Thursday, March 28, 2024

Trump’s offer to buy Greenland is a sign that an ecologically destabilized Arctic could become the theater of a new Cold War

By Joachim Müller-Jung

The warming of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans is wreaking havoc in the Arctic, where the summers used to be short and cold and winters prohibited any type of commerce – and any type of war, for the temperature was …

Futures market-The new Futurium in Berlin wants visitors to reflect on the world of tomorrow

By Klaus Grimberg

Can trees grow out of houses? Are robots taking over? Are we done with globalization? At first glance, these three questions have nothing in common. If we take a closer look, however, we see a shared theme: the future.

At …

The wander years

By Nina Kallmeier

Johanna Röh is one of the very few women ever to take up the old German tradition of the Wanderjahre, a custom that involves spending several years traveling the world as a craftsperson Johanna Röh had a queasy feeling. …

Is Berlin on its way to becoming a global soccer capital on par with Madrid, London and Milan?

By Michael Jahn

This summer, two major events caused a sensation in the world of soccer in Berlin and throughout the country. First up was the fact that 1. FC Union, the eternal second-division club from the eastern Berlin district of Köpenick, finally …

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
By Detlef Prinz

World conflicts continue to grow in both number and ferocity. Politics, economics and society are changing at a rapid pace. In this uncertain environment, there are two democratic principles to which we must remain steadfast: freedom and responsibility.

The gradual …

To cut the Gordian Knot in Eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky will have to skirt accusations of treason while convincing the Kremlin to change its course

To cut the Gordian Knot in Eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky will have to skirt accusations of treason while convincing the Kremlin to change its course
By Dmitri Stratievski

May 20, 2019, saw the inauguration of Ukraine’s sixth president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Despite his convincing results at the polls, the young politician polarizes Ukrainians like no one else can. The split for and against Zelensky cut right through the heart …

Trans-Atlantic Book Review #05

By Lutz Lichtenberger

ROBUST

There are typically two types of political books that aim to sketch the big picture of the state of the West. The elder statesmen version is full of sweeping generalities – calls for open dialogue, robust diplomatic efforts and …

Zee Germans & their hedges

By Markus Bickel

For seven long years, there was nothing I feared more than the annual inspections carried out by members of the Schöneberg-Friedenau Association of Allotment Gardeners. As far as I’m concerned, these inspectors are nothing more than a terror squad masquerading …

The night my scoop evaporated. Deputy Ambassador James D. Bindenagel recounts the night the Wall came down when he was a diplomat in East Berlin

By James D. Bindenagel

On that fateful night of November 9, 1989, there was no sign of revolution in the air. Sure, change was coming – but slowly, we thought. As the US Deputy Ambassador to East Germany at the time, I lived on …

Germany is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution against communist rule

Germany is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Peaceful Revolution against communist rule
By Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk

In the fall and winter of 1989– 90, the entire world watched in anticipation as events unfolded in Germany. It seemed that every day brought something that would have been considered impossible only a day earlier. The highpoint was the …

How Brandenburg’s farmers are striving to fulfill their Berlin customers’ demands for organic fruits and vegetables

By Manfred Ronzheimer

Farmer Sven Geelhaar has set up five rolling chicken coops, each with 220 hens, in the countryside around Chorin in Brandenburg. “On the upper floor, they’ve got nesting areas, perches for sleeping as well as food and water,” says Geelhaar, …

Street-smart jump-start: The strategic partnership between Ford and VW is good for both carmakers.

By Carsten Germis

Almost four years have passed since the fall of 2015, and that moment when US environmental protection officials exposed the extent to which the Volkswagen Group had manipulated exhaust emissions in its cars, thereby throwing VW into the largest crisis …

Borussia Dortmund is eager to break the supremacy of FC Bayern Munich in Germany’s Bundesliga

By Thomas Kistner

The best news from the Bundesliga, Germany’s top-tier soccer league, is that it looks like there will finally be a real battle for the championship this season. Yet only two teams have greater than an outside chance to vie for …

Petromelancholia and its discontents

By Benjamin Steininger

Fossil fuels have driven prosperity, technology and politics but have also created dependencies as well as new possibilities for waging war and destruction

 

In 1944, one year before the end of World War II, the Russian- Ukrainian biogeochemist Vladimir …

Tired of winning: Who bears the consequences of President Trump’s tariff policies?

By Nikolaus Piper

In early August, President Donald Trump was able to celebrate a small yet tangible success in his beloved trade war. The European Union and the United States had just signed an agreement on the import of American beef to Europe …