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For many years the IIP has been focusing on developments in and around Ukraine. The recent attack by Russia on a sovereign state that it claims to be a brotherly nation has shocked the whole world. Russia is committing a horrible crime in Ukraine that can have no justification. Official references to Art.51/defense of the Donbass are simply wrong. We hope that violence ends quickly. Our thoughts are with Ukraine.
Twenty-six years ago, the Dayton Peace Agreement ended the war and laid the foundation of the constitutional and institutional architecture of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina consisting of two entities, the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska. Today, the country not only still faces enormous challenges but is also going through one of the biggest political crises. Corruption is widespread, ethnonationalism is rising and influences the educational and political system on a large scale, infrastructure is lacking, economy is weak, the health-care system is insufficient, and pollution is extremely high.
Seit einigen Jahrzehnten werden wirtschaftliche Sanktionen von der Politik als wirksames Interventionsinstrument angesehen. Alte internationale Abkommen und Verträge werden gekündigt, keine neuen verhandelt. Sie werden zunehmend ersetzt durch Sanktionspolitik. Sanktionen haben sich nach dem Ende des Kalten Krieges vervielfacht. Die USA haben gegenwärtig rund 8.000 (!) Sanktionen verhängt, davon alleine 2.000 über den Iran. Sie sollen Verhaltungsänderung erreichen oder Regime stürzen.
In a recent Krasno Analysis article (December 14, 2021), the last US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Jack Matlock, wrote an insightful and much discussed essay about “Ukraine: A Tragedy of a Nation Divided,” portraying the internal and external hurdles for Ukraine, Russia, the US and NATO to find lasting solutions to the simmering conflicts in Ukraine. Only a few days later, on December 17, Russia surprised the World by publishing two draft treaties addressed to the US and NATO for a new security structure in Eastern Europe. At the same time, reports about Russian troop movements inside its territory and articles about NATOs strongly worded warnings toward Russia are raising the specter of a new international conflict in Europe.
On the occasion of the opening of the exhibition of Solomon Okpurukhre on the topic “Peace: Reflections on Africa”, the experts from the fields of art, peaceful conflict resolution and politics will discuss the power of art in peace-building, and how talking about peace connects people across cultures and from different countries. Peace is more than absence of war, it is about engaging people, engaging the youth in non-violent means and ownership for their future. Peace is not a process, it is a way of life, with multilayered facets which include politics, awareness, dealing with the past, present and future and which goes beyond status and economic means. It is about the respect and fulfilment of human rights, ownership, and the idea that everyone profits from peaceful societies.
For Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky 2021 started with a radical turn in his political credo: from peacemaker and bridge builder to a guardian of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Late 2020 saw Zelensky’s and his party’s ratings fall dramatically in the aftermath of the local elections. The president faced a standoff with the constitutional court last December which further undermined his political power. His new approach is aimed to attract more nationalistically minded public.
Befindet sich unsere liberale Demokratie in einer Krise und was versteckt sich eigentlich hinter diesem Phänomen? Diesen Fragen ging Gudrun Hentges in ihrem 2020 erschienen Sammelband unter dem Titel „Krise der Demokratie. Demokratie in der Krise?“ nach. Beiträge unterschiedlicher Fachrichtungen befassen sich mit den Dimensionen der Krise der Demokratie. Manfred Nowaks Beitrag etwa geht der Frage nach dem Einfluss des Neoliberalismus auf Demokratie und Menschenrechte nach. Seit dem Erscheinen des Sammelbandes ist jedoch viel passiert. So hat die Corona-Pandemie die bereits bestehenden multiplen Krisen verstärkt.
The Covid pandemic exposed preexisting social inequalities in a variety of ways. The highly unequal distribution of vaccines worldwide is an expression of those global inequalities. Its health, social, and economic consequences will further promote injustice. The online discussion will explore alternatives to vaccination-nationalism, such as concepts of Global Citizenship. In this part of our One Year After Covid series, Stephanie Fenkart talks with Hannes Swoboda and Marcus Bachmann about the dangers of unilateral efforts to combat the pandemic and the benefits of a global vaccination strategy.
