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IMAGO / Christian Ohde

Mexico 2026: Uncertainty in North American Free Trade—New Opportunities with Europe?

Two years of President Claudia Sheinbaum

After nearly two years in office, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum continues to enjoy high approval ratings, while her ruling party, MORENA, dominates the country’s political landscape. The opposition appears lackluster and disorganized. The overhaul of state institutions begun under Sheinbaum’s predecessor, López Obrador (AMLO), is moving forward. The much-criticized judicial reform, along with weakened institutional checks and balances, raises significant doubts about the development of the rule of law and the separation of powers in Mexico. Organized crime also remains a major challenge, despite initial improvements in security. At the same time, uncertainty about Mexico’s economic future is growing after the United States—the country’s most important trading partner—refused to grant a long-term extension of the T-MEC in July 2026. This, in turn, opens up opportunities to expand economic and political relations as part of the diversification of international economic ties and the Modernized Global Agreement (MGA) between Mexico and the EU.

Johannes Hügel, Nikolaus Rischbieter
September 8, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO / ABACAPRESS

Political rentrée to work as the election campaign gets underway

France faces a turbulent autumn

With the political return to work, the run-up to the 2027 presidential election campaign effectively begins in France. Although there are still several months to go before the election, the political camps are already clearly staking out their positions. Initial debates, new candidacies, and controversial socio-political initiatives show that the contest for France’s political future is gathering pace. The Senate elections on 27 September are likely to realign the political balance of power and thus inject further momentum into the nascent election campaign. At the same time, the government faces an imminent test: the budget debate. The tabling of the draft budget on 30 September and the planned vote on 17 November will serve as a decisive test of the ability of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government to act. At the same time, the passing of the budget will reveal the extent to which the French National Assembly is capable of compromise at all under the current majority arrangements. Autumn could thus become a political stress test – and at the same time decisively shape the balance of power ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Anja Czymmeck, Max Willem Fricke, Nele Katharina Wissmann
September 8, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO / Fotostand

Analysis of the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on 6 September 2026

Analysis based on preliminary results, on the main determining factors, voter migration and social structure

In the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD achieved by far the best result in its history. Based on election day polls and surveys conducted in the run-up to the election, we explain the significance of assessments of leading politicians, party competencies and political issues for the election results.

Dr. Viola Neu, Dr. Sabine Pokorny
September 7, 2026
Monitor Election and Social Research
IMAGO / Lucian Alecu

Political Power Play with European Funds as Leverage

Timișoara Mayor Dominic Fritz at the Center of Political Maneuvering

770 million Euro from the EU-funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) have become the leverage for the next political move by Romania’s Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the right-wing populist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), as they seek to sideline an unwelcome political rival. Their target is Dominic Fritz, chairman of the liberal USR party and mayor of the city of Timișoara, who is likely to lose his mayoral office as a result of a newly adopted law. The apparent objective is not only to remove Fritz from office but also to weaken the cohesion of the current governing partners, USR and the National Liberal Party (PNL).

Dr. Stefan Hofmann, Mihai Marc, Ilinca Iordache
September 4, 2026
Country reports
KALUZA+SCHMID Studio

The Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the Renewal of the Social Market Economy in the Digital Age

A Discussion Paper

Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on the preservation of humanity in the age of artificial intelligence can be read as a regulatory wake-up call: it applies the principles of Catholic social teaching to the digital economy and deliberately builds on the founding principles of the social market economy. This discussion paper therefore interprets the encyclical from an economic policy perspective and puts forward the thesis that the encyclical identifies five areas for regulatory innovation aimed at further developing the social market economy in the age of AI.

Thomas Schauf
September 3, 2026
Single title
yanik88/Smarterpix

Economic expert Christoph M. Schmidt accompanied the KAS for a year

Report on the KAS-Fellowship 2025: Christoph M. Schmidt on innovation, the social market economy, growth potential and Germany’s international competitiveness

The capacity for innovation is a central pillar of the German economy. What framework conditions must policymakers create to strengthen innovation and growth? Through numerous meetings, conversations and discussions, Christoph M. Schmidt has advocated for a greater willingness to reform in line with the principles of the social market economy. Against the backdrop of global economic policy shifts, he has raised new perspectives, shared insights and proposed solutions. Through numerous written contributions, information and reflections, this report documents the recent KAS Fellowship 2025. 

