On the EDP wire, we post and discuss a range of issues that emanate from our research and that are important to us. Here you will find – in English or German – opinion pieces, book reviews, conference reports, and important announcements. Are you interested in becoming a guest contributor? Get in contact with us!
Most Recent EDP WIRE Posts
Federal President Frank Walter Steinmeier is on a official trip through Central Asia, where he is not only visiting Kazakhstan but also the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. Against the backdrop of far-reaching restrictions against civil society and human rights activists, this …
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The EU’s emerging response to foreign interference, as it is currently debated in the EU Parliament, contains striking similarities to arguments put forth by some governments around the world seeking to justify harsh restrictions on foreign funding and “foreign agents.” …
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Within just a few years, the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project has experienced a remarkable rise to both academic and political prominence. As Jonas Wolff shows in his paper that was just published open access with Contemporary Politics, this rise has been accompanied by a notable discursive shift: Having started as a project aimed at taking seriously the essential conceptual contestability of democracy, in recent years V-Dem has adopted an increasingly narrow and taken-for-granted focus on liberal democracy.
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Owing to China’s rise and the increasingly assertive behaviour of authoritarian states, the theme of a new “systemic competition” has become prominent in German foreign policy discourse. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has further boosted the idea that the world’s democracies must join forces in the face of menacing autocracies. Jonas Wolff, Pascal Abb, and Hanna Pfeifer analyze the pitfalls of such a dichotomy.
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In Reaktion auf das zunehmend selbstbewusste Auftreten autoritär verfasster Staaten hat sich auch im deutschen außenpolitischen Diskurs das Bild eines neuen „Systemwettbewerbs“ verfestigt. Die Vorstellung, dass sich die Demokratien dieser Welt im Angesicht bedrohlicher Autokratien zusammenschließen müssen, hat durch den russischen Angriffskrieg auf die Ukraine weiter Nahrung erhalten. Jonas Wolff, Pascal Abb und Hanna Pfeifer analysieren die Problematik einer solchen Dichotomie.
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Despite considerable efforts and financial investments in the MENA region by Germany and other European states, as well as high support for democracy in Arab states, political systems in the MENA region remain authoritarian. Benjamin Schuetze discusses the connection of these phenomena and suggests how meaningful German support in the MENA region could look like.
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A few months after the so-called traffic light coalition has taken office, Jonas Wolff discusses the apparent reorientation of German international democracy promotion by presenting different approaches to democracy promotion and comparing the previous developmental approach to the new political approach, as outlined in the coalition agreement.
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The question of whether and how democracy can be promoted and protected through international support has recently gained relevance. On the one hand, the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan has reignited a public debate on the limits of democracy promotion. On the other hand, the need for international democracy protection is growing due to an increase in autocratisation trends worldwide. DIE research shows that it is possible to effectively support and protect democracy.
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In the run-up to the Kyrgyz parliamentary elections on October 28th, Rebecca Wagner sheds a light on the recent developments in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan that indicate another wave of autocratization, and raises the question on whether the election results will further pave the way for an autocratic system to arise.
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In the run-up to the German parliamentary elections on September 26, this article compares how political parties represented in parliamentary strength in the outgoing German Bundestag position themselves towards international democracy promotion and protection.
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