ArchiveAugust 2009 Politics
Don’t leave him in the lurch
Obama’s next step: After the speeches comes the hard part – By Theo Sommer
History never moves at the same pace. Sometimes it takes a revolutionary spurt, pushing the world or at least parts of it, onto an entirely new trajectory; the French Revolution or the upheaval of 1989-90 are cases in point. At other times it goes into hibernation, freezing the existing state of affairs for long periods; the four decades of Cold War readily come to mind. Now and then, however, it just holds its breath – as it seems to be doing at present.
When Barack Obama moved into the White House after the bleak and depressing years of the George W. Bush presidency, billions of people across the globe hoped and prayed for a new start. He himself, as he took the oath of office amidst gathering clouds and raging storms (his words), promised “to begin again the work of remaking America.” And in four great speeches – in Prague, in Cairo, in Moscow and Accra – he outlined his vision of a more peaceful, more prosperous and more equitable world: “The old cycle of suspicion and discord must end.”
The troublemaker of Cape Town
Why the Catholic Church imposed a gag order on a committed priest – By Marie Wildermann
German priest Stefan Hippler helps AIDS victims. He has criticized the Vatican for its out-of-touch moral teachings. Now he faces an uncertain future.
He wears an earring, a necklace, black jeans and a leather jacket. Not quite what one expects of a Catholic priest. “What does the classic priest look like?” asks Stefan Hippler with a youthful laugh. There is something provocative about his question. He is used to confusing people.
Hippler, a priest belonging to the German-speaking Catholic parish in Cape Town, enjoys shaking up people’s fixed ideas. One example is the issue of HIV/AIDS. The devastating AIDS pandemic in Africa turned him into a passionate critic of Catholic moral theology with its ban on the use of condoms. He professes a love of the church but says its rigid stance on AIDS is completely out of touch with reality.
Breaking up the business
How the international community can stop piracy – By Kurt Bodewig
Somalian pirates will not be beaten by armed force alone. Civil institutions can help disrupt their organizations.
In the first five months of 2009, there were 135 attacks on ships off the Horn of Africa. Operation Atalanta, the European Union’s EUNAVOR security mission, has thwarted 31 of those attacks.
The strait between Yemen and Somalia is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world: Around 4,700 ships have registered on the EU website this year to be escorted through it by one of the 13 patrolling naval vessels from Germany, France, Sweden, the UK, Italy and Spain.
Convoys have escorted the World Food Program ships taking supplies to Somalia – a country devastated and broken into many entities by civil war – 25 times. In the first half of 2009, more than 180,000 tons of food for the population of 1.8 million successfully entered the country under EUNAVOR escort.
War? What war?
The Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan – By Lutz Lichtenberger
German forces deployed in Asia would have been unthinkable in the pacifist Germany of 20 years ago. But there are no protests today – even when observers say the peace mission has turned into a war.
With the number of German soldiers killed in Afghanistan continuously rising over the past two years, a significant semantic change has become noticeable in the words used by politicians, military personnel and the German public. Soldiers are no longer losing their lives – now they are “falling” in combat.
Until recently, this term for soldiers dying in battle had an old-fashioned feel to it. Now it has an important political subtext. Its use is tantamount to admitting that Germany is actually fighting a war in Afghanistan. At long last, the country is coming to grips with reality.
A train to nowhere
The Constitutional Court’s decision on the Lisbon Treaty is a step backward – By Peter H. Koepf
Many op-ed columnists in Germany praised the Karlsruhe decision setting conditions on the EU reform treaty. Now the critics are having their say.
Somebody has finally said it.” That is the best way to sum up the initial response to the recent decision by Germany’s Constitutional Court on the Lisbon Treaty. Somebody has finally factored in what the public thinks about Europe: namely, that the EU makes decisions on increasingly more areas of policy that trump national regulations; that national interests have taken a back seat to EU interests; and that elites have been busy building a Europe without the people’s interests at heart.
“Germany today will not allow the ‘ever closer union’ to be created by ‘the peoples of Europe,’” commented Nicolas Busse in the economically liberal daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “There will not be a United States of Europe,” crowed former Constitutional Court judge Paul Kirchhof.
Of course, the EU leaves itself wide open to criticism – above all with its small-minded obsession with fine detail and its love of rulemaking. But are those reasons to abandon the grand goal?
‘Merciful God hears the cries of the oppressed’
Iran’s senior cleric declares the regime unjust – and therefore illegitimate – By Katajun Amirpur
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri has issued a fatwa saying the Khamenei/Ahmadinejad regime has no legitimacy. In religious terms, this justifies the overthrow of the government because “all violence against the people violates the principles of Islam.”
