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BLÄTTER FÜR DEUTSCHE UND INTERNATIONALE POLITIK 1/2014
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On the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, historical revision is the order of the day, writes Wolfram Wette in "Blätter" (Germany). The "sleepwalking into war" thesis (Christopher Clark) is back, despite being disproved in the early 1960s. Then, conservative historians reacted angrily to Fritz Fischer's thesis that Germany encouraged Austro-Hungary to attack Serbia in order to be able to stage a defence against "Russian militarism". Yet Germany's military elite were far from somnambulant, ignoring warnings from the older generation of generals, along with prominent socialists and pacifists, that the war of the future would be a Volkskrieg whose outcome would be uncertain. "The greatest crime of the German military top-brass", writes Wette, "was to act as war-mongers despite knowing what the war of the future would really look like, clinging to the illusion of a short war and pushing the Kaiser and the government into action."

German social democracy also bears historical responsibility, according to Wette: "Not a few German workers believed in Bismarck and Bebel at the same time." During the "July crisis" of 1914, the game of diplomatic smoke and mirrors preceding the outbreak of war, the Prussian government's main domestic goal was to channel the anti-Russian prejudices of social democracy into believing the story of the Russian aggressor.


TAFTA: The Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement – currently being negotiated between the US and the EU, behind the scenes and at great haste – will, if put into effect, create the largest free trade zone worldwide. Yet the benefits to Europe are dubious, writes Michael Krätke: because of "rationalization effects", the modest growth predicted might even end up costing jobs. It's not customs charges that TAFTA most wants gone – these are low anyway – but other trade barriers, ranging from regulations on the environment and technology to security and data protection.

"Europeans have a lot to lose; this is especially where opposition should and must form. Consumers as well as producers, employees, environmentalists and their associations will have to face the challenge – together with European industrial and agricultural associations, who rightly fear unchecked US competition. The alternative is to give companies free reign and wake up in a brave new transatlantic world."

The full table of contents of Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik 1/2014
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/blatter/issue/2014-01-24.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2014-01-29-kratke-de.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/kraetke.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2014-01-28-garnett-en.html>

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RIGAS LAIKS 1/2014
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In an article in "Rigas Laiks" (Latvia), Ukrainian journalist and writer Yuri Makarov explains how the word maidan, meaning "square", surfaced in the late 1980s – when Ukrainians began to use words that wouldn't sound Russian. Following a student hunger strike in 1990, October Revolution Square in the centre of Kyiv was renamed Independence Maidan. Since then it has become "a symbol, a concept, a discrete value, a point of crystallization" and, most recently, the centre of the protests known as "Euromaidan".

These protests differ from the Orange Revolution almost a decade ago: "That maidan was orange and fluffy." Now people have been gripped by a type of "cold fury". They have endured government corruption, nepotism, arbitrariness and economic stupidity, but the ruling elite's contempt and blatant abuse of power is too much. (On recent events in Ukraine and their background, see the new Eurozine focal point "Euromaidan in focus".)

Drone warfare: "The mechanisms of death may change – as intimate as a bayonet or as detached as a Hellfire missile – but the bloody facts and their weight on the human conscience remain the same", writes Matthew Power, who talks to the former US drone operator Brandon Bryant:

"The landscape of western Montana, Bryant observed, bears a striking resemblance to the Hindu Kush of eastern Afghanistan – a place he's seen only pixelated on a monitor. It was a cognitive dissonance he had often felt flying missions, as he tried to remind himself that the world was just as real when seen in a grainy image as with the naked eye, that despite being filtered through distance and technology, cause and effect still applied. This is the uncanny valley over which our drones circle. We look through them at the world, and ultimately stare back at ourselves."

Non-human rights: Philosopher Artis Svece considers the retreat from hierarchical notions of world order in the light of animal rights, discussing the US court ruling in December 2013 against the campaign group "Nonhuman Rights Project", which had claimed the legal rights of chimpanzees in New York state.

Also: Ivars Ijabs on Hannah Arendt and Margarethe von Trotta's biopic.

The full table of contents of Rigas Laiks 1/2014
<http://www.eurozine.com/comp/focalpoints/ukraine.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/arendt.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/rigaslaiks/issue/2014-01-17.html>

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OPENDEMOCRACY, JANUARY
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Eve Geddie asks in an article in "openDemocracy" (UK) on fortress Europe and migration: "Did the public shock, media coverage and political pledges of solidarity following the deaths at sea amount to a genuine determination to bring about change – or will the body count continue in 2014?"

