Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Centre-left parties must regain relevance in Germany
Oped, Bartosz M Rydlinski, Published on 01/03/2025
» Germany's Social Democrats are one of the West's oldest political parties, with a legacy of advocating parliamentary democracy, opposing Nazism, and leading the modernisation of postwar Germany. In addition to many notable labour, economic, and human-rights reforms the party has implemented over the years, ex-SPD leader and West German chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik in the 1970s laid the groundwork for Germany's reunification in 1990.
CDU won the German polls, but can it rule?
Oped, John J. Metzler, Published on 26/02/2025
» Another major country has flipped politically to the conservative column. After three years of a drifting centre-left coalition government, voters elected a conservative (small c) Christian Democratic Union CDU government in Germany's parliamentary elections. Yet what was expected to be a massive win for the likely new Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, became a bit disappointing when his party gained 28.5% of the vote.
Deportations and walls in the US and Europe
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 31/08/2024
» Fortress America and Festung Europa (Fortress Europe) are just starting to take shape; bare outlines of what they will have grown into ten years from now. But the trend is almost unstoppable, and it will be very ugly when it's finished.
Russia's inglorious war in Ukraine, 12 months on
Oped, Thierry Mathou and Georg Schmidt, Published on 16/02/2023
» Do you remember how Russian government officials denied having any plans to invade Ukraine one year ago? Reality has shown this to be a tragic lie. On Feb 24, 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine in a large-scale attack. Where do we stand 12 months on?
Is green hydrogen the future of fuel?
Oped, Jörg Haas, Published on 06/01/2023
» Green hydrogen is all the rage these days. During November's UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany will invest more than €4 billion (144 billion baht) in developing a market for it.
Choices and consequences at a serious Davos
Oped, Julia Chatterley, Published on 28/05/2022
» This was always going to be a Davos with a difference, but there has been an unusually pensive atmosphere in the Swiss Alps this week at an equally unusual World Economic Forum.
Environmentalism in the wake of war in Ukraine
Oped, Giulio Boccaletti, Published on 26/03/2022
» Russia's war in Ukraine is tragic, infuriating, and unspeakably sad. It is also an unexpected turning point for environmentalism. Until a few days ago, climate change topped the global agenda, with science-based targets pointing the way to a cleaner, more sustainable future. But now, Russian President Vladimir Putin's reckless decision to invade a sovereign country and threaten nuclear war has revealed weaknesses in the architecture of international rules and multilateral governance. It is hard to believe that global environmental efforts have any chance of succeeding within such a fragile system.
Ways to beat the helplessness of our condition
Oped, Tobias Bunde, Published on 25/02/2022
» The world is struggling to cope simultaneously with the seemingly endless Covid-19 pandemic, the rise of illiberal forces, the failure of international interventions, rising great-power tensions, and military buildups in key territories. Beyond these immediate concerns, the impact of climate change has become all too tangible -- and political leaders have yet to mount a sufficiently forceful response. Who could be blamed for feeling overwhelmed?
Can Europe avert a war between US and China?
Oped, Robert Williams & Moritz Rudolf, Published on 06/01/2022
» European countries are currently divided over whether to join US President Joe Biden's diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing. The episode underscores yet again that when it comes to dealing with China, Europe and the United States truly are an ocean apart.
After Merkel, who will fill her 'sensible shoes'?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 25/09/2021
» Last January Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) were ahead in the German opinion polls by 15 points. She was stepping down after 16 years as chancellor (prime minister), but she was still by far the most trusted politician in Germany. Indeed, she is universally known as "Mutti" ("Mummy").