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BT: Herr Benner, was hat den globalen Siegeszug der liberalen Demokratie, an den man in den 90er Jahren glaubte, gestoppt? Thorsten Benner: Liberale Demokratie heißt Gewaltenteilung, Rechtsstaat und Minderheitenrechte, Dauerwettstreit der Interessengruppen. All das setzt politische Eliten voraus,…

The 2017 election season has barely begun, but foreign policy is already caught up in politics. It all started with President Trump’s demands for higher military spending and a rhetorical gaffe by Jens Spahn, a deputy minister of finance from Angela Merkel’s CDU party, who said the country should…

Kaum geht der Wahlkampf los, schon ist die Außenpolitik mitten drin. Auslöser sind Trumps Forderung nach höheren Rüstungsausgaben und der rhetorische Patzer des CDU-Staatssekretärs Jens Spahn, der lieber in Waffen als in Sozialleistungen investieren möchte. So ein Elfmeter ist schnell verwandelt.…

The collapse of democratic forms of government is still most commonly associated with violent coups, military juntas, or civil war. If current trends persist however, democracies could increasingly fall apart without any of these martial displays. Paradoxically, autocracies could be ushered in…

“This is not your world,” they want us to know, “and history is not moving in your direction. You will have to reckon with us.” Five years ago, this is how Michael Ignatieff described Russia and China’s message to the West, a message issued in the way they dealt with the Syrian Civil War in the UN…

Abstract The Indian Ocean today is critical for the future of the EU and India. The rise of piracy in the late 2000s demonstrated the pernicious effect non-traditional security threats can have on European and Indian economic growth prospects. While both aim to ensure a rules-based order,…

Der kanadische Publizist Michael Ignatieff beschrieb die Botschaft Russlands und Chinas an den Westen vor fünf Jahren so: "Dies ist nicht eure Welt, lassen sie uns wissen, und die Geschichte bewegt sich nicht in eure Richtung. Ihr werdet mit uns rechnen müssen“. Anlass war der Umgang im UN-…

New technologies are creating both opportunity and danger for human rights activists. Social media platforms, anonymization and encryptions tools, and widespread internet access are empowering activists to exchange ideas, document abuses, and disseminate information to wider audiences. On the flip…

Abstract With possible United States retrenchment and a growing number of conflicts, both the European Union and India are set to play a greater role in securing their overlapping extended neighborhoods. Crisis management, stabilization, and peacebuilding will play a central role in these endeavors,…

United Nations entities have long entered into multi-stakeholder partnerships with companies and civil society organizations. However, concerns about transparency, accountability, and effectiveness have prompted new discussions about the potential need for greater intergovernmental oversight over…

Executive Summary Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become critical catalysts for sustainable development. Yet no country will be able to reap the full potential of ICTs without also building cybersecurity capacity to address the risks associated with connectivity, such as…

The Leahy Amendment, or Leahy law, is a little known piece of United States legislation that bans US assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information that a member has committed gross violations of human rights. The Leahy law has accomplished far less than its…

On March 2 and 3, German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Egypt and Tunisia. Concerns about migration and refugees will top the agenda of her talks with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed. As she prepares for crucial elections this September, for…

Autoritäre Regierungsmodelle würden sich bald auf dem Müllhaufen der Geschichte wiederfinden. Dabei sollte westliche Demokratieförderung (sei es durch politische Stiftungen oder die Arbeit von ngos) tatkräftig nachhelfen. In der Nachbarschaft (von der Türkei bis Russland) würde die normative…

Germany’s two most recent foreign ministers, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Guido Westerwelle, both made a point of demanding the removal of US nuclear weapons stationed in Germany. In 2009, Steinmeier argued that the system of nuclear deterrence had become “ineffective, risky, and irresponsible” and…

Lange gehörte es zum guten Ton, den Abzug der US-Nuklearwaffen aus Deutschland zu fordern. Der ehemalige Außenminister – und designierte Bundespräsident – Frank-Walter Steinmeier argumentierte etwa im Jahre 2009, das System der nuklearen Abschreckung sei „ineffektiv, riskant und unverantwortlich“…

The World Humanitarian Summit set ambitious targets to maximize existing resources in critical situations, including harmonizing donor reporting. We analyzed existing processes to identify factors leading to reporting inefficiency and opportunities for harmonization.…

This spring, the German Federal Cabinet will approve new guidelines for managing crises and conflicts. As with any other German foreign policy document, the guidelines will acknowledge the universality of human rights, as well as the importance of human rights to sustainable peace. These are well-…

Afghanistan’s history has long been dominated and shaped by the interaction of militias with the state. In the post-2001 era, international actors, sometimes with Afghan state cooperation, have tried to use militias to fill perceived gaps in security. Since 2002, a range of foreign-backed local,…