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Christoph M. Schmidt, Tim Peter, Dr. Andreas Jacobs
September 3, 2026
Single title
IMAGO / imagebroker

„Russland führt einen hybriden Krieg gegen Deutschland“

Interview mit dem Sicherheitsexperten Dr. Edmund Ratka

Die Bundesregierung schreibt den gescheiterten Drohnenanschlag am Leipziger Flughafen Russland zu. Schon seit Jahren ist Deutschland hybriden Angriffen ausgesetzt, deren Spur oftmals nach Moskau führt. Unser Sicherheitsexperte Dr. Edmund Ratka erläutert die Hintergründe dieses „Schattenkrieges“ und empfiehlt Maßnahmen zur Gegenwehr. Deutschland ist dabei auf dem richtigen Weg, braucht aber politische Entschlusskraft und Tempo beim Aufbau seiner operativen Fähigkeiten.

Julia Berger
September 1, 2026
Interviews
KALUZA+SCHMID

KAS Makerthon

Shape Our Europe!

Europe faces numerous challenges, from demographic change to competitiveness. New ideas are therefore a practical necessity. The KAS Makerthon shows how they can emerge. In deliberately diverse teams, young talents develop original and implementable proposals in just three days. The 2025 KAS Makerthon Europe produced four ideas that were pitched live at the State of Europe event in Berlin, among them the winning Eurovision Start-up Contest, a pan-European entrepreneurship competition. This publication is a step-by-step guide to organising your own Makerthon.

Felix Manuel Müller, Tim Peter
September 1, 2026
Single title
Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam/ Hoi Thao Phien Chieu

AI in ASEAN and the EU

Challenges, Opportunities, and potentials for Cooperation

ASEAN and the EU have very different starting points when it comes to AI, particularly in terms of resources and talent. However, this should not obscure the fact that there is great potential for cooperation in the governance of AI, as well as in AI applications and AI infrastructure. The transfer of innovation should be stepped up in this area.

Leonie Mader, Lewe Paul
August 31, 2026
kurzum
IMAGO / Xinhua

Brazil’s Election Choice

Between Lula, Bolsonarism and the Conservative Reality

In October, Brazil will be electing not only a president but also the country’s future power structure. Even if the incumbent president, Lula, is re-elected, this would not amount to a sweeping left-wing victory: the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, state governors and the political forces of the pragmatic so-called Centrão remain predominantly conservative and will significantly constrain the room for manoeuvre of any government.

Maximilian Hedrich
August 31, 2026
Country reports

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Facts and Findings

Selected contributions to the series with international relevance

The series informs in a concentrated form about important positions of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung on current topics. The individual issues present key findings and recommendations, offer brief analyses, explain the Foundation's further plans and name KAS contact persons.  

International Reports

Journal for international issues, foreign policy and development cooperation

International Reports (IR) is the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung's periodical on international politics. It offers political analyses by our experts in Berlin and from more than 100 offices across all regions of the world. Contributions by named authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial team.

Die Politische Meinung

Zeitschrift für Politik, Gesellschaft, Religion und Kultur

Die Politische Meinung ist eine Zweimonatszeitschrift, in der ein breites Spektrum politischer, gesellschaftlicher und kultureller Themen der Gegenwart dargestellt und diskutiert werden. Sie bietet als Bezugspunkte fundierte Analysen historischer Hintergründe und eine der individuellen Eigenverantwortung verpflichtete, im christlichen Menschenbild verankerte Ethik. Die jeweiligen Themenschwerpunkte werden von einer inspirierenden Bilderstrecke, namhafter zeitgenössischer Künstlerinnen und Künstlern, vertieft.  

Research and Sources on Contemporary History

In der Reihe „Forschungen und Quellen zur Zeitgeschichte“ veröffentlicht das Archiv für Christlich-Demokratische Politik seit 1980 wissenschaftliche Studien zur Christlichen Demokratie, Darstellungen zur Geschichte der Bundesrepublik und der CDU sowie Biographien wichtiger Repräsentanten. Zu den 50 bisher erschienen Büchern zählen auch Quelleneditionen, wie Protokolle von Parteigremien oder Tagebücher von einflussreichen Politikern. Die Publikationen sind im Buchhandel erhältlich.

