In this issue of International Reports, which focuses on the pressures placed on democracy and the rule of law around the world, Christopher Walker writes for good reason against the backdrop of many relevant current events about a proliferating “authoritarian virus”. There is truly a great deal to be concerned about. The issues begin in our neighbourhood and extend to the furthest corners of the world – seen from our perspective. Positive developments can easily fade into the background, but they do exist as well. And when one takes the long view, not everything looks quite as bleak as it...

Following a period of remarkable success for democracy after the Cold War, the tide has turned. Around the world, powerful anti-democratic forces have taken the initiative. In recent years, formidable state and non-state actors alike have gained momentum, seized the advantage, and sought to undermine liberal democracy.

The forces working against democracy are not limited to any single country or region but instead have multiple sources. First among these is a group of influential and ambitious authoritarian states that have organized themselves to directly contest democratic development and ideals. Regimes in Russia, China, Iran, and elsewhere are devoting vast resources...

Even now, 15 years after the Rome Statute entered into effect, the International Criminal Court (ICC)¹ is still struggling to gain worldwide acceptance. Although the ICC can list a number of judgments and criminal investigations in many parts of the world, the Court is still faced with huge challenges to this day.

On 17 July 1998, at the UN Conference of States in Rome, agreement was reached on creating an international criminal court. Known as the Rome Statute², the treaty was signed by 139 states and entered into effect in 2002, enabling the ICC to begin its work in The...

It is either us or them. One of the reasons democratic change faltered in most of the Arab world after the upheavals of 2010/2011, was the intransigent fierceness with which the fight for power was conducted in many places. Egypt is a typical example of how the fighting between al-Sisi’s military regime and the supporters of the toppled Muslim Brotherhood blocked all political development. In Syria, the brutal suppression of the opposition movement by the regime triggered a vicious cycle of violence that plunged the country into civil war, allowing terrorist groups to flourish. In Libya, two governments, one based...

In Germany, Africa’s public image tends to oscillate between that of a continent in crisis and prospects. Generally the pessimists are in the majority, as is seemingly the case in current discussions about the state of democracy on the continent. Recently, there has been increasing talk of a “democratic recession”. Indeed, for all the heterogeneity and contradictions, negative trends predominate in the current development of democracy.

With some exceptions, the search for consolidated democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa¹ remains unsuccessful. Instead, there is a mix of authoritarian regimes, hybrid systems as well as a very few solid democracies. And that is...

Uruguay is once again consulting a physician, just as it did between 2005 and 2010. And it is, in fact, the same doctor as half a decade ago, oncologist Tabaré Vázquez, who is now 77 years of age. When he resumed the presidency on 1 March 2015, it seemed to be merely another triumph for a left-wing politician on the continent, like one of so many since the turn of the millennium. The socialist Vázquez took the baton from José “Pepe” Mujica, the “poorest president” worldwide according to (his own, well-tended) legend. Mujica, a former guerrilla fighter and leader of...

The hype is over.* Since the time when Myanmar was featured regularly in the world’s leading media during the initial phase of its alleged transition to democracy between 2010 and 2015, interest has waned notably. Particularly for renowned prophets of world events, the country was not even worth mentioning in the latest issue of their predictions “The World in 2017”.¹ It appears that the international public is under the misapprehension that political change towards democracy is completed once general elections have been conducted successfully. In the case of Myanmar, the situation is obviously aggravated by the fact that the shining...

On 26 January 2017 the German Bundestag decided in favour of increasing its involvement in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and extending its support until 31 January 2018. Germany has participated in the mission since its inception in 2013 by providing air transport capabilities in order to improve the security situation in the north of the country. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had previously already visited Mali as part of a three-day visit to Africa from 9 to 11 October 2016. During her visit to Mali, the German Chancellor also met with German soldiers in...

In her Lancaster House speech of 17 January 2017, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced that she still wished to work closely with the EU on issues such as external affairs and security and defence matters following her country’s withdrawal from the EU.¹ Whether and to what extent this might hold true for European development policy as an integral part of EU external relations remained largely unaddressed. Also, the Brexit White Paper published by the UK Government on 2 February² failed to establish clarity over substantial issues, as did the paper on the “Great Repeal Bill”. On 27 March Theresa...