The role of China in international relations - especially concerning the relations to the EU - is highly contested. Can China be regarded as a friend of the European Union, should it be treated as a dangerous enemy or as a competitor and challenger?
Western Balkans: EU Accession, Values, and Markets
The new economic and social European model of course must also define the role of migration inside Europe (EU and its partners) and from outside Europe. The needs of the economies - depending on implementation of automatization and Artificial Intelligence - must be confronted with perceptions and attitudes of the society at large.
Private Business and Peace in Africa
Bibi the King: a Leader of the Global Right Wing
Reconciliation in the Balkans: a Permanent Challenge (Thessaloniki, March 2019)
A State for All - Israel and Palestine 2019
The following remarks are based on a trip to Israel and Palestine from 15th to the 22nd of February 2019. A small civil society delegation from Austria consisting of the president, Hannes Swoboda, and director, Stephanie Fenkart, of the International Institute for Peace (IIP) in Vienna, the director of the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Schlaining, Austria, Gudrun Kramer and Wilfried Graf, director of the Kehlman Institute for International Conflict Resolution, met various experts, politicians and civil society representatives in Israel and Palestine. This was organized in order to get a picture of current new developments around the million dollar question: How to re-initiate a peace process?
Israel: on the Way to Peace or to War?
Africa 2019: Transforming despair and poverty into hope and jobs
Two briefs but nevertheless impressive visits to Addis Abeba and Nairobi are reasons for this new reflection on Africa. In Ethiopia, I met with Stephanie Fenkart, director of the International Institute for Peace (IIP), where she participated in a conference on Art and Peace. Together we flew to Nairobi to take part in a "Learning Journey to Silicon Savannah". During our visit, we saw poverty and deprivation but also much optimism and energy. Both capitals are thriving cities with many new skyscrapers - often not - yet - finished. In both cities, we found the effects of urbanization: higher education and fewer children per family. While Addis is much poorer and dusty, Nairobi showed clear economic progress and wealth in many green quarters around the city. For both capitals and their countries, hope can be seen at the horizon.
