Recently, I have found myself reflecting on an interesting phenomenon that I observed interacting with various German foundations and listening to the various discourses in this sector. Foundations in Germany seem to nurture an ambition… [Read more]
Are Non-Tariff Barriers the New Walls to Trade? A Case Analysis from Argentina and Ecuador
Non-Tariffs Measures (NTMs) have become relevant instruments of protection in countries that have traditionally protected specific economic sectors from international trade. This recent development is a result of the reduction or elimination of import tariffs… [Read more]
The Great Firewall of China
One quarter of a century after the concrete wall in Berlin was torn down, new walls arise daily. These new 21st century walls are virtual in nature, yet their effect is quite real. So-called ‘firewalls’… [Read more]
Open Government: A New Way of Governing?
In the past few years the idea of opening traditional practices of government to its citizens has played an increasingly dominant role in politics and election campaigns. The hope is to allow citizens to play… [Read more]
Identity and Consumption
You are what you consume, right? What do identity and consumption have to do with each other? Pretty much everything. People affirm their individuality through lifestyles, which are fundamentally an ensemble of consumption patterns: wearing… [Read more]
Identity and War
What if we understand war not as a direct exercise of power but as a way to establish meaning through which power is exercised? Both war and language, as well as other practices like culture… [Read more]
The Future of Labour in Nursing — a Question of Life and Death
The nursing sector is fundamentally different from other sectors in its unique relationship between management, workers, and customers. Research has merely begun tackling this difference within the last years. Yet, as David Scheller-Kreinsen and Britta… [Read more]
Think Small: Towards a New Water Strategy
The large-scale infrastructure approach to water supply has consistently failed to achieve its objectives in low-income countries. Peter Bossard argues that small-scale water projects can reduce poverty more effectively, and at a lower cost. In… [Read more]
The Quiet Success of European Defence
It has been a long way from the defence of Europe to European defence. Did the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty provide a fatal blow to further efforts in defence cooperation? Javier Solana gives his… [Read more]
The Basic Income—an Imperative for Modern Economic Governance?
Today, states encounter severe problems due to demographic change and changing socio-economic structures. Is a reform of the tax-system the new imperative for modern economic policy? Götz Werner and André Presse identify the “basic income”… [Read more]