The Port of Piraeus, Greece. Photo by Peter Gyöngi via flickr.com, CC BY-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

Money Can’t Buy You Love – but Influence, Apparently

January 29, 2018 / Falk Hartig

China under Xi Jinping is deeply concerned with its global status and standing and aims to regain its deserved place on the global stage. This has dramatic consequences not only for China but for the rest of the world. One of the most important developments with regards to China has been the bold departure from […]

0 Comments more
Brasil's ex-president Lula da Silva after his first conviction in July 2017. Photo by Mídia Ninja via flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Brazil: The Drama of Unpredictability

January 23, 2018 / Manuela Andreoni

Uncertainty about the 2018 presidential elections, which will be held in October, weigh heavily on Brazil. A court decision this week may cost former president Lula da Silva his candidacy. As Brazil braces for its most important election in decades, hopes of stabilization are dwindling. The country is slowly stepping out of an almost three-year […]

0 Comments more
European flags in a protest in Chișinău, 2016. Photo by Gikü via wikimedia.org, CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en

Moldova’s European Integration Is on Hold

January 16, 2018 / Leonid Litra

In late November, the leaders of the European Union met with six Eastern Partnership countries in Brussels to review what has been achieved since their last summit in 2015. A matter of concern was the former symbol of hope: Moldova. Just a few years ago, Moldova used to be seen as success story of the […]

0 Comments more
Tigrinya Women Protesting. Photo by SarahTz via flickr.com, CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Race to the Bottom: Ethiopia’s Accelerating Crisis

January 05, 2018 / Awol Kassim Allo

An economy in free fall, ever-deepening repression, a deteriorating security, inter-ethnic violence, and a vicious infighting within the ruling party – Ethiopia is on the cusp of political explosion. Ethiopia has largely been seen in Western capitals and think tanks as “an Island of stability in a troubled region”. Within the last two years, however, […]

0 Comments more
Tailer in Berbera sewing the Somaliland flag. Photo by Alfred Weidinger via commons.wikimedia.org. CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Somaliland after the Elections: Old Traps, New Challenges

December 11, 2017 / Claire Elder

Despite the lack of international recognition, Somaliland has created a relatively stable enclave in the unsecure region of the Horn of Africa. However, the successful consensus politics of the past decades shows first deep cracks. Is Somaliland falling into the old traps of clan rivalries and foreign geopolitical interests? The Republic of Somaliland is recognised as […]

0 Comments more
President Zuma. Photo by Linh Do via flickr.com, CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The Albatross around the ANC’s Neck

December 04, 2017 / Jan Hofmeyr

Last summer, President Jacob Zuma was celebrating his narrow success of surviving another no-confidence vote. But while the ANC’s 54th National Elective Conference is approaching, many within the governing party are beginning to count the cost of a leader who lacks the public’s trust. In December 2007, delegates at the National Elective Conference of South Africa’s ruling African […]

0 Comments more
Visit of Boyko Borissov, Bulgarian Prime Minister, to the EC. Photo copyright by European Union, 2017

Bulgaria’s EU Presidency: Normalizing Nationalism?

November 28, 2017 / Frank Beauchamp

Some of the Bulgarian politicians who will preside over European meetings in Brussels in the first half of 2018 are nationalists. Is the EU to be blamed for letting them play a role on the European stage? Will the Bulgarian liberal-conservative majority be able to tame its patriotic coalition partner? After many years of economic […]

0 Comments more
Fiji from above. Photo by brewbooks via flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Time to Listen to Severely Threatened Islands

November 03, 2017 / Alison Singer

For the first time, a paradise in danger will host the UN climate talks. Can Fiji’s presidency bring about the desperately needed global partnerships for island nations? 03.11.2017 | by ALISON SINGER The 23rd UN Climate Change Conference will take place November 6 to 17, in Bonn, Germany. The government of Fiji with its Prime […]

2 Comments more
Imran Khan-led protests. Photo by Mustafa Mohsin via flickr.com, CC BY-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

Why Optimism is Fading in Pakistan

October 16, 2017 / Shamil Shams

70 years after independence, Pakistan is caught in political chaos, and it seems as if the reasons to be optimist about the country’s democratic future got fewer. Next years’ elections could turn out to be a crossroads in its history. In a historic yet controversial decision in July 2017, Pakistan’s Supreme Court disqualified former PM […]

0 Comments more
Georgian Policemen. Photo by flickr.com user jb via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Georgia: Backsliding on Justice?

September 29, 2017 / Justine Doody

On 10 June 2017, thousands of Georgians protested on the streets of Tbilisi in support of two young rappers, members of the group Birja Mafia, who were arrested on drugs charges that they say were trumped up. The protests marked another step in Georgians’ decline in trust for their law enforcement system. Former President Mikheil […]

0 Comments more

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.

FILTER

TAGS

democracy elections EU governance democratization corruption economy development Africa civil society refugees European Union migration populism China Brazil Migration & Transformation political parties Southeast Asia Secrets of Transformation stability economic policy India Ukraine constitution terrorism political protest South Africa political crisis Club de Madrid Next Generation Democracy Russia growth human rights peace and security economic progress Nepal Turkey protest autocracy rule of law Middle East and North Africa South Korea economic growth Latin America