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smarterpics / Sonulkaster

Securing academic freedom for the long term

Establish a national contact point for research safety in the short term

Research safety in international collaborations has been the subject of intense debate since well before the publication of the German Science Council's recommendations on research safety in May 2025. Until a few years ago, these collaborations were generally viewed positively, as internationality in research is considered a driver of knowledge and the gold standard. However, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the risks of international collaborations have increasingly come into focus.

Christina Thelen
December 4, 2025
kurzum
IMAGO / epd

A defiant church? The new Protestant peace ethic at the turn of the century

The Protestant Church commits to a new pragmatism in security policy – an important step for the success of the turning point

For years, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) has presented an ambivalent image when it comes to security policy. On the one hand, Easter marches and uncompromising pacifism shape the thinking of many church members. On the other hand, Protestant clergy are involved in military chaplaincy in the German armed forces and accompany soldiers on missions abroad.

Martin Bieber
December 4, 2025
kurzum
alphaspirit / smarterpix

Voting motives in the 2025 federal election

Results from representative surveys on reasons for voting and important influencing factors among voters

The results of the federal election merely reflect the actual voting decisions. What remains invisible, however, is the motivation behind voters' decisions to support certain parties. What were the decisive factors?  Was it an easy decision for voters, or were there alternative parties? In which political camps did voters switch allegiances, and what factors played a decisive role in the election campaign? The answers are provided by the evaluation of representative data collected before the federal election campaign and after the federal election.

Dominik Hirndorf
December 4, 2025
Monitor
IMAGO / Xinhua

7th AU-EU Summit

A fresh start for a partnership on equal terms

The 7th Joint Summit of the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) on November 24-25 in the Angolan capital Luanda took place under complex circumstances: On the one hand, the summit marked the 25th anniversary of the strategic partnership between the EU and the AU. On the other hand, the summit took place at a time when relations between the two continents are not free of tensions. In a global environment in which political and economic power is shifting worldwide and fundamental rules of the world order are being questioned and undermined, the summit offered a window of opportunity to restart relations in a way that does justice to the roles and expectations of both sides. Overall, the summit succeeded in sending out initial positive signals for such a fresh start, the sustainability of which will of course depend on the implementation of the promises made. Existing differences and dilemmas – including on the issues of migration and dealing with democratic backsliding – will not disappear overnight, however.

Lukas Kupfernagel, Dr. Olaf Wientzek
December 2, 2025
Country reports
IMAGO / SNA

Putin visits New Delhi

Between photo shoot and unpleasant topics

On December 4, Russian ruler Putin is expected in New Delhi for the first time since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. India and Russia are linked by a long-standing friendship, but for the Modi administration, this state visit is not a matter of course. As the world's largest democracy and emerging world power, India must be concerned about its international reputation while keeping its own interests in relation to Russia in mind. For Putin, there is an opportunity in India to present himself on the international stage and demonstrate his ability to act

Dr. Adrian Haack
December 2, 2025
Country reports
IMAGO / Kyodo News

South Africa’s G20 Presidency

A Signal for Multilateralism

The South African G20 summit was a prestige boost for the country at the Cape. South Africa proved itself a capable host, a skilful negotiator, and a determined advocate of multilateral solutions. However, the presidency faced the challenge that the United States, in particular, increasingly boycotted the format over the course of 2025 and stayed away from the summit itself. In addition, new developments in the war in Ukraine as well as the sobering outcome of the COP30 negotiations shaped international reporting and overshadowed the summit.

Gregor Jaecke, Dr. Christoph Wiedenroth
December 1, 2025
Country reports
smarterpix / digitalgenetics

Better performance – Less static: Why Germany’s federal administration needs reform

More pooling of resources – fewer federal agencies – and a “Whole-of-Government” ap-proach

Germany’s federal administration employs over 500,000 people in 946 agencies – yet efficiency declines, costs soar, and trust erodes. Root cause: outdated ministerial structures and duplication of tasks. This paper advocates a paradigm shift: pooling HR, IT, and procurement in specialized agencies, consolidating oversight, and reducing redundant authorities. Guided by the coalition agreement and modernization agenda, the proposal champions a “Whole-of-Government” approach to break silos, accelerate decisions, and enable digital transformation – for more efficiency and effectiveness.

Gesprächskreis Staatsmodernisierung der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
December 1, 2025
Monitor
NongAsimo, stock.adobe.com

Three years of ChatGPT – an interim assessment

Where do we stand and what does the future hold for the European economy?

ChatGPT has spread rapidly in Germany in the private sphere, primarily among younger people. Companies, on the other hand, are more hesitant and exploratory in their use of the technology as artificial intelligence. The decisive factors here are not only the technical characteristics of ChatGPT, but also product features such as transparency and specifications. For Europe, therefore, it is not a question of replicating ChatGPT with a delay. Rather, it is important to develop its own models or adapt non-European ones so that they are better suited to institutionalised structures as products.

Leonie Mader
November 26, 2025
Facts and Findings
IMAGO / Branislav Racko

Resignation of deputy prime minister sparks dispute among governing parties

Further tensions within Fico's coalition government are to be expected. Meanwhile, the government is taking action against the anti-corruption authority.

Slovak Deputy PM Peter Kmec (Hlas-SD) resigned amid a scandal over about €200m in EU R&D funds, after media linked selected projects to a party donor and a presidential adviser. The case deepens rifts in Fico’s Smer–Hlas–SNS coalition, as Hlas demands equal standards for Smer ministers and hints at a crisis. At the same time, Fico’s plan to replace the independent whistleblower office raises fresh rule-of-law concerns. It is expected that both developments will have significant impact on political situation in Slovakia during the last parliamentary session at the end of the year.

Dr. Marco Arndt, Michal Petrík
November 26, 2025
Country reports
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V.

Inclusion and employment of people with disabilities

Inclusion worldwide – current status in Croatia

Disability is a global, social, and health challenge that affects many people. People with disabilities often face barriers such as limited access to education, services, and employment. Although progress has been made in Croatia, integration into the labor market and society remains insufficient. Structural barriers, prejudice, and lack of mobility make participation difficult. In addition, few people with disabilities attain higher education. In 2022, the “Law on the Register of Persons with Disabilities” was passed to collect relevant data and plan policy measures. Nevertheless, the figures show that further reforms are needed to achieve true equality and inclusion.

Anita Šakić
November 25, 2025
Country reports with a difference

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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.

Insights

Berichte aus der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Die Herausgabe der "Einblicke" ist ausgesetzt. "Einblicke" hat alle drei Monate über die Arbeit der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung berichtet.

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.