Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

IISD’s Stefan Jungcurt has interviewed Marianne Beisheim, Senior Associate, Global Affairs, at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). Beisheim shares her perspectives on connecting science and policy for SDG implementation, UN reform, and keeping the momentum in an increasingly fragmented world.

Strengthening the Indo-German developmental agenda through AI

Das Bundeskabinett hat sich heute auf ein stabiles Rentenniveau bis 2031 und eine Ausweitung der Mütterrente geeinigt. Dazu eine Einschätzung von Rentenexperte Johannes Geyer, stellvertretender Leiter der Abteilung Staat im Deutschen Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin):

Die Haltelinie von 48 Prozent beim Rentenniveau zu sichern, ist angesichts niedriger Renten und wenig verbreiteter privater Vorsorge ein richtiges Signal. Ab 2029 erfordert dieses Ziel jedoch erhebliche zusätzliche Steuermittel. Auch die Ausweitung der Mütterrente bindet langfristig sehr viel Geld. Die Rentenkassen selbst sollen dadurch zunächst nicht zusätzlich belastet werden, aber die Abhängigkeit vom Bundeshaushalt wächst. Da die Babyboomer in den kommenden Jahren in Rente gehen, steigen die Ausgaben der Rentenversicherung ohnehin deutlich. Den steigenden Steuerzuschuss zu finanzieren, wird eine große Herausforderung sein. Wer eine Anhebung des Renteneintrittsalters vermeiden will, muss die Erwerbstätigkeit steigern – etwa durch mehr qualifizierte Zuwanderung, eine höhere Frauenerwerbstätigkeit, mehr ältere Erwerbstätige und bessere Bildung. Die heutigen Beschlüsse des Bundeskabinetts zur Haltelinie beim Rentenniveau und Ausweitung der Mütterrente können daher nur ein erster Schritt sein. Langfristig sollte das Drei-Säulen-Modell der Altersvorsorge gestärkt und ein klares Sicherungsziel definiert werden, damit im Alter nicht allein auf die gesetzliche Rente gesetzt werden muss.

Die Abteilung Kriminalität, Arbeit und Ungleichheit des DIW Berlin forscht und analysiert die Auswirkungen von Arbeitsmarkt-, Sozial- und Wirtschaftspolitik auf Entscheidungen und Verhalten von Personen und Haushalten. Sie beschäftigt sich insbesondere mit Aspekten, die mit wirtschaftlichen Ursachen von Kriminalität und deren Auswirkungen in Zusammenhang stehen, und erforscht potenzielle Wechselwirkungen zwischen Kriminalität einerseits und Chancengleichheit und Verteilungsfragen andererseits. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei mikro-ökonomisch fundierte, empirische Forschungsarbeiten, die zu einem evidenz-basierten Diskurs beitragen.

Dafür sucht die Abteilung ab dem 1.11.2025 eine*n 

Postdoc (w/m/div) (Vollzeit mit 39 Stunden pro Woche, Teilzeit ist möglich)

Die Stelle dient der wissenschaftlichen Qualifizierung im Sinne des § 2 Absatz 1 Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (WissZeitVG).

Ostentatious humiliation may bring Europe some breathing space in the short term. But that will be worthles unless we effectively and jointly reduce dependency on the US.

Aus zwei wurden drei nukleare Großmächte. Steht die Welt 80 Jahre nach dem Atombombeninferno von Hiroshima am 6. August 1945 vor einem neuen nuklearen Zeitalter? Eine Analyse.

Amid rising restrictions on foreign funding, localization—directly funding local groups—is seen as a path to more effective, locally owned aid. This policy brief examines whether donors should shift support from large civil society organizations to grassroots community groups.

Amid rising restrictions on foreign funding, localization—directly funding local groups—is seen as a path to more effective, locally owned aid. This policy brief examines whether donors should shift support from large civil society organizations to grassroots community groups.

Amid rising restrictions on foreign funding, localization—directly funding local groups—is seen as a path to more effective, locally owned aid. This policy brief examines whether donors should shift support from large civil society organizations to grassroots community groups.

Der Nahost-Experte Peter Lintl fordert angesichts des von der Hamas veröffentlichen Videos einen Geisel-Deal. Europa müsse aber auch auf die israelische Regierung Druck ausüben. Lintl sieht ein Mosaik an Möglichkeiten.

The Trump administration is pursuing an explicitly anti-multilateralist policy rooted in national sovereignty, geopolitical calculation, and transactional economics. Conspiracy theories played a significant role in justifying actions like the dismantling of USAID. Global norms, including the SDGs, are cast as threats to U.S. interests precisely because they promote forms of cooperative governance. The withdrawal from international organizations, disregard for established norms (even to the point of military threats), and blunt pressure on other nations—such as the baseless accusations of “genocide” against South Africa—signal a paradigm shift. It redefines the balance between values and interests, privileging short-term political dominance over long-term global cooperation.

