International Reports 5/2008

Ausgabe 5/2008 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

by Gerhard Wahlers

Some Considerations Based on New Studies

When transformation began in Poland in 1989, it was dedicated to three fundamental objectives: Introducing a liberal democracy under the rule of law, building a market economy, and establishing a civil society with the capacity to take action. While the nation has come considerably closer to the first two objectives despite certain problems, the road towards a civil society appears somewhat rockier, for the extent to which it has been implemented so far is not satisfactory.

by Stephan Georg Raabe

High Inflation and Economic Problems Have Hardly Damaged Her Popularity so far

When Yulia Tymoshenko was elected Ukrainian prime minister for the second time in December 2007, she must have been aware of the fact that the tasks she would be facing in the future would by anything but easy.

by Juri Durkot

Die Zukunft Spaniens nach den Parlamentswahlen vom 9. März 2008

The winners of the elections held on March 9 of this year are Spain’s socialists led by José Rodríguez Zapatero. However, not only the PSOE, which has been ruling the country for four years, but also the non-socialist PP gained strength.

by Michael Däumer, Sebastian Grundberger, Malte Kähler

When Batticaloa’s town councillors were elected in March 2008, Sri Lanka’s eastern province experienced the first democratic act in 14 years. Given that the province was controlled for many years by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Tamil guerrilla group, and that it was not before July 2007 that the region was recaptured by Sri Lanka’s military, the poll which is to be followed by nothing less than provincial elections in May 2008 attracted much attention.

by Kristina Eichhorst