Fatwas or religious decrees carry a lot of weight in Shia Islam. Just ask Salman Rushdie. The British writer spent years in hiding following a 1989 fatwa issued by Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, calling for Rushdie’s execution for publishing the “blasphemous” novel, “The Satanic Verses.”
Public enemy No. 1
The World Uighur Congress champions the rights of China’s Muslim minority – By Lilith Volkert
In early July, the simmering mistrust between Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang province boiled over into violence. Beijing blames the Munich-based WUC for inciting the riots.
If you believe the Chinese government, the unrest in Xinjiang province emanates from the district around Munich’s central station. That is where the World Uighur Congress (WUC) is headquartered in an inconspicuous residential building between a callshop and a fruit stand. In its small offices, photos of imprisoned Uighur intellectuals hang next to pictures of deserts and snow-covered mountains. “We call the region East Turkestan,” Asgar Can, vice president of the WUC, explained. “Xinjiang is its Chinese name.”
The election campaign has begun
Can Chancellor Merkel form a government with the Free Democrats?
Germans go to the polls on Sept. 27. Opinion surveys suggest the Christian Democratic leader will be reelected – with a new coalition partner.
A Merkel victory is by no means a sure thing – for a number of reasons. For example, she has recently slipped from the top spot in terms of popularity among German voters. But it is not a political opponent who has replaced her as the country’s most popular politician. It is 37-year-old German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a member of the CSU, the CDU’s Bavarian sister party.
Good news
China is returning to pre-crisis conditions: Its economy grew nearly 15 percent in the second quarter. Observers say the country has turned the corner. And if the Chinese start consuming more, things will improve in the U.S. and Europe, too.
Stop bribing us!
How the West can help Africa
When the New York Times reported that “The president and Mrs. Obama look forward to strengthening the U.S. relationship with one of our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa…” it raised hackles on the continent. The “giant of Africa,” Nigeria, was gnashing its teeth for being bypassed – the undemocratic patterns of its ruling party notwithstanding.
How to deal with Russia
The West is divided in its approach to Moscow – By Ulrich Weisser
Europeans cannot agree on how to deal with Russia. It is up to Germany to reassure Eastern European countries that the continent will benefit from good relations with their former master.
At intergovernmental talks between Germany and Russia held in Bavaria on July 16, Chancellor Angela Merkel seemed like a different person. Observers were astonished at the degree of enthusiasm she showed for Russia’s leader whereas she had previously been skeptical and aloof. The chancellor struck a completely new note, saying that bilateral relations were characterized by an unprecedented degree of trust and accord.
Can Perestroika come to Japan?
After decades of rule by one party, voters want change – By Christoph Neidhart
Japanese voters elect a new government on Aug. 30. Polls indicate the opposition will win. But critics say there is little difference between the current prime minister and his challenger.
Japanese election campaigns have always been rich in promises and symbolism, showcasing the candidates’ fighting spirit – but they lack political substance. Japan’s major parties do not campaign on the issues and they don’t present radical policies. Unlike parties in Western Europe, they do not stand for political ideas – or represent a particular section of the community.
Down with Western dictates
The G-8 no longer represents the world’s largest economies – By Alexander Hagelüken
It is time to admit more members to the G-8 club. How? The EU is one successful model.
What was the lasting impression left by the latest G-8 summit in the Italian town of L’Aquila? Was there anything apart from Silvio Berlusconi’s bizarre idea of holding the meeting of the world’s ostensibly most powerful eight politicians in an earthquake zone? That gesture meant that Berlusconi – with all his ridiculous personal indiscretions – at least gave the summit something to remember, and caused less harm than he did in Genoa in 2001, when Italian police clubbed globalization critics to the ground.
Schoolchildren for Africa
By Akinyi Princess of K’Orinda-Yimbo
Euroancestrals are masters in self-serving, manipulative psychology, even among themselves, to keep the masses zombie-like, poor, and voraciously consuming everything from phoney politics, mindless art and moronic entertainment, to fast food bordering on the toxic. The resulting disorders are great for economic puppeteers. Subtly, children are pitched against parents and parents convinced that they are inept at raising their own children. Euroancestral elites, like their African protégées, strive to keep their numbers small and exclusive. To veil all this, they take steps behind the scenes to prop up the delusion of their hegemony over the rest of humanity. With Africa as the counterpoint.