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smarterpix / Gorodenkoff

Germany in the Era of Hybrid Warfare: Maintaining Security, Defending Democracy.

From cyberattacks to disinformation – Germany needs reforms in its security architecture and a new sense of social responsibility to counter hybrid threats

The security situation in Germany is increasingly aggravated by hybrid threats (espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation), primarily originating from Russia at present. Consequently, a reform of the security architecture is required, providing law enforcement and intelligence agencies with expanded powers, alongside a strengthening of civil protection. Furthermore, democratic resilience and a whole-of-society sense of responsibility are key factors in withstanding hybrid warfare.

Dr. Edmund Ratka
July 20, 2026
Monitor
KAS / Kelly Dam

Brand building in China and the 'Guochao' (national trend) phenomenon

From national trend in China to global phenomenon?

This report examines Guochao ("China Chic or the national wave"), a cultural and consumer trend that has grown from a niche aesthetic movement into a defining force in China's marketplace. By merging traditional Chinese heritage with modern design, domestic brands have tapped into a growing sense of cultural pride, especially among Generation Z consumers. The report traces the evolution of Guochao into its current "3.0" phase, analyses its effects on branding strategies and consumption patterns, and considers what it means for international companies operating in or entering the Chinese market. Finally, it looks at Guochao's broader significance for China's cultural influence and its role in extending the country's soft power on the global stage.

Kelly Dam, David Merkle
July 20, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO / Anadolu Agency

Mauritania between national dialogue and geopolitical power politics

Stability cannot be taken for granted

Political developments in Mauritania are often underestimated in Europe. Yet today, the country is one of the democratic West’s last reliable partners in a region increasingly turning away from Europe. While Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are under military rule – with a high influence of Russia in recent years – Nouakchott is prioritizing political stability, international cooperation, and cautious reforms. However, challenges might rise faster than the state’s capacity to act. The “national dialogue” could therefore prove to be a crucial test for the country’s future stability.

Steven Höfner
July 17, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Israel’s Election Campaign Begins

A major upheaval?

Israel is facing one of the most important elections in its recent history. Events during the current legislative term—particularly the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023—have profoundly transformed Israeli politics and society. At the heart of the October 27, 2026, election is the question of the country’s future political direction, as well as whether the era of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—now 76 years old—will continue or come to an end.

Dr. Michael Rimmel, Pascal Franz
July 17, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO/Dreamstime

Djibouti’s geostrategic importance

Country profile, external actors and Germany’s role in security policy

For some time now, the Horn of Africa has been the scene of strategic competition between external powers, which are continually expanding their military and economic influence in the region. Within the context of this rivalry, the small coastal state of Djibouti is of particular importance. Owing to its geostrategic location at the Bab al-Mandab Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, five states have already established permanent military bases there. Although Germany is not part of this group of countries, until a few years ago the German Navy was stationed off the Horn of Africa to work alongside European partners in combating maritime threats such as smuggling at sea, piracy and terrorism. In view of the recent resurgence of Somali piracy and the latent threat to international merchant shipping posed by the Yemeni Houthi militia, securing maritime trade routes in the Horn of Africa is more important than ever for Western nations.

Jan-Ole Voß, Karl Wiesemeyer
July 16, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO / ABACAPRESS

Senate elections in France

The Senate as an anchor of stability during a turbulent presidential election campaign

The whole of Europe is eagerly awaiting the 2027 presidential election in France. Yet it is often forgotten that during late summer 2026, on 27 September 2026, another important election will shape the political Rentrée: the partial renewal of the Senate. The upper house of the French Parliament comprises 348 senators, who are elected for six-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every three years. The last Senate elections on 24 September 2023 confirmed the existing centre-right majority. The Senate is not elected directly, but by an electoral college (Grands Électeurs), which is predominantly made up of local councillors and members of parliament at national and regional level; the election takes place at the level of the départements (which represent the constituencies for the Senate elections) and the minimum age for standing for election is 24. The electoral system varies depending on the size of the constituencies: in départements with up to three seats to be filled – which constitute the majority – a two-round first-past-the-post system applies, while in larger départements with four or more seats, elections are held under a proportional representation system. This system gives smaller and rural local authorities, in particular, disproportionate influence. Against this institutional backdrop, there are strong indications that the Senate will continue to be characterised by a stable centre-right majority even after the elections. Nevertheless, a few months before the presidential election, politically symbolic shifts could occur – particularly through the possible formation of a separate parliamentary group by the Rassemblement National (RN). At present, the party holds only three seats in the Senate; however, given its strengthened local roots, it could reach the threshold of ten seats required to form a parliamentary group.

Anja Czymmeck, Max Willem Fricke, Nele Katharina Wissmann
July 16, 2026
Country reports
KAS

Building trust, overcoming distance

Outreach civic education in the practice of the Democracy Bus and the Dorfliebe Tour

Outreach civic education starts where people live and spend their everyday lives. The Demokratiegestalter-Tour and Dorfliebe create accessible spaces for dialogue in which citizens can openly articulate their concerns and feel that they are taken seriously. The report shows how personal encounters build trust and encourage people’s willingness to engage in conversation.

Jacques Hermes, Konstantin Gerbrich
July 15, 2026
Single title
IMAGO / Lucian Alecu

Frozen Conflict: Government Crisis in Bucharest Continues

Parliament goes into summer recess without electing a new prime minister, while confidence in President Dan is eroding due to questionable crisis management

Romania’s parliamentary summer recess has begun anything but quietly. The vote of no confidence against the government of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan (PNL) on 5 May triggered fierce political battles across the Romanian political landscape. The vote itself was widely perceived as a sacrilege: the motion of no confidence was jointly introduced by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the right-wing populist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). It remains unclear which side was effectively enabling the other. The motion received 281 votes—well above the 233 votes required for its adoption. Following the vote, PSD members withdrew from the government. Since then, Bolojan has continued to serve in a caretaker capacity, together with the reform-oriented Save Romania Union (USR) and the party representing the Hungarian minority (UDMR). Acting as a mediator in the increasingly tense political situation, President Nicușor Dan is steadily losing the confidence of many of his former supporters.

Dr. Stefan Hofmann, Mihai Marc
July 8, 2026
Country reports
IMAGO / Bestimage

Le Pen intends to stand as a candidate

The Court of Appeal’s ruling and its political consequences in France

The Court of Appeal’s ruling against Marine Le Pen on 7 July 2026 marks the start of a new phase in the run to the 2027 presidential election. Whilst the leader of the Rassemblement National (RN) parliamentary group has confirmed her candidacy and announced further legal action by appealing to the Court of Cassation – which will examine whether the two lower courts committed any procedural errors – the RN is banking on the leadership duo of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella. The ruling marks the actual start of the presidential election campaign, which is likely to further deepen political polarisation in France.

Anja Czymmeck, Max Willem Fricke, Nele Katharina Wissmann
July 8, 2026
Country reports
smarterpix / MikeMareen

NATO in the age of drones

Why Germany and Türkiye should work more closely together strategically

The deployment of Turkish drones in the war in Ukraine is regarded as the moment when the drone era finally entered Europe’s political and military debate. The 18th Istanbul Security Conference® in 2026 highlighted Türkiye’s growing importance as a manufacturer of modern drone and UAV systems. Ahead of the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara, the Young Foreign Policy Working Group has addressed this issue: a strategic security partnership with Türkiye in the field of drone development should be a key component of German and European security policy considerations.

Yilmaz Akkoyun, Dr. Markus Hildebrand
July 7, 2026
kurzum

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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.