Last night I had a dream. I dreamed that I was listening to the inaugural address of the President of the United States of Europe to the European peoples sometime around 2029/2030. I woke up enthused and tried to piece together the fragments of my memory and fill in the rhetorical gaps. This is the […]
“My motto is cheerful pessimism. Since I can think politically, Germany has been going downhill. But on this long road down, there are still a number of beautiful days.” Jan Fleischhauer, former editor of Der Spiegel, is occasionally quoted as uttering this rather sobering statement. My reflexive inclination is to dismiss this melancholic resignation […]
Rarely have I felt so miserable that my suspicions were confirmed It looks like a grand plan – an insidious one from the European perspective, a genial one according to the Trump administration – but maybe even the latter’s tomb stone. “It’s official: Trump wants a weaker European Union” Ian Bremmer wrote on December 10, […]
Between the Right to Protection and Self-Assertion A Reflection on Flight, Persecution, Asylum, and Migration A Question Defining Our Time Hardly any issue is currently affecting Europe as much as the tension between flight, persecution, asylum, and migration. It evokes emotional reactions, divides societies, and puts the foundations of liberal democracies to the test. Anyone […]
In memory of Jane Goodall — and what she left behind for posterity “I would encourage every single organisation to consider the absurdity of unlimited economic development on a planet with finite natural resources. We can’t go on like this. We can’t push human population growth under the carpet.” — Jane Goodall When Jane Goodall left our physical […]
On March 31, 2025, Heinrich Kreft, Jochen Richter, and I presented our new book „Europe and the Emerging New Global Order“ [1] during an online event hosted by the Diplomatic Council. This event was part of a broader series of presentations held in various cities and countries. What is the book about? Security – narrowly […]
“There is great disorder under the heavens – the situation is excellent” (天下大乱形势大好). Mao Zedong’s words in 1967, spoken during his inspections across various regions of China, were not merely an observation but an affirmation of his belief in the transformative power of upheaval. At the height of the Cultural Revolution, the widespread mobilisation of […]
Friedrich Merz has won. He has achieved his personal goal. In all likelihood, he will become Germany’s tenth Chancellor with the second-worst election result in the history of the CDU/CSU. Angela Merkel already acknowledged his qualifications for this path during the launch of her memoir, “Freedom,” in December 2024 (zas-freiburg.de), when she attributed to him […]
Who to vote for? – Ask your children, grandchildren! ‘Everyone says they don’t know what to vote for,’ I just read this morning with the German elections just one more day ahead. I don’t believe that. The majority of German voters will once again vote for those they have always voted for out of tradition […]
A philosophical approach to a sustainable human existence. The purpose of this brief contribution is to clarify our current position, examine the long-term stakes, and suggest a philosophical approach to climate change within the broader context of human activity. To begin, we shall consider the deeply entrenched perspectives surrounding climate change specifically, and more generally, […]