Interviews

In our series "Interviews", talks and discussions are held with experts from the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. on various topics.

in short

Concise, reduced to the essentials, but always highly topical. In our series “in short”, our experts summarise an issue or problem on a maximum of two pages.

Country Reports

Short political reports of the KAS offices abroad

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is a political foundation. Our offices abroad are in charge of over 200 projects in more than 120 countries. The country reports offer current analyses, exclusive evaluations, background information and forecasts - provided by our international staff.

Monitor

The Monitor series deals with one main topic at a time from the perspective of KAS experts and places it in the political and social context on the basis of a few key points.

Event Reports

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, its educational institutions, centres and foreign offices, offer several thousand events on various subjects each year. We provide up to date and exclusive reports on selected conferences, events and symposia at www.kas.de. In addition to a summary of the contents, you can also find additional material such as pictures, speeches, videos or audio clips.

Handouts for Political Education

Grundlageninformationen zur Beteiligung
an aktuellen politischen Diskussionen

Mit der Reihe „Handreichungen zur Politischen Bildung“ möchte die Politische Bildung der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung interessierte Bürgerinnen und Bürger über politische Entwicklungen informieren, Orientierungen in Sachfragen geben und das Interesse an politischer Mitwirkung stärken. Die Handreichungen verstehen sich als Grundlageninformationen zur Beteiligung an aktuellen politischen Diskussionen.

Showing 1 to 10 of 12 entries.

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Completed publication series

Working Paper

Broschürenreihe mit Darstellungen und Positionen, die kurzfristig auf aktuelle politische Fragen reagieren

The Woman in Our Time

Lebensentwürfe von Frauen –
was hat sich verändert?

Jede Ausgabe widmete sich einem Schwerpunktthema aus Politik und Gesellschaft, der Arbeits- und Familienwelt, aus Kultur und Literatur und diskutierte dieses aus frauenpolitischer Sicht.

Sociopolitical Series

Veröffentlicht wurden herausragende Dissertationsschriften mit gesellschaftspolitisch relevanten Themen von Stipendiatinnen und Stipendiaten der Begabtenförderung und Personen, die ihrem Promotionskolleg „Soziale Marktwirtschaft“ kooptiert sind. Die Reihe gab den Autorinnen und Autoren ein wissenschaftliches und publizistisches Forum und brachte aktuelle Themen in die öffentliche Diskussion ein.

Basic Questions of Christian Democracy

In dieser Reihe erschienen im Jahr 2006 Texte namenhafter Autoren zu Grundfragen der christlichen Demokratie.

In Conversation

Kulturpolitische Umschau

Zeitschrift mit Berichten aus Bundestag und Bundesländern, Gastbeiträgen, Rezensionen und Presseauswertungen zur aktuellen Kulturpolitik.

In Plenary

Broschürenreihe der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung mit den Beiträgen von Konferenzen, Fachtagungen und Kongressen, die von längerfristigem Interesse sind.

In Plenary Compact

Die Broschüren im DIN-A-4-Format fassen kurz und knapp die Ergebnisse von Konferenzen, Fachtagungen und Kongressen zusammen, die von längerfristigem Interesse sind.

KAS International

Information from the Division of European and International Cooperation

This series informs about current important events and developments of our work to point out our wide spectrum of activities.

Materials for the Work on Site

Kleine Schriftenreihe zu aktuellen Themen der Kommunalpolitik

Mit der eigenen Reihe "Materialien für die Arbeit vor Ort" bereitet die Stiftung zu aktuellen Themen wichtige Informationen in handhabbarer Form auf, so dass sie in der kommunalpolitischen Praxis nutzbar sind. Eine weitere Serie unter dem Titel "Diskurs kommunal" befasst sich mit besonderen Aspekten der Kommunalpolitik.

Positions

Reden, Essays und Grundsatzpapiere zu drängenden Zeitfragen

In dieser Broschürenreihe veröffentlicht die Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung grundlegende Positionen zu wichtigen Themen der Zeit.

Showing 1 to 10 of 12 entries.