Belarusians have taken to the streets of their cities and towns for over six months now, demanding free and fair elections after the presidential vote in August had been blatantly rigged. The longer the political crisis drags on, the more Russia’s and the EU’s perceptions of this crisis and subsequent actions matter. The elites in Russia view the protest as coordinated by the West, whereas the EU considers it as a purely domestic issue. Russia has a high interest in Belarus, in terms of security, economics, culture etc. For the EU, stability in its neighboring country is the primary goal. The Belarusian crisis has thus gained a geopolitical dimension that will play a decisive role in its future development.

New START was the last remaining bilateral arms agreement between the United States and Russia, putting a crucial cap on each side’s strategic nuclear arsenals of 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 deployed missiles and heavy bombers.

With the election of Joe Biden as the new president of the US, inaugurated in January 2021, geopolitical considerations run high in the Middle East and different stakeholders are realigning their positions. The possibility of US return to the JCPOA, which Prime Minister Netanyahu always perceived as a threat to Israeli security, is tangible. Because the Trump administration incentivized Arab states to sign the Abraham Accords with unprecedented, norm-breaking promises, it is unclear whether the Biden administration will fulfil all of them, a reality which gives rise to concerns in Israel and the normalizing states regarding the fate of the agreements.

In 2019, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his attempts to pacify the country and the Horn of Africa. Yet, in November 2020 he deployed military forces to control a conflict in the Tigray Region. Did the Nobel Peace laureate turn into a war monger? Why did he not practice the reconciliation, brotherhood and unity he preached?

„Amerika ist zurück!“, verkündete US-Präsident Joe Biden in einer Rede, in der er die außenpolitische Stoßrichtung der USA vorgeben wollte. Was aber bedeutet das für eine Welt, die in vier Jahren Trump-Präsidentschaft gelernt hat, sich ohne die Schutzmacht USA zu arrangieren?

The IIP has been closely following the protest movement in Belarus which erupted after the fraudulent presidential elections in August 2020. In continuity with our efforts to promote democracy and human rights all over the world and in the EU Neighborhood, we publish this statement below to mark six months of the fight against authoritarianism in Belarus.

Die Vizepräsidentin vom IIP, Angela Kane, war zu Gast bei BR Podcast!

Today the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States will take place in Washington D.C. This will mark the end of the Trump administration which shaped the American politics for the last four years. IIP experts will discuss the inauguration ceremony, the first Biden’s actions in the role of president, as well as issues and challenges that the new Democratic administration will face in the first days.

Prof. Heinz Gärtner über die derzeitige Situation auf dem Gebiet der atomaren Rüstung. Hier ist nach der Abwahl Donald Trumps etwas Bewegung entstanden, was die Verlängerung des New-Start-Abkommens durch US-Präsident Joe Biden zum Ausdruck bringt.