Political Science and International Studies (R0)

Hungary was once a frontrunner of democratization. However, since Viktor Orbán came to power in 2010, the country has been the subject of critical media coverage and concerns due to illiberal policies and anti-EU rhetoric. The book helps to analyze and evaluate the developments by providing relevant case knowledge. It provides sound insights into Hungary’s system of government, society, parties and media, as well as selected policy areas. It focuses on how different policy areas have been influenced by the EU, traces important lines of development over the past decades, and compares the findings with other states of the region. The authors’ professional expertise and broad knowledge of the political systems of Hungary and Europe provide a well-founded analysis of the developments in the region.

This book examines the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in East Africa. The BRI is considered China's central geopolitical and geo-economic project in the era of President Xi Jinping. Through this work, the author aims to contribute to filling some research gaps, such as the lack of depth in studies of individual BRI projects and the underconsideration of processing narratives in participating countries. The guiding question is the extent to which the BRI is a political or hegemonic project of the CCP-directed state-civil society complex in East Africa. To answer these questions, databases of international organizations and policy documents are analyzed. In addition, the author conducts a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles from local media houses in the countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania to examine three infrastructure projects. The work illustrates that the BRI contributes to increasing connectivity in East Africa. At the same time,the compression of economic relations and the implementation of infrastructure projects in East Africa lead to numerous consequences and contour a hegemonic project.

The notes that Ludger Kühnhardt wrote in 235 countries and territories around the world create a fascinating panorama, reflected in the personal impressions, encounters and experiences of a political scientist and journalist working all over the world. The book reconstructs the connections between Europe's transformations and the emerging global era over six decades from 1960 to the threshold of the post-Corona world of 2020.

Ludger Kühnhardt, a globally active political scientist, consultant, and publicist, provides vivid and personal insights into the people and sources that shaped him, the thought paths he has followed, and the impulses his work in research and teaching has triggered over decades. A biographical workshop report of high authenticity, bringing together what often appears unconnected in the midst of professional everyday life. Insights that were ahead of their time are repeatedly illuminated from different perspectives, and findings that have remained timelessly relevant are recalled. A vividly written work biography about the inner driving forces and external contexts of a cosmopolitan public intellectual as an enlightening and advisory catalyst in the interplay of science, politics, and journalism. The book reflects German, European, and global contemporary history from the mid-20th century to the third decade of the 21st century in a scholarly work and its classification as a testimony to political culture.