The New U.S. Administration and the German G20 Summit: 3 Things to Watch

By G20, , ,
Photo: Trump Cartoon

A dance among major powers

In his inaugural address, Donald Trump declared “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first” (a phrase, associated with opponents of entering World War II). Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer commented that “‘America first’ signals the renunciation, and possible destruction, of the US-led world order that Democratic and Republican presidents, starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt, have built up and maintained – albeit with varying degrees of success – for more than seven decades.” (Project Syndicate, “The God of Carnage,” January 27, 2017)

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Rising Powers: Germany needs to deepen its engagement!

By Future of Development Cooperation, ,
Image: Construction site

Engage rising powers

Germany’s cooperation with rising powers is in our own interest – and also a goal in itself: only through cooperation can we create sufficient trust to engage in joint solution-seeking. We are increasingly engaging in a „world of uncertainties“, and thus need partners for problem-solving, both regionally and globally.

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SDGs gelesen, gelacht, gelocht? Fünf Kernherausforderungen für die „Rettung“ der SDGs

By Zukunft der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, ,
Image: SDGs Piktogramm

Nachhaltige Entwicklungsziele umsetzen

Die Verabschiedung der SDGs wurde von Politikern weltweit gefeiert, als ob mit der Unterzeichnung auch schon die Zielerreichung gelungen wäre. Die eigentliche Herausforderung liegt aber nicht in der Formulierung unverbindlicher Absichtserklärungen, sondern in deren Umsetzung in konkrete Handlungen. Wie kann sichergestellt werden, dass die SDGs nun nicht stillschweigend in der Schublade verschwinden, sondern ihr Kerngedanke zum verbindlichen Bestandteil nationaler und internationaler Politik wird?

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Africa’s Democracy is Good for Growth

By Afrika, , , ,
Image: Polling Booth

Democracy promotes economic growth

Does democracy promote economic growth? An immense body of literature already exists on this topic but there is, as yet, no hard consensus among scholars and policymakers alike about the general link between democracy and growth. This question is particularly relevant to sub-Saharan Africa—a region where two broad trends of fast economic growth and democratization concurrently happened over the past two decades.

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