Today’s dividing lines are between Germans who have accepted the reality of globalization and those who deny it by shrouding themselves in nationalism.
Opinion
Syria Is the Next Arena on Vladimir Putin’s Comeback Tour
The Russian president has stepped back on center stage by appointing himself the indispensable arbiter in Syria’s civil war.
Why It’s So Hard for Germany to Lead on the Migrant Crisis – or Anything Else
In Germany, even the semantics of the word “to lead” — fuehren — are loaded because of associations with Adolf Hitler.
A European Disaster
A refugee crisis is exposing the cracks in a continent that was supposedly whole and free.
Why Estonia’s Not Worried, Despite Its Neighbor to the East
Estonian President Ilves doesn’t like to dwell on the supposed Russian threat to his country after Putin’s annexation of Crimea. His thing is technology.
Germany’s Assumptions About Peace and Power Are Out of Sync With Reality
Before the fighting broke out in Ukraine, Germany behaved like a big Switzerland, with no obvious interests abroad apart from developing new markets for its exports.
Vladimir Putin Is Not Planning Annexation of Ukraine Enclaves, But Diplomacy Is Flailing
The problem with the Minsk agreement is that Russia plays a double role — as a disinterested observer on paper and an active party to the conflict in the field.
Why This Ukrainian ‘Revolution’ May Be Doomed, Too
Most Ukrainians wanted their country to be different by now. Even those who didn’t support the Maidan were fed up with living in Europe’s most corrupt country.
Moscow Uses Tanks, Berlin Words in World War II Commemorations
In an irony of history, Germany is now the one country that has the moral authority to bridge the contradictions in remembering World War II.
How Vladimir Putin’s Skewed View of World War II Threatens his Neighbors and the West
Remembering the Great Victory is more than an instrument to consolidate Russians. It has also become a way to prepare people for war.


