spotlight europe 2010/10, November 2010: The Middle East as a region of opportunity

The Middle East is more than a hotbed of conflict, war and terror. It is time the EU woke up to the opportunities this region has to offer. The four Es - economy, energy, environment and education-suggest numerous areas of cooperation in which Europe can become profitably involved. Furthermore, the six GCC states ought to play a greater role in the resolution of regional conflict

spotlight europe #2013/04, May 2013: The Changing Face of North Africa. An Opportunity for and with Europe.

North Africa is changing fast, and its youthful societies look back with pride at their recent uprisings. However, they are also getting frustrated by the fact that the economic outlook is not improving. Europe’s role in the strategically important southern Mediterranean area needs to be realigned in order to promote the development of democracy, employment opportunities, and security. There is a great deal of potential for cooperation with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt

spotlight europe #2013/02-February 2012. Syria: from rebellion to all-out war

The situation in Syria at the beginning of 2013 could hardly be worse. Dead, wounded, refugees, a humanitarian disaster. President Assad is destroying his country and waging war against his own people. Russia and Iran back the regime. The West wants regime change without intervening militarily. The political opposition is now more united but overwhelmed with the situation at hand. The armed resistance, partially dominated by Jihadists, is difficult to size up

Flashlight Europe N°2–February 2015. “Europe must now get involved in a very big way”

More than three years after al-Gaddafi was overthrown, Libya has still not returned to some semblance of normality. In many places, the Libyan state exists only on paper. No less than two governments and dozens of rival tribes, all with their own militias and armed to the teeth, are trying to come to power. In the midst of this chaos “IS,” the terrorist organization, has now entered the fray. Evidence of this is provided by the brutal murder of 21 Egyptian Copts, which could trigger off a civil war that will pose a threat to the entire region and to Europe. Mirco Keilberth, an expert on Libya, explains what is going on

Tunisia's transformation - Cooperating with the neighbours: Europe, North Africa and the GCC. July 2015 Strategy paper.Bertelsmann Studies

Tunisia is a democratic partner of the EU in Europe's immediate southern neighbourhood. The societal and political developments in the country since 2011 have formed an encouraging exception in North Africa and the Arab world. In 2014, the country adopted a new constitution, and free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections took place. Since 5 February 2015, Tunisia has had a democratic government. Tunisia's export-oriented economy possesses an industrial base, infrastructure and a demographic segmentation which, when compared with other countries in the region, can lead to more growth and employment opportunities

Syria in its fifth year of civil war: Overview, analysis and thoughts on resolving the conflict. Bertelsmann Studies

After the First World War, the then colonial powers Great Britain and France created a number of countries from what remained of the Ottoman Empire. One of those countries was Syria, a nation of artificial borders. In 1946, Syria gained its independence. The government promoted secularization and saw to it that the benefits of modernization accrued to many, which meant that the country’s 12 different ethnic and religious groups lived together in peace until the 1980s. During the Assad dynasty, however, problems and conflicts arose, culminating in open revolt in 2011

Wahlen im Irak : eine amerikanisch-europäische Perspektive

Perceptuella röstanalyser är en viktig del i logopedens arbete med röstpatienter. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att med hjälp av lyssnarbedömningar undersöka skillnader i röstkvalitet mellan spontantal och instruerat tal hos femåriga barn och vuxna kvinnor. Även inter- och intrabedömarreliabilitet undersöktes för fyra logopeder vilka utgjorde bedömningsgruppen. Resultatet visade signifikanta skillnader i röstkvalitet mellan spontantal och instruerat tal för kvinnorna gällande parametrarna heshet, hyperfunktion och skrovel. Hos barnen kunde starka tendenser till skillnad mellan spontantal och instruerat tal ses för parametrarna hyperfunktion och röstläge. Interbedömarreliabiliteten var högst vid bedömning av heshet hos barn och tendensen var att interbedömarreliabiliteten överlag var högre vid bedömning av barnrösterna än vid bedömning av kvinnorösterna. Värdena för intrabedömarreliabilitet visade starka tendenser till att vara högre vid bedömning av kvinnornas röster jämfört med barnens röster

Towards a New European Neighbourhood Policy: Impulses for discussion. European Neighbourhood Conference Berlin, November 26/27, 2014

The Lisbon treaty calls on the EU to “develop a special relationship with neighbouring countries, aiming to establish an area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, founded on the values of the Union” (Art. 8). Collaboration within the ENP framework is independent of the process of potential EU accession, yet it neither prejudges future development of EU relations with any respective partner. In times of geopolitical turmoil and revolutionary transformations, the existing framework neither meets the aspirations of the 16 neighbours nor the expectations of the EU. The future ENP has to develop alternative mechanisms and answer new needs

Sensitivity of Antarctic Urospora penicilliformis (Ulotrichales, Chlorophyta) to ultraviolet radiation is life stage dependent

The sensitivity of different life stages of the eulittoral green alga Urospora penicilliformis (Roth) Aresch. to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) was examinedin the laboratory. Gametophytic filaments and propagules (zoospores and gametes) released from filaments were separately exposed to different fluence of radiation treatments consisting of PAR (P = 400700 nm), PAR + ultraviolet A (UVA) (PA, UVA = 320400 nm), and PAR + UVA + ultraviolet B (UVB) (PAB, UVB = 280320 nm). Photophysiological indices (ETRmax, Ek, and a) derived from rapid light curves were measured in controls, while photosynthetic efficiency and amount of DNA lesions in terms of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) were measured after exposure to radiation treatments and after recovery in low PAR; pigments of propagules were quantified after exposure treatment only. The photosynthetic conversion efficiency (a) and photosynthetic capacity (rETRmax) were higher in gametophytes compared with the propagules. The propagules were slightly more sensitive to UVB-induced DNA damage; however, both life stages of the eulittoral inhabiting turf alga were not severely affected by the negative impacts of UVR. Exposure to a maximum of 8 h UVR caused mild effects on the photochemical efficiency of PSII and induced minimal DNA lesions in both the gametophytes and propagules. Pigment concentrations were not significantly different between PAR-exposed and PAR + UVRexposed propagules. Our data showed that U. penicilliformis from the Antarctic is ratherinsensitive to the applied UVR. This amphi-equatorial species possesses different protective mechanisms that can cope with high UVR in coldtemperatewaters of both hemispheres and in polar regions under conditions of increasing UVR as a consequence of further reduction of stratosphericozone