International Reports 3/2008

Ausgabe 3/2008 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

by Gerhard Wahlers

Mit Blick auf deren zivilgesellschaftlichen Beitrag

Somewhat less than two decades after the downfall of communism, things are not looking too well for Bulgaria’s media landscape. In the Worldwide Press Freedom Index, the country was relegated from rank 35 to rank 51 between 2006 and 2007. This is a compelling reason for alarm, as the freedom of the press always reflects the quality of democracy, and as the media especially should act as a corrective to the authority of the state, uncovering irregularities and pillorying abuses of power.

by Christiana Christova, Dirk Förger

When France’s president, Mr Sarkozy, presented his country’s initiative to form a Mediterranean union, Germany’s chancellor, Mrs Merkel, was noncommittal. Her critical reserve towards the French idea was probably motivated by both intra-European reasons and her personal experience in dealing with the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean region. Diverse trips to these areas have given Mrs Merkel a feeling for the conditions and problems of our southern neighbours.

by Gerrit F. Schlomach

Kambodscha im Schatten der Geschichte

It was not until thirty years after the end of its rule that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) prepared to come to terms with the state terrorism of the Khmer Rouge in 2006. Under the leadership of Pol Pot, from April 1975 to January 1979, about 1.7 million people were executed or died from hunger, exhaustion, or disease. Under the stoneage communism of the Khmer Rouge, religion, education, leisure, money, private property, and the family were abolished.

by Wolfgang Meyer

The elections held in Kenya at the end of 2007 were closely followed worldwide. The country attracted even greater attention when riots broke out afterwards which claimed more than a thousand lives and made many hundreds of thousands homeless. By now, things have calmed down in the African country, and it is hoped that the peace agreement that was concluded – not without international mediation – between the two opponents, Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, on February 28, 2008, will have the desired effect.

by Wolfgang Ahner-Tönnis

Throughout the last two decades, Vietnam has been undergoing a process of profound transformation which affects not only the economy of the country but also, and increasingly so, its political, social, and cultural life. The considerable rate at which the economy has been growing in the last six years indicates the impact of this process. In foreign policy, the country has completed a radical change of course: Having effected a reconciliation with the People's Republic of China, normalised its relations with the USA, and joined ASEAN, it now enjoys international recognition

by Gerhard Will