Foreign & Security Policy

John Podesta delivers a keynote address to the Boell Foundation in Berlin on the value of progressive growth in the 21st century.

How to restore the credibility of a country whose foundations and self-understanding are based on the universality of freedom and human rights, but that has violated precisely those rights by practicing torture in Guantánamo and other prisons around the world? Thomas C. Hilde outlines several post-Guantánamo detainee policy proposals – and their difficulties – that address these distinctive sets of issues.

At a time when the Obama administration is pressing NATO allies to do more in Afghanistan, should Europeans devote resources to support stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Iraq?

The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) has become a centerpiece of the administration's efforts to engage civil society and support democracy in the region. Following a 30% increase in funding in FY10, the new budget requests an additional 32% increase up to $86 million.

The geographic and social fragmentation of the Palestinian people is essentially a result of the conflict in the Middle East. This topic represents the main focus of our two-day conference with international experts in March 2010. Our dossier provides further information about the conference and the invited experts.

The Treaty of Lisbon represents another attempt in the history of EU integration to tap the potential of the EU in external relations as well as in other fields. However, it stops short of taking the ultimate step: The member states have not consented to a communitization of foreign and security policy. Instead, a complicated new structure was adopted which leaves much to be desired and creates new areas for friction.

As we are approaching the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, hopes for a positive outcome are high. While the Obama Administration’s actions do support this prospect, there is a possibility that bilaterally concluded nuclear deals set the treaty in danger.

In this publication the Gunda Werner Institute in the Heinrich Böll Foundation presents a detailed position paper to contribute to the international debate on peace and security policy. The paper is based on a 2006 discussion paper, which has been extensively up-dated and revised.

Japan has been the only country in the world that suffered from a nuclear attack. Today, security and stability in Asia are at risk because of a potential nuclear arms race from the Persian Gulf to North Korea.

In the post-London scenario, caution becomes even more necessary; if the international community wants to try the dialogue option, it shall have to lower the temperature by scaling down combat operations.