Editorial

Ausgabe 3/2009 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Guinea Bissau: President Assassinated, Constitution Remains in Force

When he was assassinated by soldiers in his palace on March 2, Joao Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea-Bissau, had been in office for a total of 23 years. His leadership style was controversial. The country is desperately poor, with unstable political structures and a meagre subsistence economy.

Pakistan in front of the Chaos?

Washington’s Foreign and Security Policy vis-à-vis Islamabad after the Presidential Elections in the USA

During his election campaign, the new US president, Barack Obama, won over many of his voters by promising change and a new beginning. Now, after his election, people in Pakistan and Afghanistan are not the only ones who ask themselves whether and how these assurances are to be fulfilled, especially in US foreign policy. Will the new leadership in Washington bring about a fundamental change in America’s course, including that vis-à-vis Pakistan?

The International Financial Crisis –’Maybe we can’t?’

There are many reasons for the current global financial crisis, one of them being the monetary policy of the US Central Bank, which was mismanaged for a long time: when the Asian markets and banks collapsed in 1997, the US government feared a decline in global demand and sought to cushion it by giving a new impetus to the country’s economy. The Fed lowered the interest rates but kept them low for too long. The foundations for the stock market bubble were laid.

Think Tanks in the USA

The origins of think tanks go back to antiquity. The Greek dramatist Aristophanes tells us that Socrates taught his pupils not only thievery and disregard of the law in his Athens ”workshop”, but also the fine art of turning weak arguments into strong ones. Nowadays, the United States is the country with the highest number of these public policy research organizations (or ”think tanks”) worldwide.

Editorial

Ausgabe 2/2009 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Israel's Elections to the 18th Knesset

On February 10, the Israeli people elected their next parliament. The 18th Knesset elections became necessary when Ehud Olmert resigned and Tzipi Livni failed in her attempt to form a new coalition government. However, only twelve of the 33 parties in the campaign succeeded in jumping the two-percent hurdle.

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

The Gas Conflict Between Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine has always been important to the Soviet Union as well as to presentday Russia as a provider of gas and technology.

Ten Years of 'Bolivarian Revolution' in Venezuela.

Hugo Chávez Between Charisma and Bureaucracy

For one decade, comandante Hugo Chávez has been ruling Venezuela, a ruined country that keeps on going downhill. There is a price to pay for the negative impact of the global economic crisis, an overblown state budget largely financed by the export of oil, dwindling oil revenues, the disastrous consequences of a purely distributive policy, and other calamitous developments in the past.

The Difficult Peace in the Region of Africa's Great Lakes

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remained as restless as ever in 2008. In August, the CNDP militias resorted to violence again, driving innumerable people from their homes in the east of the country.