Global Peace & Security

"Everything changes as soon as people have the feeling they can actually do something." Middle East Office Director Bente Scheller explains the current state of Syria, and what people can do about it.

President Trump and Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley have been calling for the US to leave the Human Rights Council. Why is its membership controversial? what reason is there to stay? An interview with Senior UN Advocate Laila Matar from Human Rights Watch.

Last week, President Trump hosted Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, for discussions on an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and further economic and security cooperation between the US and the West Bank. What can we expect from the US administration and how committed are the parties involved in the conflict?

Lebanon has seen political stagnation and sectarian tensions for years. As a result of the Syrian conflict, Lebanon has also become the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. To gain a more nuanced understanding of the situation in the country, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung North America and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Middle East organized a study tour to Lebanon in October 2016.

Today’s central line of conflict runs between open societies and various forms of Identitarian radicalism. The challenge we face is to reconcile rapid changes in a globalized modern age with our need to belong and our need for security.

What are strategic expectations of Member States to be addressed during the forthcoming Summit in Warsaw? Which major challenges will it face? What marks the Polish position vis-a-vis NATO and EU issues? Analysis by former Polish diplomat Piotr Łukasiewicz.

The recent attacks in Brussels have left everyone in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe in shock. People feel more and more helpless in the face of what seems to be, after the attacks in Paris last November and in January 2015, an increasingly destructive threat.

Since February 26, a truce has largely prevailed in Syria. However, hardly any improvements to the humanitarian situation in the country can be observed to date. People continue to suffer starvation. That is part of the war strategy.

After a recent visit to Washington, Sergey Lagodinsky, head of the EU/North America Department at the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Berlin, reflects on Americans’ understanding of the European refugee crisis and the failure to anticipate long-term repercussions for US foreign policy interests.