Opinion

Last week, Thomas Kemmerich of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) was elected Prime Minister of the east German federal state of Thuringia in what constituted a surprise to many political experts.

Not everything was better in the past. However, many things that exist today already existed in the past. The only difference was in the names. One example is the stakeholder dialogue, which used to be known as “round table”.

The main headlines about the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg in June were about the heavy and destructive violence that was perpetrated by protesters. The fact that actual political agreements were made under the protection of a substantial security operation largely fell by the wayside.

For the second time within the space of only a few weeks the young generation has given away a victory to those they would normally reject.

Two important United Nations covenants turn 50 years old this year: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).