Shlomo Brom analyses the objectives of the Israeli campaign in Gaza and suggests possible ways for Israel to maximise a sound exit strategy in light of these objectives.

It is clear that Operation Cast Lead will end with a new ceasefire. Still, it remains to be seen what the new US Administrations policies for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are.

Issue 05/2008 of Perspectives discusses South Africa's young democracy. It seems inevitable that 2008 will prove itself to be a definitive year for South Africa’s young democracy. Exactly what kind of future trajectory it will deliver is to be seen – the current state of the nation is that of flux.

Far from achieving the intended blow against al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents in Iraq, the recent American incursion into Syrian territory undermines voices of moderation in Syria, and facilitates the recruitment efforts of extremist Islamist groups in a country that has every reason to be wary of the terrorist threat.

The particular danger of islamophobia is its potential to forge a broad alliance of otherwise opposed political forces: Muslims serve as the embodiment of the ultimate enemy for conservatives striving for Western hegemony – and for progressives standing up for freedom of expression, rationality, human rights, and the rights of women.

Ethnic and religious conflicts have increased significantly. The international community was largely helpless in the face of genocide in Rwanda and the Balkan wars. Nation building and state building in fragile states has thus become an instrument of international policy. Managing ethnic and and religious conflicts involves finding equilibrium between the territorial integrity of a state and its inherent promise of stability and the principle of a peoples' right to self-determination.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation has awarded Chinese defence lawyer and human rights advocate Zhang Sizhi with the Petra Kelly Prize 2008. Sizhi is known among Chinese lawyers as “the conscience of lawyers”.

Twenty per cent of the world population consume 80% of the world’s resources and contribute 80% of total carbon emissions. These 20% live in the richest industrial nations, which also have the capacities and the resources to deal with climate change appropriately, but are least affected by the consequences.

Significant efforts are required to reduce carbon emissions and to prevent an increase in temperature of more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

The less developed the capacity of a state is to deal with conflicts and the less its ability is for adaptation and regeneration, the harder the state will be hit by the impacts of climate change.