The topic of this issue are women and the various roles a woman can adopt in life. The topic section includes an introduction by Sassen on the role of women in today's globalised world (p. 16-21); an overview of the status of women in the world religions -Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism- (p.26-27); a synoptic summary of the Global Gender Gap Report 2006 on the situation of women (p.31); an analysis of female careers (p.48-50); and many more interesting articles.

Of interest in the other sections:

• two positions about evaluation of cultural projects (p.82-83);
• an analysis of the Euro-Mediterranean activities of the EU in the cultural sector which manifest features of a common foreign cultural policy (p.84-86);
• a short interview with Zaatari, the founder of the Arab Image Foundation which collects photos from the Middle East and North Africa  (p.90);
• a presentation of the book by Appiah on cosmopolitanism, calling for a pragmatic, humane stance towards difference (p.98-99).

Some articles are accessible online on the website of the editor, the German Institut für Auslandbeziehungen, together with further information sources, at this external link.