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IMAGO / NurPhoto

The War in Iran - Consequences for Latin America

Economic consequences and political responses in Latin America

Since February 28, the United States and Israel have been waging an open war against Iran. The escalation in the Middle East is being followed and discussed in Latin America with varying degrees of intensity, but in many countries it has taken a back seat to current domestic political developments. At the same time, the region is experiencing clearly noticeable economic consequences that are directly affecting people’s daily lives. In this report, our resident representatives in selected countries of the region provide an overview of the economic consequences the war with Iran is causing on the ground and how the respective governments are taking a stance on the conflict as well as on the actions of the U.S. and Israel. They also examine the stances taken by political partners and parties affiliated with the Adenauer Foundation, how the general mood in the country is evolving, and which actors could benefit from the current crisis.

Johannes Hügel, Olaf Jacob, Susanne Käss, Annette Schwarzbauer, Dr. Kristin Wesemann, Dr Patricia Enssle, Christoph Kleiber
April 1, 2026
Country reports
Smarterpix / vepar5

2026 Parliamentary Elections in Slovenia - Between Fragmentation and Consolidation

A close election with limited coalition options

The parliamentary elections on March 22, 2026, mark a politically significant moment for Slovenia. For the first time in nearly two decades, a government served its full term and stood for re-election. While the election results confirm a high level of voter turnout, they also reveal the structural limitations of the political camps as well as the growing importance of smaller players in a fragmented party system. While Gibanje Svoboda (GS) under Prime Minister Robert Golob remains the strongest force with a narrow lead, the center-left camp no longer holds a comfortable majority as it did previously. The center-right bloc centered on Janez Janša’s Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS, EPP) achieved a stable but barely expandable result, as key coalition partners continue to keep their distance. At the same time, new or resurgent parties are entering parliament—including Resni.ca and the Democrats—further fragmenting the political landscape. Forming a government is likely to be more challenging than in 2022 due to limited compatibility between parties and mutual exclusions. The coming weeks will therefore be shaped less by the election result itself than by the ability of the parties to negotiate viable coalitions.

Dr. Norbert Eschborn, Marko Prusina, Juro Avgustinović, Kie Jacobson
March 31, 2026
Country reports
KALUZA + SCHMID

Global Economic Governance in a Fragmented World

How Geopolitics Shapes International Cooperation and its Institutions

The global rules-based order is undergoing its most significant stress test since the end of the Second World War. Through this compilation, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung seeks to contribute to ongoing discourse surrounding the future of global governance within the realms of economic and trade policy. The focus is on the institutions via which global governance is exercised. Four chapters offer a multi‑dimensional perspective on the challenges and potential pathways for the future architecture of global economic governance.

Gunter Rieck Moncayo, Christian E. Rieck, Keith Rockwell, Edmund Terence Gomez, Nikolaus Rischbieter
March 27, 2026
Single title
IMAGO / Zoonar

Bulgaria on the Eve of the Parliamentary Elections on 19 April

The new alliance “Progressive Bulgaria” of former President Radev shakes up the existing party system

With yet another round of early parliamentary elections on 19 April 2026, Bulgaria is heading into its eighth parliamentary vote since 2021. Following the spectacular resignation of President Rumen Radev, his new alliance, “Progressive Bulgaria”, is shaking up the political landscape. Its declared goal: the complete “dismantling” of the oligarchy. Whether Radev’s alliance can put an end to the persistent political instability—or whether this instability will intensify further—remains unclear.

Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes, Borislaw Wankow
March 26, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO / Lobeca

Parliamentary Elections in Denmark

Setting the Course for the Country’s Future Direction

On March 24, 2026, the Danish people elected their new parliament: Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s ruling Social Democrats suffered a historic defeat but remained the largest party, securing just under 22 percent of the votes cast. This means the mandate to form a coalition lies with Frederiksen. Approximately 4.3 million Danes were eligible to vote. According to the Danish Election Authority on Tuesday evening, voter turnout was 84 percent. During the campaign, domestic and social policy issues were the subject of heated debate, while there was broad consensus on topics such as defense and stricter immigration rules.

Christine Leuchtenmüller, Jacqueline Kossmann, Charlotte Storch
March 25, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO / Zoonar

Analysis of the state election in Rhineland-Palatinate on 22 March 2026

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

The CDU has won the state election in Rhineland-Palatine. Our election analysis provides explanations for the results and examines voter migration and the key determining factors. 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
March 23, 2026
Monitor Election and Social Research
Smarterpix / FreeProd

The second round of the 2026 local elections in France

A focus on alliances and tactics

The second round of the 2026 local elections once again highlights the growing disinterest among many citizens in local elections. With an estimated turnout of around 57%[1], significantly lower than in 2014 (62.1%), many view party politics with scepticism or detachment. Furthermore, the political situation since the dissolution of the National Assembly in 2024 has left many with a sense of uncertainty and stagnation. Against this backdrop, it remains to be seen whether the 2027 presidential election will be able to mobilise the electorate more strongly again. For the parties, the same applies once again: after the elections is before the elections. They must carefully analyse the results and voters’ reactions to coalitions and alliances, and take these findings into account when selecting future candidates for the presidential elections – including across party lines.

Anja Czymmeck, Max Willem Fricke, Nele Katharina Wissmann
March 23, 2026
Country reports
Smarterpix / DavoeWebster

Alarming Decline in Biodiversity

Insights to the value of ecosystem service for the economy

The loss of biodiversity is progressing worldwide on a historic scale and endangers key ecosystem services – from pollination to coastal protection to water supply. Economic activities are among the main drivers of biodiversity decline. At the same time, this creates considerable risks for companies, investments and global value chains. Biodiversity policy should therefore be understood not only as environmental policy, but also as economic policy with all relevant stakeholders playing their part.

Dr. Christoph Biehl
March 19, 2026
Sustainability Monitor
IMAGO / Sven Simon

More AI for Defence and Resilience

New Ideas for an Agile and Future-proof German Military

Technological advances, a new global situation with an acute threat to NATO's eastern flank, hybrid and cognitive attacks on Germany and its allies, and changing communication conditions are challenging the Bundeswehr. However, artificial intelligence is not only a driver of these developments, but also a response to them. This requires an AI strategy that specifically addresses key issues and actively uses the possibilities offered by AI in accordance with ethical guidelines in order to adapt the Bundeswehr's capabilities to enable effective deterrence.

March 19, 2026
Facts and Findings
SmarterPix / SynthEx

The first round of the 2026 local elections in France

Rassemblement National and La France Insoumise on the rise

The first round of the 2026 French local elections took place in around 35,000 French municipalities and reveals a further shift in the country’s political landscape. Particularly striking is the gains made by two forces on the political fringes: the right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN) and the far-left La France insoumise (LFI). Both parties made considerable gains in numerous towns and cities and appear to be benefiting from growing public dissatisfaction with the traditional parties. This was also reflected in voter turnout: depending on the projection, between 41.5 % and 44 % of voters stayed away from the polling stations – more than ever before outside of times of crisis. Voter abstention was particularly high in small municipalities, which often have only one electoral list, and in socially disadvantaged regions. In cities where the outcome was too close to call, such as Paris or Lyon, turnout rose slightly. Nevertheless, the trend of declining voter turnout over the years is confirmed – despite attempts by the state to mobilise voters. It is worth noting that a mayor of a municipality is actually the most popular political figure in France.

Anja Czymmeck, Max Willem Fricke, Nele Katharina Wissmann
March 16, 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.

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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.