from the global South.

The G20 could dramatically improve the working of international food systems if they chose to, and the broader benefits would be significant. Yet the final communiqué showed just how much work is still to be done.

To the degree that the international community is concerned with the intra-Afghan agreement and security handover, so should it also be concerned that the process does not harm Afghan civil society, but rather ensure that it has an active voice in the process. 

Transatlantic 20/20: The US and Europe in an Interpolar World, held at the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Berlin on June 16, brought together experts from think tanks, the media, and the foreign service to give their take on the scenarios and share how they think the future might unfold.

The first comprehensive study regarding immigrants on German city councils.

In his Interview, Aziz Rafiee, Managing Director of the Afghan Civil Society Forum, assesses the developments in Afghanistan during the last ten years. Where can we mark successes and where do gaps persist? Which role does the Afghan civil society play and will the Taliban be invited to the table at the Bonn conference on Afghanistan in December?

After strong criticism voiced by Afghan human rights and civil society organizations, the Ministry of Justice has modified the draft law on how to celebrate weddings in Afghanistan. The result is disappointing: The changes are merely technical and do not address the common concern of too much interference in people’s private affairs.

In view of the upcoming December 2011 Bonn/Petersberg Conference on Afghanistan, leaders from Afghan civil society have appealed to members of the German Bundestag in an open letter. In the letter, they demand, among other things, more transparency in the Afghan government’s negotiations with the Taliban, as well as increased access by the Afghan civil society to the national decision-making process.

In December 2011, ten years after the Petersberg Conference, the future of Afghanistan will be discussed anew. How can Afghanistan increasingly become militarily, politically and economically more independent? And where does the Afghan parliament and civil society stand in this year’s Bonn Conference? Will they be included? Or will they – as is so often the case in international conferences – be excluded?