3 mins read
It is undisputed that Ukraine has the right to self-defense against the Russian war of aggression. According to Article 51 of the UN Charter, this right of self-defense can also include strikes on Russian territory.
As clear as the situation under international law may be, the current debate misses the real issue.
The political debate is all about how the Ukrainian military should wage this war – with which weapons supplied by the West, whether it should also be on Russian territory, etc., and so on.
However, the real question is not how this war should be waged, but how it can be ended. The real task of European politics must be to find a way to peace.
It is directed in particular at the SPD, the party of peace, détente and international solidarity.
The path that Rolf Mützenich has pointed out, namely to reach peace talks via a ceasefire, must now be pursued consistently.
Over the past two years, Chancellor Scholz has repeatedly crossed borders that he previously described as red lines. The Chancellor has been under strong pressure from the public and the opposition.
In view of the danger of further escalation, however, we need a course of prudence and foresight that cannot be upset by public debates and loud individual opinions.
We are living in the most dangerous decade since the end of the Second World War. In large parts of society, the discussion is becoming increasingly militarized.
While some can hardly wait to reintroduce compulsory military service, others are already thinking about how Germany could wage war against Russia and want to mobilize reservists.
All of this is contributing to a self-reinforcing and increasingly unpredictable dynamic.
After two world wars triggered by Germany, the role of the German government and the SPD today must be to prevent a third.
Our constitution gives paramount importance to the imperative of serving peace and outlaws l acts that are suitable and undertaken with the intention of disturbing the peaceful coexistence of peoples as unconstitutional.
Europe has learned the lesson from these world wars that wars will not be prevented by mutual recalcitrance and armament, but only by interlocking and cooperation for common security. This lesson learned must be a model for a global peace project.
The world will not be able to overcome the great challenges of our time if we are not able to work together and cooperate.
We must stop playing with fire, otherwise it threatens to become a nuclear inferno.
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7 mins read
The incredible and undeniable outcome of the debate between outgoing President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump. In all likelihood, a month from now – certainly before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago (August 19-22) – Biden will have been eased out of the White House, and a caretaker president will be warming the seat for the next putative national leader.
17 mins read
“In the West you have no idea….” says the opening voice of a man telling of the joys of Russian songs, picking mushrooms in the forests, laughter in the baths…” In other ways, “Patriots,” written by British playwright Peter Morgan and directed by Rubert Goold, on Broadway after a successful run in London, is based on Brits and Americans having “no idea” of the story it tells. It makes it possible for Morgan to mix fact and propaganda, even in a careless moment admitting as much. So, to find out what was true, I relied on the biography “Putin” by Philip Short, former correspondent for the BBC in Moscow, and acknowledged as the most important book dealing with the characters and period of the play.
4 mins read
The Russians are livid, but it barely even makes the news here
