A military equipment transport, Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo by Clay Gilliland from Chandler, U.S.A., via commons.wikimedia.org, CC BY-SA 2.0

Why the Conflict Over Nagorno-Karabakh Could Heat Up Again

November 4, 2019 / Thomas de Waal

The honeymoon is over for Armenia’s popular prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan. In addition to a series of problems at home, he has no choice but to deal with a perennial headache: the three-decades-old conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which dates back to the last years of the Soviet Union in 1988. […]

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Photo by NESA by Makers on Unsplash

New Walls III: Internet Shutdowns in Africa

October 21, 2019 / Jonathan Fisher

While the Berlin Wall was toppled thirty years ago, new walls have continued to crop up around the world – virtual ones, blocking or limiting internet access to avert political dissent. As of August this year, Ugandan social media influencers – a group including musicians, commentators and media personalities – must register their activities with […]

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Photo by Markus Spiske via Unsplash

New Walls II: The Great Firewall of China

October 14, 2019 / Christina Maags

China’s so-called “Great Firewall” blocks citizens’ access to the outside world and to each other. But in the end, the virtual blockade might undermine the communist party’s own goals. — Episode 2 of our “New Walls” series. Over time, empires and nation-states have erected walls to protect their people and limit their interaction with “the […]

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Bolivian President Evo Morales. Photo by kremlin.ru via commons.wikimedia.org. CC BY 4.0

Elections in Bolivia: President Morales Poised to Cling to Power

October 10, 2019 / Mat Youkee

Ahead of Bolivia’s presidential elections in October, President Evo Morales looks set to win a fourth consecutive mandate, despite a referendum in which a narrow majority voted to block such a move. Is the South American nation about to take a step backwards? Bolivia serves as a reminder that, all too often, democracies are only […]

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Zaun an der serbisch-ungarischen Staatsgrenze. Foto: Délmagyarország/Schmidt Andrea via commons.wikimedia.org, CC BY SA 3.0

New Walls I: Militarizing Borders in Europe

October 7, 2019 / Raphael Bossong

What has become of the hope for freedom in a borderless world, thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall? Instead of disappearing, more and more hard border fortifications arise. — Episode 1 of our “New Walls” series. After the end of the Cold War, borders were seen as a legacy of the past. […]

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Construction Workers Using Digital Tablet. © Seventyfour - stock.adobe.com

Digitalization: Curse or Blessing for Developing Economies?

September 18, 2019 / Thieß Petersen

Digital technologies are becoming increasingly important for the economic prosperity and international competitiveness of individual economies. On the one hand, for developing countries they represent a potential source with which can increase material prosperity and combat poverty. On the other hand, there is the danger that some of these countries will be technologically left behind […]

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The Russian-Led Military Exercise in Vostok, 2018. Photo by mil.ru via commons.wikimedia.org, CC BY 4.0
President Shavkat Mirziyoev. Photo by kremlin.ru via commons.wikimedia.org, CC BY 4.0
Protests against Bouteflika in Béjaïa, Algeria. Photo by Akechii via commons.wikimedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Algerian Politics: The Closing Window for Change

July 24, 2019 / Dalia Ghanem

For more than four months protesters in Algeria have been urging a clean-up of the country’s politics and a new constitution. But how realistic is change given the military’s iron grip on power? Algeria, where power has long been firmly consolidated in a deep state, has seen mass peaceful protests since February 22. What started […]

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Welcome to the blog of the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transformation Index.

We share local insights from our network of BTI experts and journalists in developing and transition countries.

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