International Reports 8/2008

Ausgabe 8-9/2008 der Auslandsinformationen der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

by Gerhard Wahlers

Optionen und Perspektiven für die grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit im Rahmen der EU-Nachbarschaftspolitik

As a new field of EU policy, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is a part and a result of a reorganization of the Union’s political institutions, which had its beginnings in diverse insights: with its enlargement, the EU severed economic and cultural areas that had developed until then, creating new fault lines. The prosperity gap and the resultant conflict and migration potential along the external borders of the Union have increased. The hot spots in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region have moved closer. The demands on an EU foreign policy which needs to be renovated have expanded. And finally – given these developments, the Union’s accession policy needs to be revised.

by Steffen Erdle

In any country, media freedom and independence are the ’spice’ of democracy. However, both are predicated on certain institutional and formal conditions as well as on journalists who regard themselves as advocates of civic society. Rumania is still suffering from the after-effects of the communist era. It is true that the freedom of the press improved somewhat after the elections of 2004, but the country still has a long way to go to a consolidated media landscape, although the media themselves provide the ’most dynamic occupation’ in the country.

by Christiana Christova, Dirk Förger

On July 30, 2008, the cliff-hanger was over for the ruling Turkish Party, the AKP. Contrary to what was generally expected when the proceedings began in March, the party had not been suspended. Nevertheless, the judgement should be interpreted as a warning according to the president of the Constitutional Court of Turkey, Hasim Kilic: no fewer than six of the panel’s eleven judges had endorsed banning the party. Had there been seven, it would have been banned.

by Dirk Tröndle

Since the nineties, Latin America has been making only a few appearances in the headlines. Its democratization and economic growth were indeed successful, but it is exactly this fact which masked the signs of defective sustainability. In many countries of the region, social disparity was not repaired – a problem that is still acute, threatening both democracy and social development in Latin America.

by Peter Fischer-Bollin

Wandel gegen Tradition. Mit unbekannten Variablen

The Parliamentary Elections on 8 March 2008 marked an important point in the history of Malaysia by turning the established power relations upside down and giving the opposition more political influence than ever before.

by Thomas S. Knirsch