The Trump administration is pursuing an explicitly anti-multilateralist policy rooted in national sovereignty, geopolitical calculation, and transactional economics. Conspiracy theories played a significant role in justifying actions like the dismantling of USAID. Global norms, including the SDGs, are cast as threats to U.S. interests precisely because they promote forms of cooperative governance. The withdrawal from international organizations, disregard for established norms (even to the point of military threats), and blunt pressure on other nations—such as the baseless accusations of “genocide” against South Africa—signal a paradigm shift. It redefines the balance between values and interests, privileging short-term political dominance over long-term global cooperation.

The Trump administration is pursuing an explicitly anti-multilateralist policy rooted in national sovereignty, geopolitical calculation, and transactional economics. Conspiracy theories played a significant role in justifying actions like the dismantling of USAID. Global norms, including the SDGs, are cast as threats to U.S. interests precisely because they promote forms of cooperative governance. The withdrawal from international organizations, disregard for established norms (even to the point of military threats), and blunt pressure on other nations—such as the baseless accusations of “genocide” against South Africa—signal a paradigm shift. It redefines the balance between values and interests, privileging short-term political dominance over long-term global cooperation.

Deutschland tut immer noch viel zu wenig, um Frauen vor Gewalt zu schützen. Das ist auch ein wirtschaftliches Problem. Dabei ist längst klar, was sich ändern müsste., Es ist eine traurige Realität, die immer noch zu wenig Beachtung findet: Gewalt gegen Frauen ist in Deutschland ein systemisches Problem: Für 2023 erfasste das Bundeskriminalamt 360 Frauen und Mädchen, die aufgrund von Tötungsdelikten starben. Von diesen 360 wurden 247 der innerfamiliären Gewalt ...

Turkey’s geopolitically motivated industrial and supply chain policy implies close ties to Germany as well as a security and economic policy orientation towards the EU. Ankara wants to bring production and sales into line with EU standards and establish a green high-tech and services economy. However, its decarbonisation measures remain inadequate. Turkish stakeholders see disruptions to global supply chains as creating the opportunity to relocate European production chains to Turkey (nearshoring). The government, the private sector and business organisations are all working to expand sustainable energy supplies. Turkey’s authoritarian domestic policy – namely, the dismantling of democracy, repression and disregard for the rule of law – makes it extremely difficult to deepen bilateral cooperation. Despite close economic ties, there are normative differences between Germany and Turkey and a consistent strategy to overcome them is lacking. Rather, the Turkish government is focused on using industrial policy to compensate for shortcomings in the rule of law. Amid the geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, Turkey is performing a delicate balancing act: it is maintaining its ties to the West while at the same time expanding its technology partnership with China and energy cooperation with Russia. German policy towards Turkey requires a strategic rethink. It should endeavour to promote economic stability, strengthen Turkey’s security policy integration into Europe and counteract Ankara’s strategic rapprochement with Moscow and Beijing. Going forward, cooperation should be made conditional on democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

Background: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown policies emerged as pivotal measures to contain viral transmission. Questions arose about whether their implementation challenged access to care, particularly in regions with fragile or less resilient health systems, such as sub-Saharan Africa. Robust evidence on the effect of lockdowns on healthcare access remains sparse, partly due to a lack of suitable data. We addressed this gap and assessed the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown policy on facility-based delivery during the first pandemic wave in Kenya. Methods: We triangulated findings from two independent quantitative analyses, exploiting the fact that lockdowns in Kenya were implemented only in selected counties. First, we used nationally representative repeated cross-sectional surveys from 2018 and 2020, applying a pre-post-test design with independent controls. Second, we analyzed monthly data from the Kenya Health Information System (Jan 2019–Nov 2020) using an interrupted time series (ITSA) with independent controls, with April 2020 set as the interruption point. Results: The controlled pre-post analysis found no significant effect of lockdowns on facility-based delivery in lockdown vs. non-lockdown counties. The ITSA showed an immediate increase of 4.97% (CI: 0.51%, 9.43%) in facility deliveries in lockdown counties, followed by a significant monthly decrease of 0.97% (CI: -1.60%, -0.34%) compared with non-lockdown counties. Conclusion: We found no overall effect of lockdowns on facility-based deliveries. Our results suggest that, when managed well, lockdowns do not necessarily disrupt access to maternal health services—demonstrating elements of resilience even under crisis conditions. These findings underscore the value of context-specific, adaptive strategies to ensure continuity of essential services during health emergencies. Future research should explore localized and socioeconomic factors shaping responses to public health interventions and further examine how resilience can be strengthened at all levels of the health system.