Slovakia 2006. A Global Report on the State of Society is another in the long line of IVO analytical yearbooks. As always, the principal ambition of editors Miroslav Kollár, Grigorij Mesežnikov and Martin Bútora along with 55 authors was diagnosing the actual condition of the Slovak society, identifying alternatives of future development in various areas of its life and, where possible, outlining signs of positive trends. The Global Report for 2006 captures the state of society in all its diversity and provides a testimony about ambiguity of various aspects of society’s recent developments as perceived by experts, political players and the general public. Like in previous years, the Global Report is again divided into four basic themes: Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy, Economy and Society.

However, the most recent edition of the Global Report does not only examine previous year’s events. Since 2006 was an election year, a number of authors in their chapters tried to evaluate the performance of the outgoing Mikuláš Dzurinda administration and analyze the program manifesto of the incumbent Robert Fico administration and possible effects of its intentions on particular areas of Slovakia’s political, economic and social development in the long-term horizon.

Besides topicality and complexity of information, the editors and authors again focused on preserving the analytical depth and a detached point of view in examining various issues in concrete areas of Slovakia’s political, economic and social development. Each year, the IVO strives to make as qualified a contribution to the public discourse as possible. It could not have been any different in the year when the Institute for Public Affairs celebrates the tenth anniversary of its existence.