This last question has been regularly posed at every anniversary conference dedicated to the breakup of the USSR, and it did not decrease in relevance this year either. Is there still a post-Soviet space? And if so, what are its characteristics?
COP26 AND THE GEOPOLITICS OF CLIMATE POLICY
The recent climate conference in Glasgow brought contested results. For a few it could be interpretated as an outright success, for many it brought mixed results, but some even expressed the opinion, that “bankers hijacked the climate talks”. A comment in the New York Times drew that conclusion from the fact, that many finance and businesspeople were active at the conference. One of them is Mark Carney, a former private banker, and a former governor of the Bank of Canada and of the Bank of England. He is now United Nations special envoy for climate change and finance. His job is to direct financial means, predominantly out of a targeted fund of $130 into the “right” projects. One can - and I would agree - also interpret the presence of many business and finance people positively, as a sign of their support and engagement. But it must be clear, that only results count and not promises.
Democracy summit - a problematic endeavor
On 9th and 10th of December 2021 President Biden will receive representatives from „democratic“ countries for the „democracy summit“ he is eager to organize. For him this was already during the election campaign an important endeavor to underline the difference to countries like Russia and China. Certainly, one cannot speak of high democratic standards in these two countries. But there are many countries in our world, invited by President Biden, where democracy is far from being perfect. India and Pakistan, Serbia and Poland are countries where we see grave deficiencies in implementing democratic standards - especially under the present leadership.
A NEW DIVISION IN EUROPE - AND HOW TO FIGHT IT
At a recent event in Berlin, in the framework of „A Soul for Europe“, the question was put and discussed, how Europe could be built or reconstructed from bottom up. In fact, the European Union has been rather constructed from the top. This was necessary, because in its old national set up it has been endangered and lead into wars by the leaders at the top. Often the European Union is called an elite project - this may be partly true, but on the other hand it has been supported by many citizens as many referenda and opinion polls show. After the British people decided in its majority for Brexit, the popular support in many other countries was even growing.
KOSOVO, MONTENEGRO AND SERBIA - CALM BUT FRAGILE
Few days after having visited Bosnia - Herzegovina (see also: „Will there be war again?“), I had the opportunity to join a delegation of the European Council for Foreign Relations ( ECFR ) to Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia. We could listen to many different voices, often contradictory towards each other. Political representatives expressed opposing opinions and civil society representatives were unhappy about the lack of progress in building open societies and about politicians, who failed to address the most important grievances of the population in their country and the region overall. The beautiful landscape which presented itself in the autumn sun did not reflect the broken societies. Or as one of our interlocutors expressed it: „the situation is calm but fragile“. The following résumé is my own and cannot be attached to any participant of this extremely well-organized visit by ECFR members.
WILL THERE BE WAR - AGAIN?
This was the permanent question we got as we - the Balkan group organized by the IIP, Karl Renner Institut and the ÖIIP - visited Bosnia- Hercegovina in the last days. This is the fear of many people, more than two decades after the “Bosnian” war ended! For me, who visited the country the first time during the war and many times after the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed, this is particularly sad.
KOLONIALISMUS REVISITED
Es ist schon erstaunlich wie die Diskussion über den Kolonialismus in jüngster Zeit wiederbelebt wurde. Das trifft auch auf Deutschland zu, wo vor allem die Eröffnung des Humboldt Forum in Berlin und hier wieder der Umzug der außereuropäischen Sammlungen aus dem Museum im Bezirk Dahlem ins Humboldt Forum die Debatte über die Herkunft der gesammelten Werke und damit über den - deutschen - Kolonialismus beflügelt hat. Diese Debatte ist aber Teil einer internationalen Auseinandersetzung über den Kolonialismus und wie sich der Westen den Verbrechen der Vergangenheit stellen soll. Das betrifft ja nicht nur die eigentlichen Kolonialmächte, sondern alle Länder die vom Kolonialismus profitiert haben.
Lernen von Afghanistan
Afghanistan liegt weit entfernt von uns, die wir uns im Herzen Europas meist sehr sicher fühlen. Dennoch sollten wir die katastrophale Entwicklung, die dieses Land durchgemacht hat, und vor allem das Scheitern der militärischen Intervention nicht einfach aus unseren Gedanken verdrängen. Zwar haben alle militärischen Interventionen in Afghanistan für die Bevölkerung viel Unglück gebracht, aber die US- beziehungsweise Nato-Intervention war mit großen Hoffnungen auf Befreiung, Modernisierung und Demokratisierung verbunden. Dass nach den brutalen Anschlägen vom 11. September 2001 eine militärische Reaktion folgen würde, war bald klar. Aber es hätte nicht ein zwanzigjähriger Krieg werden müssen, der letztendlich katastrophal scheiterte.
AFRIKA - EU ENERGIE PARTNERSCHAFT
Eine Veranstaltung des Club of Rome - Austrian Chapters - gemeinsam mit der Österreichischen Kontrollbank - beschäftigte sich vor kurzem mit den Möglichkeiten einer Zusammenarbeit zwischen Afrika und der Europäischen Union in der Energieversorgung. Das ist ja grundsätzlich nichts Neues. Afrika ist für Europa schon seit längerem ein wichtiger Kontinent was die Energiepolitik betrifft. Mehrere Europäische Konzerne bohren nach Erdöl und Erdgas. Und auch die Gewinnung von seltenen Erden, die für die Transformation in Richtung E-Mobilität wichtig sind, ist für die europäische Klimapolitik von Bedeutung. In vielen Fällen ist jedoch die Gewinnung von Erdöl, Erdgas und seltenen Erden mit der Verletzung von grundlegenden ökologischen und sozialen Standards verbunden. Vor allem die lokale Bevölkerung erleidet oft mehr Nachteile als Vorteile. Da sollte gerade auch die EU auf eine menschengerechte Erschiessung der Bodenschätze drängen. Aber es geht auch um eine Wende hin zu einer nachhaltigen Energiepolitik.
THE WEST, CULTURE, TOLERANCE AND CONFLICTS
The recent withdrawal of US and NATO troops and the „end“ of the endeavor of the West to change Afghanistan by military force, must be used to reconsider Western global policies. It became obvious that Western -or any other - policy for regime- and societal- (!) change must run into a disaster, if it is vague in its goals, poor in its pre-assessment and if it lacks cultural, historical and religious characteristics under specific circumstances.