Governance

Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals will require good governance – from the local to the global level.

Self-righteous aggressiveness versus universal values

Humankind’s religions share a common core of values, as the Swiss theologian Hans Küng prominently argued. He called it the “global ethic”.

Development cooperation

Aid is problematic, but indispensable

Official development assistance has risen to record levels, but aid flows still often fail to deliver the intended results

SDGs

The sustainability agenda humankind needs

As new experiences are made, development thinking keeps changing – slowly, but continuously

BRICS enlargement

Why more BRICS members are not necessarily better

By expanding to BRICS+, the group aims to position itself more strongly as a global player. But economic, geopolitical and internal tensions remain, despite or precisely because of the new members.

Israel and Palestine

„This is rich coming from an Israeli leader“

Prominent Jews disagree with Israel’s government when it blames on antisemitism that the ICC is considering an arrest warrant against Netanyahu or that Spain, Ireland and Norway will recognise the state of Palestine.

International affairs

Why BRICS+ may prove weaker than expected

By admitting six new members to their informal group, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) may be thwarting its capacity for collective action.

Southern Africa

Why Africa is caught between two stools with BRICS

With the presence of China and South Africa on the continent, African countries have little choice but to get involved with BRICS. At the same time, countries like Malawi do not want to lose touch with the western industrialised nations.

Global governance

Phasing out fossil fuels with climate finance

Fossil-fuel subsidies undermine climate protection and burden tight national budgets. Climate finance, if applied well, helps to reform subsidy systems in a socially just way.

Large-scale projects

Chinese funded steel mill displaces locals in Zimbabwe

The promises and expectations of the government have been met with doubt by locals who are already facing adverse effects due to the ongoing project.

Social disparities

India’s tiny plutocratic elite is growing fast

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has delivered pro-rich growth

Language politics in Cameroon

From colonial division to bloody conflict

Up to now, life in Cameroon is determined by whether one is Francophone or Anglophone. The so-called “Anglophone crisis” surrounding the independence aspirations of the part of the country that was once a British colony is claiming more and more victims.