Articles

Editorial of the issue: "NATO. The Indispensable Alliance"

NATO turns 75 and an increasing number of people in Germany once again recognise the organisation for what it is: the indispensable alliance for our security. What can we do to keep the United States engaged in NATO? What role can the alliance play in the Indo-Pacific and on its southern flank? And why is its partnership policy with countries from Asia to Latin America so important? Read this issue of International Reports to find out!

Family Reunion

­NATO and Australia

Nobody in Canberra wants or expects Article 5-style security guarantees from NATO. However, located in a region faced with China’s increasing expansionism, Australia could greatly benefit from a closer partnership because alliances are what China fears most.

Gradually, Then Suddenly

Assessing Washington’s Commitments to Europe in a Pre-war World

The international security setting has changed dramatically in recent decades. So has American politics. From isolationists to progressives, foreign policy ideologues are offering old wine in new bottles to an American people on the search for answers. It is an open question if these ideas will triumph. Specifically, the sharpest test for US policy toward Europe will be in defining Ukraine’s relationship with NATO.

Grußwort

40 Jahre Auslandsinformationen

40 Jahre Auslandsinformationen, das heißt 40 Jahre Beiträge zur Information und Meinungsbildung zu relevanten Fragen der internationalen Politik. Das Magazin informiert aus erster Hand die interessierte Öffentlichkeit und Entscheidungsträger aus dem Deutschen Bundestag gleichermaßen. Dabei sind stets auch Länder und Regionen im Blickfeld, die nicht tagtäglich die politische Debatte hierzulande bestimmen. Mit Mut zur anspruchsvollen Analyse und konkreten Handlungsempfehlungen liefern die Auslandsinformationen einen wichtigen Diskussionsbeitrag, weiten den Blickwinkel und regen zum Nachdenken an. Damit tragen sie seit 40 Jahren zu einer fundierten außenpolitischen Debatte bei und liefern damit wichtige Impulse zur Gestaltung der deutschen Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik.

Japan-­NATO Alignment

Fostering Cooperation and Strategic Synergies

Japan’s relationship with NATO continues to evolve as part of a trajectory that connects synergies and shared concerns about how authoritarian states, specifically China and Russia, are aligning to weaken the international rules-based order, an order that has been beneficial to both Japan and all NATO members.

Looking in All Directions

NATO Mission Iraq and the Alliance’s Role on Its Southern Flank

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO is once again focusing its attention on classic alliance defence on the eastern flank. While this shift is right, NATO should not lose sight of other threats. Above all, this applies to fragile states on the alliance’s southern periphery. With its advisory mission in Iraq, NATO is looking for ways to stabilise the region with a moderate use of resources – and to define the role the alliance itself wishes to play overall in the southern neighbourhood in the future.

NATO

More than (just) the North Atlantic

NATO was founded on April 4, 1949, by twelve countries from Europe and North America.
Since then, 20 additional countries have joined NATO in various rounds of enlargement.

Die Tage der Revolution in Moskau

Ein Erlebnisbericht

Die Auslandsinformationen feiern 2024 ihr 40-jähriges Jubiläum. Vier Jahrzehnte unserer Zeitschrift haben einen Bestand von mehr als 400 Ausgaben entstehen lassen, der so manchen Schatz bereithält. Manche Beiträge zeichnen Entwicklungen vor, die uns Jahre später eingeholt haben, manche Einschätzungen erscheinen – obwohl oder gerade weil sie die damalige Stimmung so treffend spiegeln – heute wie Zeugnisse einer fernen Epoche. Im Laufe dieses Jahres werden wir je einen Artikel aus den verschiedenen „Ai-Dekaden“ online neu aufbereiten.   Hier geht es ins Jahr 1991, als ein russischer Präsident unterstützt von den Moskauer Bürgern die entstehende Demokratie gegen einen Putsch von Betonkommunisten verteidigte.

“Perhaps We Need This Geopolitical Shock to Take Some Bold Steps”

European Policy in Times of Crisis and the Future of the EU beyond the Left and Right-wing Populists

Lars Hänsel, Head of the Europe and North America Department at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, talks to International Reports about Europe’s response to the Russian war of aggression, the new interest in Eastern Europe and the need for an EU with a greater capacity to act – and he explains what constitutes Christian Democratic European policy.

Big Plans, Limited Progress

EU Energy Partnerships with the Gulf

In the wake of the energy crisis, the Gulf states are once again becoming the focus of EU energy policy as new (old) partners – both to compensate for the loss of Russian gas imports and to supply renewable energy sources, in particular hydrogen, to Europe. However, despite the EU emphasising its interest and announcing grand plans for closer cooperation, in reality, energy partnerships are falling well short of expectations – even though the general conditions in the Gulf are promising.