What shall I wish for the CDU, what shall I wish for all of us? A dose of Barack Obama would do our Republic good: It’s time for change! Courage to change, to move out into the open instead of going back in the old trenches!

Russia and the European Union are increasingly bound together – if not by common values, then by virtue of their interdependence. Beyond strong economic ties, both actors have a mutual interest in maintaining international stability and a secure neighbourhood.

On 18 February 2008, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung hosted a dinner discussion with Knesset member Yossi Beilin in Berlin which was attended by politicians, journalists, diplomats, and academics. According to Beilin, the real danger of an Iranian nuclear weapons capability will be the shifting balance of power in the Middle East rather than an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel.

Perspectives is a publication series of the Africa offices of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung. With this series, we intend to let experts from Africa express their views about current political issues in their region. Here you find PDFs of all issues published between 2008 and mid-2012.

German fractions in the debate about military deployment of international and German troops always pretend to care about the Afghans´opinion. In fact they seem to ignore their real interests. A study of the Berlins Free University´s political science department comes to similar conclusions.

Religion continues to have a public dimension throughout the world, and from the point of view of women’s rights to equality, there is much at stake in how religion and politics intertwine. For that purpose, the Heinrich Böll Foundation conducts an extensive research project in collaboration with UNRISD to explore the effects of this blending of religion and politics on women’s rights and gender equality.

Higher and more stable agricultural commodity prices are a necessary condition for the agriculture sector to become an effective force in the socioeconomic growth of the less and least developed countries. Trade liberalisation cannot deliver this. What are the alternatives?

The current global agrifood system is slowly going from a "bottleneck situation" to one of "hourglass", wherein a few dominant agrifood retailers control both the supply side / numerous producers and demand side / numerous consumers.

While the climate debate is raging, the climate negotiations themselves are barely moving. Finger pointing seems to be the name of the game, with each negotiating bloc focused on passing the bill for solving the climate crisis onto the others. The process as a whole is in impasse, and it’s time to admit it, as it’s time to admit that disagreements about fairness and equity are at the centre of the impasse.