Senegal is home to many different ethnic groups – partly a result of the country’s history, which has been shaped by slavery and colonialism, but also as a result of migration, flight and exile in more recent times. The country has managed to integrate its different ethnicities and religions in an exemplary way. At the moment, though, the situation can hardly be described as harmonious. Senegal’s president has unleashed a storm of protest by controversially standing for a third term.

by Gerhard Wahlers

Historical and Modern Foundations of a Diverse yet Cohesive Country

More than 50 ethnic groups and a similar number of nationalities have melded in Senegal into a family of peoples: there is virtually no xenophobia or ethnic and religious conflict. A glance at the country’s historical, geographical and sociocultural background sheds light on the development of the integrated nation that is Senegal.

by Ute Gierczynski-Bocandé

Palestinian Expatriates and their Impact on the Middle East Conflict

While almost half of all Palestinians are refugees, many of whom live in unfit conditions, there is also a large number of expatriate Palestinians spread all over the world who have a secure position in society and who are networked in various ways. It is due to them that the Palestinian population as a whole can be considered a cosmopolitan people. And they exert influence on the Middle East conflict through a global network.

by Felix Dane, Jörg Knocha

How Advocates of Democracy are being Forced to Emigrate from Belarus

In the last 17 years of Lukashenko’s presidency, people have left Belarus to go into exile for many different reasons. Many have left their homeland to study or set up a business, or simply because they feared for their lives. Many of the President’s former allies who have fallen out of favour now live in Moscow. Lukashenko’s democratic opponents have chosen Prague, Warsaw or Vilnius as places to live in exile.

by Stephan Malerius

Polish Parliamentary Elections and the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

For Poland 2011 was a year of challenges and tests. The government in Warsaw had to cope with holding the Presidency of the EU for the first time since joining the Union. Poland proposed an ambitious agenda for the period of its EU Presidency, which it would have to implement at the same time as holding its own national elections. The end result was success for the Polish government: it not only won the elections but also served a positive and professional term as President of the Council.

by Christian Schmitz, Agnieszka Lada

Currently, a conflict over independence is smouldering away in Indonesia’s most easterly region, partly as a hangover from Dutch colonial times as partly because of the Cold War. In the past, the Indonesian government was able to treat the unrest in the region as a domestic matter, but recently it has started to attract more and more international criticism. Although it is now ten years since the introduction of the Special Autonomy Law relating to Papua, 2011 was still a year of rising tension in the region.

by Marc Frings

The Political Situation Following the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections

On 28 November 2011 the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo were once again called upon to elect a president and parliament for this central African country. After the first free elections following independence were held in 2006, this was to be the second election under the multiparty system.

by Tinko Weibezahl