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Current military operations in the region led by international and Afghan forces, as well as diplomatic pressure on neighboring countries are part of counterinsurgency efforts to stabilize Khost province.

Publication Series on Democracy 22: One of the most important focal points of overlapping and competing interests of both established and emerging powers is the Middle East. This region is an arena where the new rules of the game are being developed and acted out. This publication attempts looking at the effects of the global shift of power on the Middle East to explore the perspectives of the region to become a partner in an emerging multi-polar system, rather than a stomping ground or even a battlefield for the interest and the prestige of others.

This issue of Perspectives light on the ongoing struggle of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people for equality in Africa. The articles demonstrate that despite the myriad of challenges and hostile environment there is a growing movement towards changing Africa into a continent where LGBTI people enjoy the full range of human rights.

Climate change, the global food crisis, and poverty continue to pose enormous challenges to international politics. While the global fi nancial crisis has had an impact on every country in the world, it has wiped out progress toward development particularly in the poorest countries.

Political and economic forces of the world are changing. Thus, the Heinrich Böll Foundation publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, the “G20 Update,” on the G20 Summit processes and outcomes with special emphasis on the contributions to the processes by civil society organizations.

Publication Series on Democracy 18: As the six-year transitional period defined in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement draws to a close, Sudan is sliding into another crisis. The Heinrich Böll Foundation, which has been working both with civil society partners in Sudan and on Sudan-related issues in the German context for several years, has put together this publication in order to reflect on such scenarios.