COP29: Azerbaijan’s Quest for International Legitimacy and Funding Published: 11 March 2024 Analysis As the host country of the COP29 climate conference, authoritarian Azerbaijan wants to improve its international reputation. How should democratic states and international civil society approach the next COP? By Dr. Sonja Katharina Schiffers
Southeast Europe: Plundering the Western Balkans Published: 23 January 2024 Analysis Corrupt politicians have been systematically plundering public budgets and natural resources in the Western Balkans for years. Increasingly, international actors are also discovering an El Dorado for dubious investments in these countries. By Marion Kraske
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia: Policy Options for Germany and the EU Published: 29 September 2023 Analysis Over 50,000 Armenians have already fled Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia following Azerbaijan's recent military offensive. Despite ongoing negotiations, further escalations could follow. What options do Germany and the EU have? By Walter Kaufmann and Dr. Sonja Katharina Schiffers
"Elections in Slovakia: Fico is dangerous, but he knows the power of social protest" Published: 26 September 2023 Interview With the return of former Prime Minister Fico, old authoritarian patterns could resurface in the upcoming elections. However, progressives also have a chance to win. By Jan Philipp Albrecht , Adéla Jurečková and Zuzana Kepplová
Germany's Feminist Foreign and Development Policy: Need for Changes in Relations with the South Caucasus Published: 27 February 2023 Analyse The German government is in the process of spelling out a feminist foreign and development policy. This article, aimed at contributing to policy changes based on the new paradigm, suggests how Germany’s policy towards Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, whose political relevance has increased for Berlin due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, could become feminist. By Dr. Sonja Katharina Schiffers
Misguided Balkans policy. Dangerous appeasement Published: 15 February 2023 Analysis For many years, Western players have been going all out to placate the populistic-nationalist players and their destructive ideologies: yet their questionable methods of appeasement and undemocratic interventions have ended up bolstering the very powers that have come to pose a threat to peace. By Marion Kraske
"Immediately after that seminal year of 2000, it was the writers who started creating bonds" Published: 15 December 2022 Interview In this far-ranging interview, our office director, Nino Lejava talks to NIN Award winning author and director of the KROKODIL independent cultural center, Vladimir Arsenijević, about the historical and political foundations of Serbia's current geopolitical as well as cultural position with regard to its immediate neighbors, as well as Europe. By Nino Lejava
Captain Wakusch: The author Giwi Margwelaschwili Published: 26 September 2022 Film The short documentary film “Kapitän Wakusch” or in english: “Captain Wakusch” is a poetical portrait of the German-Georgian writer and philosopher Giwi Margwelashvili born in 1927 in Berlin, died 2020 in Tbilisi. A permanent stranger and migrant between Germany and Georgia, East and West, reality and literature.
How American conservatism is beginning to resemble Hungary Published: 21 July 2022 Analysis Parallels between the American "New Right" and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s brand of illiberalism extend beyond CPAC and his relationship with Trump. By Sam Denney
Public History - New Tendencies and Practices in Germany and Post-Yugoslav States Published: 29 June 2022 Report The need for practitioners and history promoters to do historical work “beyond the walls of the traditional classroom” is constantly growing. One of the main takeaways from our recent study trip to Berlin is that public and open discussions about the past and remembering are crucial for building future welfare. By Ana Radaković