Articles for category: Regionen

Transgender Rights at a Crossroads in the United States

In his first month in office, US President Donald Trump has issued a series of sweeping executive orders targeting transgender rights. These orders build on political terrain that is now exceedingly hostile to transgender rights. In this post, I briefly examine the landscape for transgender rights in the United States, analyze what President Trump’s executive orders on transgender rights aim to do, and then discuss the stakes of United States v. Skrmetti, the pending Supreme Court case that will likely set out the framework that federal courts will use in adjudicating transgender rights cases under the Trump administration and beyond.

13. Februar 2025

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Reversing Emancipation?

Amid Bolivia’s current economic crisis, mining cooperatives remain key actors due to their strong capacity for (self-)employment and their deep-rooted historical presence in popular sectors. Their significance was reflected in their recognition in the 2009 Plurinational Constitution as a constituent sector of the country's "plural" economy. However, the strength of this sector has paradoxically led to weak regulations exposing miners to multiple risks, including the severe threat of silicosis.

12. Februar 2025

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Kippt in Brüssel das individuelle Asylrecht?

Während ganz Deutschland leidenschaftlich den „Merz-Plan“ für Zurückwei-sungen an den deutschen Grenzen diskutiert, hat in Brüssel eine Grundsatz-debatte von viel größerer Tragweite begonnen. In einer spektakulären Wen-dung erachtet die EU-Kommission „Pushbacks“ unter Umständen neuerdings für rechtmäßig. Das ist heikel, weil Pushbacks an den Außengrenzen das in-dividuelle Asylrecht beseitigen.

12. Februar 2025

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Merz im (europäischen) Trend?

Friedrich Merz‘ Vorschlag, straffällig gewordenen Personen mit doppelter Staatsangehörigkeit die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit abzuerkennen, wurde schnell als verfassungswidrig kritisiert. Eine weit gefasste Regelung, nach der auch Mord, Vergewaltigung oder gar allgemein wiederholt begangene Straftaten zu einem Verlust der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit führen, würde Deutschlands völkerrechtlichen Verpflichtungen verletzen. Mit einer enger gefassten Ausbürgerungsregel etwa für nur bestimmte staatsgefährdende Straftaten stünde Deutschland allerdings in Europa durchaus nicht alleine da.

11. Februar 2025

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Besser spät als nie

Wie weit reicht der von der Bundesregierung zu gewährende Auslandsschutz? Diese Frage beschäftigte vor kurzem die Berliner Verwaltungsgerichtsbarkeit, nachdem sich ein über vier Monate in Venezuela inhaftierter deutscher Journalist durch das Auswärtige Amt vernachlässigt sah. Mit seinem letzte Woche veröffentlichten Beschluss hat das BVerfG klargestellt, dass mit Blick auf Art. 19 Abs. 4 GG wenigstens im Nachhinein keine allzu überhöhten Anforderungen an das verwaltungsprozessuale Feststellungsinteresse gestellt werden können. Das weite Ermessen, das der Bundesregierung bei der Gewährung von Auslandsschutz aber materiell-rechtlich zusteht, wird davon nicht berührt.

11. Februar 2025

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Does the EU Have What it Takes to Counter American Plutocratic Power?

Our symposium ‘Musk, Power, and the EU’ has evolved in parallel with the inauguration of the new US administration and has been marked by numerous and unprecedented attacks on the European Union. Amid a flurry of announcements challenging the status quo - often with brutal disregard, even against traditional allies - the European Union, along with the way it exercises power, suddenly appears as the antithesis of the new America. Yet does the EU have what it takes to resist such an expansionist and plutocratic projection of power, which now threatens Europe’s security, lifestyle and overall existence? 

11. Februar 2025

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Constitutionally Capturing Pakistan’s Constitutional Courts

In 2024, Pakistan’s parliament passed a constitutional amendment carrying out the most significant restructuring of Pakistan’s superior judiciary in its recent history. This judicial overhaul needs to be analyzed as part of a process of regime realignment. By regime realignment, I mean a ruling authoritarian elite radically altering its supportive political structure and popular bases to expand and extend its hold on power. Based on news sources and conversations with senior lawyers and judges, I will show that this plan for judicial overhaul developed iteratively through a process of intra- and inter-institutional dialogue and conflict that took place during regime realignment.

11. Februar 2025

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Corporate Power Beyond Market Power

Elon Musk’s corporate empire spans an impressive array of markets and industries. This empire includes SpaceX (and its subsidiary Starlink), Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, X, xAI, and the Musk Foundation. These corporations are connected and interlinked, creating a cross-corporate power structure. Competition law, which focuses on market power in narrowly defined relevant markets – say, a market for booster rockets – has very limited reach to guard against the possible detrimental effects of such multifaceted concentrated power in the hands of a few on open democratic societies.

10. Februar 2025

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The Politics of Forgetting and Foreign Policy

The “politics of forgetting” – as I call the political strategy of omitting or marginalising key historical events in official memory – influences both domestic and foreign policy. Its effects on foreign policy are multifarious. Not remembering a historical event, or selectively forgetting parts of it, enables a certain foreign policy posture. A further issue arises when an event that is “forgotten” or marginalised in national narratives plays a major role in the political constructions of another country.

10. Februar 2025

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Ukraine’s Constitutional Order in Wartime

Ukraine’s constitutional order is facing an unprecedented challenge due to Russia’s ongoing aggression. The war has forced the nation to navigate between maintaining democratic governance and ensuring national survival, all while operating under martial law. The looming expiration of presidential and parliamentary terms has sparked debates on legitimacy of the wartime governance. While wartime elections are neither feasible nor constitutionally required, legitimacy is upheld through constitutional provisions, political consensus, and international recognition.

10. Februar 2025

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