As discussed in the recent and informative interviews that IIP Director Stephanie Fenkart led with two excellent experts form the Middle East, the region is still very fragile and in turmoil. The reason lies very much in the last one hundred years, with many external powers dominating the people and their leaders. For many years, the region was part of and dominated by one empire: the Ottoman. But World War I saw the dismantling of that empire - and others. The Western powers - especially Britain and France - took over the “responsibility” for the people of the Middle East. And thus a period full of conflicts and antagonism began. This period did not end with the end of World War II, even if new forms of dependencies began.

Vor 75 Jahren, in der Nacht vom 8. auf den 9. Mai 1945 wurde der 2. Weltkrieg beendet - Nazi Deutschland kapitulierte. Damit waren die Voraussetzungen für ein neues Europa gegeben. Genau fünf Jahre später hat Robert Schumanns, Vorschläge für eine europäische Integration gemacht - „um Kriege nicht nur undenkbar, sondern auch unmöglich zu machen.“ Was immer an Problemen im Zuge der letzten Jahrzehnte entstanden ist, die europäische Integration wurde ein Erfolgsprojekt. Verwunderlich ist nicht, dass es Friktionen und Hürden gab, sondern, dass sie überwunden wurden.

Irrespective of how hard the virus will hit African countries, they will be strongly impacted by the global economic recession. The US and Europe will suffer the strongest recession since the twenties of the last century. And some African countries who have redirected their exports towards China will feel the consequences of the economic crisis that is hitting China too. In the last years, Africa showed promising developments. Being rich in resources and having a young energetic population can be assets that could and should be developed and nourished by responsible leadership. And slowly, some such leaders have appeared on the political scene. In a recent special report, The Economist spoke of “The African Century”.

It is certainly not normal to restrict our daily movements and the chances to see our families and friends. It should not be normal to go around with masks over our mouths and noses. It is not normal that our schools are closed - even if some pupils are happy about it - for some time. But not everything we did in the past should be seen as normal and self-evident. Therefore, already now, we should think what kind of normality we should aspire to.

The new coronavirus and the subsequent worldwide crisis is once again forcing the issue of a Third Way between neoliberal capitalism and authoritarian systems onto the global agenda. Especially as we have “two failing superpowers” in China and the US, as Martin Wolf recently wrote in the Financial Times. Whether we live in a bipolar world or without any strong pole or even in a chaotic global system, Europe should take the chance provided by the present crisis to develop a new global strategy — a strategy that should not imitate any of the existing ways to deal with global issues such as the coronavirus.