Brief: Germany’s Position on CSDP: Is There Anything for the Baltics?

Third brief in the Germany and Baltic Security Series

Together with the ICDS-International Centre for Defence and Security, we introduce a collection of policy briefs titled “Germany and the Security of the Baltic States”. The third brief, written by Margarita Šešelgytė and Emilė Indrašiūtė, takes a look at Germany's engagement in the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

Conflict Weekly, Vol.2, No.46, 09 February 2022

An initiative by NIAS-IPRI and KAS-India Office

Freedom convoy protests in Canada and a de-escalation over Ukraine

Public Health in Asia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Global Health Governance, Migrant Labour, and International Health Crises

Every nation in Asia has dealt with COVID-19 differently and with varying levels of success in the absence of clear and effective leadership from the World Health Organization (WHO). As a result, WHO’s role in Asia as a global health organization is coming under increasing pressure. As its credibility is slowly being eroded by public displays of incompetence and negligence, it has also become an arena of contestation. Moreover, while the pandemic continues to undermine the future of global health governance as a whole, the highly interdependent economies in Asia have exposed the speed with which pandemics can spread, as intensive regional travel and business connections have caused every area in the region to be hit hard. The migrant labour necessary to sustain globalized economies has been strained and the security of international workers is now more precarious than ever, as millions have been left stranded, seen their entry blocked, or have limited access to health services. This volume by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung's (KAS) Regional Economic Programme Asia (SOPAS), Leiden Asia Centre, and the International Academic Forum provides an accessible framework for understanding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, with a specific emphasis on global governance in health and labour.

Ukraine and the Association Agreement. Implementation Monitoring 2014 – the first half of 2021

6th UCEP Monitoring Report

The monitoring report of the UCEP NGO for the period 2014 – first half of 2021 provides assessments of Ukraine’s progress in fulfilling a set of obligations that are clearly linked to the articles of the Agreement, its annexes or the provisions of other international agreements specified in the Agreement. The report was published by the NGO "Ukrainian Center for European Policy" (UCEP) on the basis of independent evaluations of Ukrainian experts and supported by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Ukraine (Kyiv).

Wahlkrimi in Costa Rica

Ungewissheit bis zur letzten Minute

Am 6. Februar hat Costa Rica bei den Präsidentschafts- und Parlamentswahlen nicht nur die beiden Favoriten für die Präsidentschaft bestimmt, sondern auch ein neues Parlament gewählt. Da keiner der Präsidentschaftsanwärterinnen und -anwärter mindestens 40 Prozent der abgegebenen Stimmen erhielt, wird erst in der zweiten Wahlrunde am 3. April über das neue Staatsoberhaupt entschieden. [1] Costa Rica ist eine der stabilsten und am besten entwickelten Demokratien Lateinamerikas. Auch diese Wahlen waren, nicht zuletzt dank der starken demokratischen Institutionen wie dem Obersten Wahlgerichtshof, frei, fair und friedlich. Das Wahlergebnis hielt einige Überraschungen bereit, wurde aber von keiner politischen Gruppierung infrage gestellt.

Das verarbeitende Gewerbe in Venezuela: sektorale Analyse

VORSCHLÄGE FÜR DIE GEGENWART UND ZUKUNFT DER WIRTSCHAFT IN VENEZUELA

Am 09. Februar 2022 veranstaltete die Fakultät für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften der Universidad Católica Andrés Bello über die School of Economics das Forum " Das verarbeitende Gewerbe in Venezuela: sektorale Analyse" als Teil des Diskussionszyklus des Projekts "Vorschläge für die Gegenwart und Zukunft der Wirtschaft in Venezuela".

Fragen über Fragen - Perspektiven der Europäischen Demokratie

Kann die Konferenz zur Zukunft Europas Antworten liefern?

Deutsch-Französisches Diskussionsforum

“I Miss Political Leadership”

Afghanistan and the Security Challenges of the Future

In an interview with International Reports, political scientist Carlo Masala speaks about lessons learnt from Afghanistan, China’s desire for hegemony, and a new understanding of defence – while also explaining why German politics should be less guided by popular sentiment.

“It Is a Geopolitical Urgency that the Sahel Be Made a Paradise”

Lessons from Afghanistan for German Policy-making in the Sahel

Will Mali become the new Afghanistan? If it were up to Iyad Ag Ghaly, the leader of the al-Qaeda group in the Sahel, that is precisely what we could expect. Even before Kabul had fallen completely to the Taliban, he congratulated his Afghani brothers-in-arms with the words “We are winning. Our hour has come.” But even in political Berlin, many wonder what the West’s hasty withdrawal from Kabul means for its involvement in the Sahel. The context of this question: Now the Afghanistan mission has ended, the mission to Mali is by far the largest for the German Bundes­wehr. But to what extent can we even compare the two missions? And, despite their pronounced differences, are there lessons from Afghanistan that can be applied to Mali and the Sahel – for the Bundeswehr mission and for the direction of German (development) policy-making? A central difference between Afghanistan and the Sahel is clear to see: Western failure in the Sahel would have a far more direct impact on Germany and Europe than its failure in Afghanistan.

Editorial

“Debacle”, “tragedy”, “political caesura”, “end of an era” – these are just some of the reactions by high-ranking politicians to the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghani­stan in the summer of 2021. These words illustrate the sense of outrage at how the 20-year engagement in the Hindu Kush came to an end, while also pointing to the profound consequences for Western foreign policy as a whole. In this sense, Afghanistan is far more than “just” a mission with a disastrous ending. Rather, the events raise fundamental questions about how the West perceives its foreign policy and the future strategic direction of security and defence policy. That also applies to the debate about pros and cons of deploying troops abroad and of international interventions. The answers to these questions will have to be accompanied by concrete actions and changes.