Articles

Results of the Accra Summit on the Efficiency of Development Cooperation

’Politics Putting its Oar in’

The result of the third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, the capital of Ghana, was anything but a lasting breakthrough in development cooperation. However, the agreement to assign more responsibility to the developing countries, to render assistance more transparent and interactive, to emphasize the concept of partnership, and to fight corruption together may be regarded as a substantial step that was achieved not least thanks to the consensus among the Europeans.

The Parliamentary Elections in Canada on October 14

On October 14, Canada elected its next parliament or, to be more precise, the 308-seat House of Commons in which prime minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party had been leading a minority government until then. Next to the ruling party, the elections were contested by the key opposition force, the Liberal Party of Canada led by Stéphane Dion, the New Democratic Party of Canada with Jack Layton at the helm, the Bloc Québécois headed by Gilles Duceppe, and the Green Party of Canada chaired by Elizabeth May.

Editorial der Ausgabe: "Auslandsinformationen 8/2008"

Ausgabe 8-9/2008 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Networking Cities, Communities, and Regions in the Mediterranean Area

Optionen und Perspektiven für die grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit im Rahmen der EU-Nachbarschaftspolitik

As a new field of EU policy, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is a part and a result of a reorganization of the Union’s political institutions, which had its beginnings in diverse insights: with its enlargement, the EU severed economic and cultural areas that had developed until then, creating new fault lines. The prosperity gap and the resultant conflict and migration potential along the external borders of the Union have increased. The hot spots in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region have moved closer. The demands on an EU foreign policy which needs to be renovated have expanded. And finally – given these developments, the Union’s accession policy needs to be revised.

On the Situation of the Media in Rumania

In any country, media freedom and independence are the ’spice’ of democracy. However, both are predicated on certain institutional and formal conditions as well as on journalists who regard themselves as advocates of civic society. Rumania is still suffering from the after-effects of the communist era. It is true that the freedom of the press improved somewhat after the elections of 2004, but the country still has a long way to go to a consolidated media landscape, although the media themselves provide the ’most dynamic occupation’ in the country.

Proceedings to ban the ruling Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP)

On July 30, 2008, the cliff-hanger was over for the ruling Turkish Party, the AKP. Contrary to what was generally expected when the proceedings began in March, the party had not been suspended. Nevertheless, the judgement should be interpreted as a warning according to the president of the Constitutional Court of Turkey, Hasim Kilic: no fewer than six of the panel’s eleven judges had endorsed banning the party. Had there been seven, it would have been banned.

The Parliamentary Elections in Malaysia in 2008: Change vs. Tradition. With unknown Variables

Wandel gegen Tradition. Mit unbekannten Variablen

The Parliamentary Elections on 8 March 2008 marked an important point in the history of Malaysia by turning the established power relations upside down and giving the opposition more political influence than ever before.

The Social Challenge to Democracy in Latin America

Since the nineties, Latin America has been making only a few appearances in the headlines. Its democratization and economic growth were indeed successful, but it is exactly this fact which masked the signs of defective sustainability. In many countries of the region, social disparity was not repaired – a problem that is still acute, threatening both democracy and social development in Latin America.

’The Long ’68’. Italy’s View of the Protest Movement of 40 Years ago

In Italy, different people remember the movement of ’68 differently. While some call it a ’myth’ or ’a kind of holy relic’, others see it as the ’sessantotto lungo’, the ’long ’68’. And although the ’68ers figure everywhere in the lives of the Italians there has as yet been no controversial debate among the country’s historians. It is a well-known fact that Prime Minister Berlusconi is in the habit of reviling the ’68ers, but his attitude jars against the mildness with which Italy’s right-wing camp now views the movement of 40 years ago. Although the phenomenon has not been thoroughly analysed as yet, there is a wealth of literature on the subject which this article attempts to introduce. A presentation of established approaches is followed by chapters describing the specifically Italian background of 1968, the question of its legacy, and selected research results.

Editorial der Ausgabe: "Auslandsinformationen 7/2008"

Ausgabe 7/2008 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung