Suchergebnisse

In seiner Rede an die Nation am 10. September 2014 hat US-Präsident Obama sein Vorgehen im Kampf gegen den Islamischen Staat (IS) skizziert. Ziel ist es, die militärischen Kräfte des IS einzudämmen und zu zerstören, in erster Linie mit Hilfe von Luftmacht. Seit Mitte September des Jahres haben die USA zusammen mit Verbündeten die Luftangriffe auf den IS im Irak und in Syrien ausgeweitet. In Medien und Politik wird seither diskutiert, ob der Einsatz von Luftstreitkräften das richtige Mittel ist. Schnell stand auch in Deutschland die Forderung im Raum, Bodentruppen zu entsenden, doch ohne dass die Wirksamkeit der Luftangriffe bewertet und in einen strategischen Kontext eingeordnet worden wäre. Es ist die Frage, ob Luftkrieg und politisches Handeln hinlänglich aufeinander abgestimmt sind und ob die bisherigen Anstrengungen ausreichen, um den IS zu besiegen. (Autorenreferat)

In the coming legislative period, the Federal Government and the Bundes­tag will need to redefine the scope of Germany's responsibility in world politics. The potential for action of German foreign policy cannot be prop­erly assessed without taking into consideration the new international constellations and the required changes. Shifts in international power, the loss of influence of Western positions, growing authoritarianism, the weakening of multilateral institutions, urgent global problems such as climate change - all of these challenges call for a realignment of German foreign policy. In doing so, it is impor­tant to adequately assess the limits of its capabilities but also the existing room for manoeuvre. This should guide its goals and priorities. German foreign policy is faced with increasingly intense competition for international influence and the authority to interpret norms and values. This competition takes different forms in the individual fields of foreign affairs. For this reason, Germany's presence in international politics can only be influential if the ministries involved pool their efforts and resources. More room needs to be made available for forward-looking and medium-term approaches in foreign policy decision-making. In this way, it may be possible to overcome the tendency towards ad hoc decisions and to avoid predominantly reactive patterns of behaviour. Germany's foreign relations must be guided by reliable partnerships and new forms of responsibility-sharing in various policy areas. How conflicting objectives are to be negotiated can only be determined through open and transparent dialogue. (author's abstract)

Nigeria-China trade and investment relations are claimed to move to the advantage of China. Hence, the more their trade relation flourishes, the more Nigeria experiences trade deficits, and the more China records trade surpluses. In this scenario, Nigeria depends more on imports from China than China. That is why Nigerian market is overflowed with Chinese made products such as cell phones, television sets and so forth. The study examined how Nigeria-China relations impact on the manufacturing sector in Nigeria. The study employed secondary source of data collection and relied on 'content analysis' as a technique for data analysis. There has been recorded failure of Nigeria to compete favourably with China in terms of import and export of manufactured products. The manufacturing sector in Nigeria remains far behind to commensurately compete with China's. Over concentration on the oil sector is directly linked to over reliance of the Nigerian economy on oil sector. The study draws a paradigm shift from the argument that China relations with Nigeria is imperialistic, to a hypothesis that the failure of the Nigerian government to adequately reposition Nigerian manufacturing to a globally competitive status through research and development as well as human capacity building, is thus, mainly responsible. The disarticulated economic structures Nigeria is currently maintaining is less capable of guaranteeing the development of the manufacturing sector that can enjoy competitive advantages in the international markets. Policy actions that are geared towards human capacity building and provision of sustainable incentives to local investors are needed.