"If only the deaths of 165 men, women and children which took place on 3 October 2013 could genuinely be called a 'tragedy'", continues Geddie, "rather than the expected outcome of the externalization of the EU's borders". Arguing that "increased securitization and discrimination against migrants has neither reinforced the freedom, security and wellbeing of EU citizens nor curbed irregular migration", Geddie insists that it's time to change the European discourse on undocumented migrants.

The voices of Europeans: "How little de facto solidarity remains among European citizens belonging to economically and culturally different regions in times of real hardship and severe existential troubles", remarks openDemocracy editor Rosemary Bechler in her introduction to the platform's focus on the European elections in May. There are "so few spaces in which the voices of Europeans can be heard in debate about how these shifting tectonic plates are affecting our every day lives".

In the online forum "Euro elections: You tell us", bloggers post their reflections. These range from the observation of journalist student Joe Lo: "For my generation, living in the EU is a fact of life. We don't consciously think about it, but leaving it seems a bit weird, a bit drastic. Like leaving Facebook. You could do it, but why would you? Everyone else is on it." …to insights into the array of civil society movements taking shape at different levels throughout Europe, from Agora99 through "The Early Rising Students" in Bulgaria and the civic forum "Public Romania", to the Spanish anti-eviction movement La PAH.

More on openDemocracy
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/geddie.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2014-01-29-geddie-en.html>
<http://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/euro-elections-2014>
<http://www.eurozine.com/associates/opendemocracy.html>

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RES PUBLICA NOWA 23 (2013)
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In an issue of "Res Publica Nowa" (Poland) focusing on technology and technocrats, Rafal Ilnicki argues that the Snowden leaks have refuted the widespread belief in the rationality, neutrality and unassailability of technology. "There is a subliminal level of technological activity, a registration of data which – if appropriately combined – can make anyone appear […] a terrorist, or an enemy of democracy", writes Ilnicki.

Ilnicki concludes that, in a controlled society defined by technological power, "politics and rationality are relegated to a marginal position […] A good society must establish a form of mediated technological citizenship, based on a rationale that has yet to be invented."

Ru.net: Noting the politicization of Facebook in Russia and Ukraine, Igor Lyubashenko observes that "the circulation of information on the Internet does indeed make it harder for the authorities to control the media and impose their own version of events on the public". But the World Wide Web has also led to a fragmentation of social participation and remains an elite medium in post-Soviet states. While it is used for public diplomacy and political marketing, social movements are formed via direct, not virtual, contact.

The entrepreneurial state: Lukasz Hardt considers the effects of state mediation on economic development. The phenomenal growth of multinational corporations such as Apple or Google could not have taken place without an injection of state investment into research. "The modernization of Poland demands an effective state which reduces the inefficiencies of the market, but also fulfils the role of innovator, easing the free evolution of the socio-economic system."

Also: Iryna Vidanava on bridging the gap between virtual and direct activism in Belarus and Szabolcs Pogonyi on democracy after transition in east-central Europe.

The full table of contents of Res Publica Nowa 23 (2013)
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/respublica/issue/2014-01-28.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/vidnava.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2013-11-08-vidanava-en.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2013-12-12-pogonyi-en.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/pogonyi.html>

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IL MULINO 6/2013
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The more advanced the process of European integration, the more pronounced the euroscepticism among the Balkan states, writes Roberto Belloni in "Il Mulino" (Italy).

In the youngest EU member-state, Croatia, scarcely more than a fifth of voters exercised their right to vote for MEP candidates in April 2013 (and a significant portion of those voted in favour of the eurosceptic Ruza Tomasic). In comparison, 90 per cent of Albanians are in favour of the EU and the country has so far abided by the terms of its lengthy accession process, to which there appears to be no end in sight.

Where euroscepticism grows, it is not only the global financial crisis that is to blame. Lack of equality at the negotiating table also plays a role. Let's not forget regional Balkan solidarity, stresses Belloni: "While the crisis and the euro's vulnerability contributed to the widening of the gap between Europe and the south-eastern periphery, […] it accelerated practical collaboration on all levels between the weak Balkan states. They now function to a large degree as a single economic space. Paradoxically, while official attempts failed to conciliate the states of the former Yugoslavia, the crisis […] helped surmount mistrust and stereotypes."

Belloni concludes: "Europe cannot afford to fail in this region, because failure would mean precisely the destruction of the EU's credibility so frequently discussed on the international scene".

Also: In interview with Corrado del Bò, political philosopher Michael Sandel outlines the role that markets and money should play in society.

