Foreign and Security Policy

The euro crisis and Germany’s role through Czech perspective

November 1, 2012 -

The Foreign Policy Concept of the Czech Republic (2011) lists Germany for the first time as a “strategic partner” (!) and emphasises its key role in European politics, European security and the global economy. On the other hand, relations with Germany and the declared “strategic partnership” are not anchored in the Czech approach to the European Union because the Czech Republic lacks a coherent policy on Europe. Thus, also its relationship to Germany and the latter’s workings in the EU remains ambivalent.  

Vladimír Handl more»

Gulf region: Changing the status quo?

- May 31, 2012 - The Heinrich-Böll-Foundation and the PSSI organised an international expert conference "Gulf region: Changing the status quo?" which discussed the impacts of the Arab Uprisings on the Gulf region and how the Gulf states interfere in the wider region, from Syria to Libya. The main focus of the conference was the assesment of the prospects for the genuine political and economic reforms in the Gulf states and Iran. more»

Syria's Revolution: Society, Power, Ideology

- It is almost a year ago that Syrian citizens, inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, courageously took to the streets in protest against the decades-long denial of their basic rights by the Assad regime. The Syrian authors who contributed to this publication of Heinrich-Böll-Foundation Beirut, despite facing obstacles at home, expressed a concern for “helping foreigners understand the Syrian people”.

Climate, migration and security

- The intersection of climate change, human migration, and conflict presents a unique challenge for US foreign policy in the 21st century. These three factors are already beginning to combine in ways that undermine traditional understandings of national security and demand a rethink of traditional divisions between diplomacy, defense, and economic, social and environmental development policy. This report and video provides the foundation and overview for a series of papers focusing on the particular challenges posed by the cumulative effects of climate change, migration, and conflict in some of our world’s most complex environments.
The attacks of 11 September 2001 represented a historic turning point of a scope comparable to that of the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. This year’s annual foreign policy conference of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung took stock of the “war on terror” and formulated a vision for Afghanistan, the Middle East and global politics. Watch videos and read report from the conference.

"The beginning of the Post-Islamist Era" - Interview with Abbas Djavadi

- May 29, 2011 - Abbas Djavadi, Associated director of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's broadcasting to the Middle East, believes that the "Arab Spring" testifies to the beginning of the era of "Post-Islamism" and that the role of the "New media" is being overestimated. The interview was conducted at the margins of the Prague conference on the Turkey and the Middle East, organised by the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation.   more»

People's Power - The Arab World in Revolt

- The self-immolation of young and jobless Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid, being deprived of his vegetable stand and humiliated by the authorities, triggered popular movements and historic events in the Arab World completely unexpected in their magnitude...The renown authors in the special edition of “Perspectives Middle East”, a journal of the hbs office in Beirut, address many questions posed by this rapid development.

When the Dust Settles in Arabia

- March 18, 2011 - How could the desert feed 230 million people? The answer is simple and clear: it cannot. The desert has not been able to feed such populations in the past, cannot do so today, and will not be able to do so at all in the future. The Arab world has experienced a population bubble that cannot be sustained and will soon begin to rupture, although the real bursting of the bubble will evolve over the coming years and decades.
Juraj Mesík more»

Conference and report

European Union and its Eastern Neighbours.

- On March 18-19 2010 experts, representatives of national administrations and the world of politics from Poland, Germany, other European countries, states taking part in the Eastern Partnership initiative and Russia met in Warsaw to discuss the perspectives for developing the European Union’s Eastern Policy for upcoming years – specifically during the period of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council. The conference – an open meeting (March 18) for the general public and an expert meeting (March 19) – was organized by the Warsaw office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the German Bertelsmann Foundation and the Polish Centre for European Strategy demosEuropa.

"How to deal with Iran?" - International conference

- The question posed has never been easy to answer and is hardly more timely. The Heinrich Böll Foundation Prague and the Association for International Affairs (AMO) jointly organised the International conference “How to deal with Iran?” and a series of side events (13 - 15 April) which discussed current developments in and around Iran. HBF Prague more»

An inch closer to a world without nuclear weapons

- President Obama sees New START as literally a new start for relations between the United States and Russia, and as a “clear and concrete” step towards fulfilling the vision of a safer world, i.e. a world without nuclear weapons. But how big a step is this really?

 

Šadí Shanaáh more»

Human Rights in Iran: From Bad to Worse

What is taking place in today’s Iran is not primarily a dispute between western influences and the concept of the Islamic state, as the country’s current leaders would like to present the issue. Erik Siegl more»

Radar issue shows the need for a generational transition in Czech politics

- October 27, 2009 - In a recent lecture for the United States Institute for Peace, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the world cannot afford to continue to rely on recycling ideas from the Cold War era. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Czech politicians and media think in Cold War terms, and as a result Czech society does as well. more»

Issue Paper

EU policy toward the Western Balkans – Regional Perspective

- July 28, 2009 - There is no doubt that the states of the Western Balkans belong to the European Union. However, their road to the EU is by no means an easy one. The entire Western Balkan region is not only encumbered by the maladies related to its communist past, but also by the problems the region has more recently experienced due to the horrors of war. Many of the ethnic tensions have not yet cooled down. more»

What agreements were not reached at the EU-China summit?

- July 2, 2009 - Many visits by important state officials took place during the Czech EU presidency. However, few of them brought about any significant changes for the future of the EU’s external relations. The EU-China summit in Prague will not be recorded in history as having been a breakthrough, or even as significant. Alice Savovová more»

Conference Report

"Eastern Partnership: Towards Civil Society Forum"

- May 26, 2009 - The EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative is off to a bad start. Presented by Sweden and Poland with much fanfare in 2008 as a new forum for the EU to engage the eastern neighbourhood, its recent launch in Prague proved, on the contrary, to be a major disappointment. Roderick Kefferpütz more»

Beyond zero-sum thinking in the EU’s Eastern Partnership

- May 12, 2009 - The European Union’s energy security has been severely tested over the past year. August’s Georgian conflict underlined the possible dangers of diversification into the post-Soviet space, with bombs landing in the vicinity of several crucial gas and oil pipelines including South Caucasus and Baku-Supsa, while the Russian-Ukrainian gas stand-off sent shivers across Europe in January. Roderick Kefferpütz and Danila Bochkarev more»

Eastern Partnership and the Caucasus

- May 6, 2009 - With its new Eastern Partnership (EaP), the EU has opened a new chapter in European Eastern Policy, and from the very beginning it aims to involve civil society. By Iris Kempe, Tarek Hohberg and Roderick Kefferpütz more»

How to face Iran?

- April 8, 2009 - As expected, the main theme of US President Barack Obama's speech at Prague Castle was non-proliferation of nuclear arms. more»