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Fourteen years after the end of the Balkan wars, former Yugoslavia is still a poster child for anti-war tourism – By Ruediger Rossig
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (FDP) made a three-day
trip to the Balkans in late August. The European region is struggling
with the political and physical legacy of conflict.
Along the Adriatic Sea, Croatia is wearing its Sunday best. The sun
shines brightly, the water is a deep azure blue, and the towns and
villages along the coastal road are picturesque. The majestic Dinaric
Alps rise above the sea. This beautiful interplay between nature and
culture captivates visitors to the EU candidate country.
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 No fear of Asia: Its dynamic economies offer a huge and lucrative market for European technology, goods and services. A sculpture of Mao Zedong in Kashgar (center); Singapore’s skyline (left); workers in Calcutta (right). Europe and Asia need to focus on what binds them together rather than what divides them – By Fraser Cameron
The ASEM meeting will discuss the fall-out of the global economic crisis. Asia has weathered the slump better than other regions but it still needs European markets to boost sales. To move forward, both sides need to work more closely on substantive issues.
On Oct. 4 and 5, almost 50 European and Asian leaders will descend on Brussels for the bi-annual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Together, participants of ASEM represent half of the world’s GDP, almost 60 percent of the world’s population and more than 60 percent of global trade.
These are impressive figures but ASEM’s track record of reaching agreement on major issues over its 14-year existence is not. There were more positive signs at the last summit meeting in Beijing in 2008 when ASEM’s leaders had the first major discussion on how to contain the global financial crisis. These discussions then fed into the G-20 summits which have replaced the G-8 as the main global economic discussion forum.
THIS ARTICLE WILL BE AVAILABLE ONE WEEK AFTER PUBLICATION.
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Speculators unfairly push up prices on commodities markets – By Heike Holdinghausen
Who could forget the images from spring 2008? People brawled over bread in front of bakeries in Cairo. In Bangladesh, it took the military government to suppress protests after rice prices suddenly skyrocketed. The government in Haiti was dismissed after soaring grain prices sparked food riots. A recently published study by the World Bank has found that speculation on financial markets played a significant role in the 2008 commodities crisis.
THIS ARTICLE WILL BE AVAILABLE ONE WEEK AFTER PUBLICATION.
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Germany may soon suspend compulsory military service – By Kevin Lynch
Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg needs to make spending cuts worth €8.3 billion. He has proposed getting rid of the draft. But critics say conscription is a vital link between the military and society.
THIS ARTICLE WILL BE AVAILABLE ONE WEEK AFTER PUBLICATION.
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More than two decades after the fall of communism, Germany and the Central European states have redefined their mutual relations – By Luboš Palata
Today, Germany is not only the guiding economy of most new EU member states but increasingly also their closest ally among the “old members” of the union. Since 1989, Germany has in many ways become an inspiration for Central European policy – and a yardstick by which many evaluate their own lives.
THIS ARTICLE WILL BE AVAILABLE ONE WEEK AFTER PUBLICATION.
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Politics 