The full table of contents of Il Mulino 6/2013
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/ilmulino/issue/2014-01-27.html>

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DIALOGI 10/2013
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A special issue of "Dialogi" (Slovenia) entitled "The 1980s: Fragments, creativity, déjà vu", is dedicated to "the creative practices and art venues of the 1980s in Maribor", writes Meta Kordis in his introduction. There is a poignant background to the endeavour: "at the beginning of the 1980s", continues Kordis, "some people were aware that Yugoslavia would not survive the pressure of the stabilization measures (today they would be called austerity measures) and ethnic tensions".

As documented in previous issues by authors such as Boris Vezjak and Robert Titan Felix, 2012 was the year in which "Slovenian civil society finally woke up from a deep sleep which had lasted since the early 1990s, when it presumed that by gaining its independence, the country's social and political struggle was over".

Nonetheless, continues Kordis, it remains the case that "many of Maribor's problems and issues of the 1980s are still present". Summing up, he quotes cultural anthropologist Rajko Mursic:

"In this city, a noise should be heard constantly, not only during protests when people have really had enough of it all. It is precisely in this that I see the essence of what links the 1980s and the 2010s: the same crisis, the same stabilization, the same unemployment, the same desperation and the same silence of those who should be making a noise. On the other hand, there is this exceptional stubbornness of a few individuals whom nobody takes seriously."

The full table of contents of Dialogi 10/2013
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/dialogi/issue/2014-01-03.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2014-01-29-kordis-en.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/kordis.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/vezjak.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/felix.html>

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MITTELWEG 36 6/2013
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"Should the pride of belonging to the 'discoverer nations' compensate for the tragic effects of the crisis?" asks historian Andreas Stucki in his editorial to an issue of "Mittelweg 36" (Germany) on the former Iberian empires.

This is one of several ways in which the relation between empire and nation-state haunts the crisis-hit EU member states, according to Stucki. Further, "notions of power relations between centre and periphery, reinforced over centuries, have been turned upside down, as reflected in the levels of current migration […] in the direction of the former peripheries". The mood of the early 1990s, during which Spain and Portugal celebrated the 500th anniversary of the "discovery" of America, already seems distant.

But, as Stucki reminds us, the history of empire is replete with reversals: for Spain, the "disaster" of the 1898 defeat in war with America; for Portugal, the relinquishment of its Central African dream of a united Mozambique and Angola to the British in 1890.

Anti-semitism: The text of Jan Philipp Reemtsma's speech, delivered to mark the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, provides a cogent reminder of the fragility of democracy: "Anti-semitism […] cannot be countered, should state and public powers be ruled by such passions. By then, all those who do not want to participate have lost. But only then. Before this point, there is legality. […] Democracies must be conscious of their fragility – and have an awareness that stems from the knowledge of their citizens and their political representatives, the knowledge that it is they who have the future of democracy in their grasp. Time and again, it is about self-assurance. Let's not call what we are doing here 'memory politics' but politics."

The full table of contents of Mittelweg 36 6/2013
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/mittelweg36/issue/2014-01-28.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/reemtsma.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2014-01-29-reemtsma-de.html>

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KRYTYKA 9-10/2013
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In "Krytyka" (Ukraine), Mykhailo Minakov considers the failure of the modernization narrative in the post-Soviet countries, following popular disappointment in the developments of the early 1990s and the "neo-bourgeois dissociation". "The period between the early 1990s and the early 2010s is the period of the de-modernization of the former Soviet states, and this de-modernizing course is exactly what defines the post-Soviet nature of the region."

Post-Soviet leaders feel the need to prevent "the emergence of successful alternatives to the de-modernizing projects of social, economic and political development". The geographical expansion of post-modernizing regimes "requires an autocratic international" represented by the Customs Union comprised of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and (in the process of integration) Armenia.

Eurasian integration: Igor Tarbakov discusses the rootedness of "Eurasian perspectives" in modern Russia, alongside the views of opponents of Eurasianism: "While the revival of the idea of 'Russian-Eurasia' (as conceptualized by classic Eurasianists of the 1920s) turned out to be a convenient point of reference in post-Soviet Russia immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 'Eurasian' perspective is increasingly being opposed by Russian (ethnic) nationalists".

There is a tension between the "imperial" connotations of the term "Eurasia" (clearly visible in Putin's Eurasian Union project) and the demands of the Russian nation-state. The Kremlin's strategic focus on the Eurasian integration of former Soviet countries and support for the free movement of goods, capital and people across a vast Eurasian space contradicts ever greater internal concerns over the mass influx of "'culturally Other' migrants and resulting xenophobic attitudes".

