On March 18-19 2010 experts, representatives of national administrations and the world of politics from Poland, Germany, other European countries, states taking part in the Eastern Partnership initiative and Russia met in Warsaw to discuss the perspectives for developing the European Union’s Eastern Policy for upcoming years – specifically during the period of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council. The conference – an open meeting (March 18) for the general public and an expert meeting (March 19) – was organized by the Warsaw office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the German Bertelsmann Foundation and the Polish Centre for European Strategy demosEuropa.

"How to deal with Iran?" - International conference – The question posed has never been easy to answer and is hardly more timely. The Heinrich Böll Foundation Prague and the Association for International Affairs (AMO) jointly organised the International conference “How to deal with Iran?” and a series of side events (13 - 15 April) which discussed current developments in and around Iran. HBF Prague more»

An inch closer to a world without nuclear weapons – President Obama sees New START as literally a new start for relations between the United States and Russia, and as a “clear and concrete” step towards fulfilling the vision of a safer world, i.e. a world without nuclear weapons. But how big a step is this really?

 

Šadí Shanaáh more»

What is taking place in today’s Iran is not primarily a dispute between western influences and the concept of the Islamic state, as the country’s current leaders would like to present the issue. Erik Siegl more»

Radar issue shows the need for a generational transition in Czech politics – October 27, 2009 - In a recent lecture for the United States Institute for Peace, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the world cannot afford to continue to rely on recycling ideas from the Cold War era. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Czech politicians and media think in Cold War terms, and as a result Czech society does as well. more»

EU policy toward the Western Balkans – Regional Perspective – July 28, 2009 - There is no doubt that the states of the Western Balkans belong to the European Union. However, their road to the EU is by no means an easy one. The entire Western Balkan region is not only encumbered by the maladies related to its communist past, but also by the problems the region has more recently experienced due to the horrors of war. Many of the ethnic tensions have not yet cooled down. more»

Greening the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP): A Handbook to assess Implementation of the Action Plans in the Field of the Environment. – July 27, 2009 - Civil society has a crucial role to play in holding their governments accountable for the commitments they have made in the context of the ENP. The handbook aims at increasing their capacity to monitor the implementation of ENP Action Plans. more»

What agreements were not reached at the EU-China summit? – July 2, 2009 - Many visits by important state officials took place during the Czech EU presidency. However, few of them brought about any significant changes for the future of the EU’s external relations. The EU-China summit in Prague will not be recorded in history as having been a breakthrough, or even as significant. Alice Savovová more»

"Eastern Partnership: Towards Civil Society Forum" – May 26, 2009 - The EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative is off to a bad start. Presented by Sweden and Poland with much fanfare in 2008 as a new forum for the EU to engage the eastern neighbourhood, its recent launch in Prague proved, on the contrary, to be a major disappointment. Roderick Kefferpütz more»

Beyond zero-sum thinking in the EU’s Eastern Partnership – May 12, 2009 - The European Union’s energy security has been severely tested over the past year. August’s Georgian conflict underlined the possible dangers of diversification into the post-Soviet space, with bombs landing in the vicinity of several crucial gas and oil pipelines including South Caucasus and Baku-Supsa, while the Russian-Ukrainian gas stand-off sent shivers across Europe in January. Roderick Kefferpütz and Danila Bochkarev more»

Eastern Partnership and the Caucasus – May 6, 2009 - With its new Eastern Partnership (EaP), the EU has opened a new chapter in European Eastern Policy, and from the very beginning it aims to involve civil society. By Iris Kempe, Tarek Hohberg and Roderick Kefferpütz more»

How to face Iran? – April 8, 2009 - As expected, the main theme of US President Barack Obama's speech at Prague Castle was non-proliferation of nuclear arms. more»