International Reports 12/2008

Ausgabe 12/2008 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

by Gerhard Wahlers

The presidential election campaign of 2008 will probably enter the history of the US as the most expensive and most publicized ever. The situation of the Republicans was as bad as it could be: the poll ratings of the incumbent, George W. Bush, were among the lowest ever recorded for a US president.

by Roman Sehling

It is well known that the USA was the starting point of the current world financial crisis. Defective regulation, as occasionally depicted, is not its only cause. Others include massive state intervention and the failed monetary policy of the US Federal Bank.

by Norbert Wagner

Unlike the USA and Europe, where the global financial crisis left behind recession, bankrupt enterprises, and unemployment, the damage suffered by the emerging countries is limited. What is more, countries such as China, India, and Brazil even benefit from the fact that they did not liberalize their financial markets too hastily. To them, the crisis offers a chance of improving their position in the international fabric of power.

by Sven Aretz

In the field of security policy, 2009 will be marked by two outstanding events: Barack Obama will assume the presidency of the US, and NATO will celebrate its 60th anniversary. Both these events offer an occasion to ask questions about the future development of the Atlantic defence alliance. After all, the results of the NATO summit that was held in Bucharest in April did not make everyone happy, for they did not include a new strategic concept.

by Thomas Kunze, Patrick Keller

The impending change of government in the US gives rise to the question of whether relations between Washington and the Latin American region can be rearranged. Will the southern neighbours of the US continue to have reason to feel like the backyard of the great power to the north, and will the US continue to show no interest in them? According to recent polls, the Latin American countries have hardly any priority in the concept of the US Democrats. After his election, Mr Obama talked to numerous other countries before he called Mr Uribe, Colombia’s head of state, in 36th place. And he announced that he intended to defeat his enemies, support his friends, consolidate old alliances, and forge new ones. What does that mean for Latin America?

by Frank Priess

’Improve your own esteem in the world!’ This is the advice recently given by the French head of state, Mr Sarkozy, to the US secretary of state, Mrs Rice, when she asked him on behalf of the leaders in Washington what the US could do for him. And indeed it is necessary to take action, especially in Afghanistan. How to convince the local population that all the US-led coalition with its soldiers, advisers, and aid workers is after is to improve the lot of the Afghans? That is the question.

by Thomas Ruttig