Also: Szabolcs Pogonyi on whether democracy in east-central Europe will survive the economic crisis; and Frederik Stjernfelt voices his suspicions concerning a concentrated assault on free expression by fundamentalist believers.

The full table of contents of Krytyka 9-10/2013
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/krytyka/issue/2014-01-28.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2013-12-12-pogonyi-en.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/pogonyi.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2013-05-24-stjernfelt-en.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/stjernfelt.html>

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GEGENWORTE 30 (2013)
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"Gegenworte" (Germany) has stopped publishing after 15 years for financial reasons. The last issue is dedicated to Europe as a site of both utopia and dystopia, and takes up the cudgels for genuine political union. Complementing Albrecht von Lucke's argument for Europe's political revitalization, the journal's co-founder Hazel Rosenstrauch asks whether Europe can – and should – inspire feelings of "home". Rosenstrauch spells the German word Heimat as "Haym@", with a view to "shaking up established routines and trying to find a position between sentimentality and cold reason". She concludes:

"The basic European melody, whether geographic, cultural or biological, is always a variation on the theme of diversity. Variety exists in various forms, side-by-side, that change places, change in themselves, merge and develop in new ways. […] A riotous mixture. It is precisely this that makes Europe distinct, once one moves away from the recent history of attempts at national and ethnical hierarchies. Conflicts, ambivalence and messy borders are a form of European capital and an important material for the coming year."

A European public sphere: Stephan Ruß-Mohl laments the lack of a European public sphere and points to the transnational exchange of information between journalists as one means of overcoming Europe's strictly national media landscapes:

"It would not only be a hopeless but likely a counterproductive project: the establishment of a European journalism and a European public sphere. But if only an open-minded European outlook could be cultivated among journalists and other media professionals, then the European project would flourish for the next 50 years too."

The full table of contents of Gegenworte 30 (2013)
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/gegenworte/issue/2014-01-27.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/vonlucke.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/rosenstrauch.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/russmohl.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2014-01-29-russmohl-de.html>

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LETRAS LIBRES 1/2014
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"The great intellectual, this totemic person, who once dominated public debate, with or without reason, and in a certain way marked his topics, has increasingly lost his relevance since the Cold War." Thus Ramón González Férriz, editor of "Letras Libres" (Spain) prefaces his roundtable discussion on the crisis of intellectuals, with philosopher Félix de Azúa, writer and politician Irene Lonzano, and El País journalist José Andrés Rojo.

The analysis takes into consideration prominent twentieth century voices such as Camus or Sartre and the media that disseminated their opinions: it's not that the relevance of the intellectual debate has been disregarded, but that the space where intellectual debate happens has changed dramatically, observe the interlocutors.

They also draw attention to the expert's entrance onto the public stage. However, while economic and technical expertise, the "fruits of the totalitarian ideal of today's politics" as de Azúa expresses it, are as indispensable to our society as they are ephemeral, thinkers who try to identify a common thread in our present crisis are bound to remain influential in the long run.

"Yes, I believe that right now this class of intellectuals who […] make a certain sense of our chaos are not taken into account, but they wield long-term influence, at least among certain elites", states José Andrés Rojo optimistically.

Also: Mark Lilla celebrates the "originality of a marginal thinker", the philosopher and historian of ideas Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997).

The full table of contents of Letras Libres 1/2014
<http://www.eurozine.com/journals/letraslibres/issue/2014-01-28.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/ferriz.html>

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FREE SPECH DEBATE, JANUARY
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Analysing the threat to free speech in post-revolutionary Tunisia, Middle East specialist Rory McCarthy begins at an art exhibition in La Marsa, a suburb of Tunis on the Mediterranean coast, held barely a year after the Tunisian regime was toppled. In mid-June 2012, a local court official had some of the artworks removed, claiming them to be blasphemous.

"The president, prime minister and speaker of parliament condemned the violence" that accompanied the wave of protest this triggered, continues McCarthy. "However, they also criticized the artists for their 'attack on the sacred', which they declared to be a provocative attempt to sow discord in fragile times. […] It was but one of many fraught battles over free speech and revealed how contested the meaning of freedom has become in a fledgling democracy."

Since the Islamist movement Ennahdha swept to power after the country's first free elections in 2011, "battles over the limits of free speech have played a defining role in Tunisia's transition to democracy". However, argues McCarthy, "this is much more than the polarized Islamist-secularist battle it is often presumed to be".

More on Free Speech Debate
<http://www.eurozine.com/associates/freespeechdebate.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/authors/mccarthy.html>
<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2014-01-29-mccarthy-en.html>