For decades, the Third Reich could be reduced to the most basic formula: Germans = perpetrators, Jews = victims. Two bestsellers published in 2002 allowed Germans to recognize World War II victims among their own.
US
Former Putin Ally Kasyanov Warns West of Medvedev’s Modernization Drive
“We won’t participate in any legalization of Putin’s next term, as we understand it will be an imitation of an election,” Mikhail Kasyanov said. “I have no doubt that Putin has already decided to take back the presidency.”
Years After Death, a US East-Bloc Rocker May Have Revival
In his day, he was known as “Red Elvis,” the most popular American entertainer from East Berlin to Vladivostok. Now, 30 years after he took the communist world by storm, mention of Dean Reed in central Europe evokes little more than snickers or shrugs.
The Middle Class Malaise
The closest I came to becoming a socialist was when I was a teenager growing up in the U.S. Midwest in the 1980s. I first had to move to Russia to grasp the folly of socialism and reclaim my middle-class roots.
Iran Wins Neighbors’ Pledge Not to Help U.S. Attack
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad played up a regional summit to fete Vladimir Putin as a friend of the Islamic Republic.
Iran Seeks to Undermine U.S. Energy Plan for Europe
Iran plans to import more oil and gas from Central Asia as it seeks to undermine a U.S.-backed project to build pipelines from the Caspian Sea to Europe.
Germany Sheds Its Pacifist Role
“For the first time since the end of World War II, German soldiers are on a combat mission,” Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said. “We cannot exclude dangers to life and limb for our soldiers.”
Beetlemania Comes Home
“The Beetle has as many shortcomings as a dog has fleas,” Volkswagen executive Carl Nordhoff once joked. “But who would think of getting rid of his dog because of that?”
‘Old Bull’ and Friends Honor Culture an Ocean Away
Saxony is a long way from the badlands of the American West, and most of the Germans decked out in native American tribal gear have never set foot in the United States. They draw a curious crowd of onlookers as they dance to traditional Sioux drumming.
Unlocking Turkmenistan
President-for-Life Saparmurat Niyazov harangued ministers, asking them why it took a foreigner to run a successful chicken farm.
