Europe

Europe is more than just a political institution or a geographical area. It is a historically evolved area of thought, culture and experience in which questions of democracy, freedom, the rule of law and coexistence are constantly being raised anew. The keyword „Europe“ therefore brings together contributions that deal with European ideas, developments and conflicts - from European politics and legislation to institutional decisions of the EU and biographical portraits of people who have shaped, criticized or developed Europe. The aim is not to reduce Europe to buzzwords or daily political events, but to make connections visible, classify backgrounds and juxtapose different perspectives. Europe does not appear here as a finished project, but as an open process that needs to be understood, discussed and shaped.

What our grandfathers told us about the war - and why these voices are missing today

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War memories of the grandfathers

There is a lot of talk about war. In the news, talk shows, commentaries, social media. Hardly any other topic is so present - and at the same time so strangely abstract. Figures, maps, frontlines, expert assessments. We know where something is happening, who is involved and what is at stake. What is almost completely missing are the voices of those who have experienced war rather than declared it.

Perhaps it is because these voices are slowly falling silent. But perhaps it is also because we have forgotten how to listen to them.

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What was Syria like before the war? Who rules today? What does this mean for refugees in Germany?

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Syria and Damascus

For me, Syria is not an abstract news country, not just a crisis concept in the headlines. I have been following this country - from a distance, but continuously - for around twenty years. Not out of political activism, but out of genuine interest. For me, Syria has always been an example of how the world is more complicated than simple good-and-evil narratives. A country in the Middle East that was secularly organized, relatively stable and socially much more modern than many would have expected.

An additional point that aroused my interest early on was the person of Bashar al-Assad himself. A man who had studied in Switzerland, trained as an ophthalmologist, knew the realities of life in the West - and then stood at the head of a Middle Eastern state. That didn't fit the usual mold. It was all the more irritating for me to observe how quickly public perception narrowed, how a complex state became a pure symbol of violence, flight and moral simplification within just a few years. The shock for me was not so much that Syria ended up in a war - history knows many such ruptures - but how little room there was left for differentiation afterwards. This article is therefore also an attempt to bring order back to a topic that is often only presented as chaos in the media.

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Artificial intelligence and energy: what the AI boom really costs

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AI, energy and sustainability

At first glance, artificial intelligence seems almost weightless. You type in a question and an answer appears seconds later. No noise, no smoke, no visible movement. Everything seems to happen „in the cloud“. This is precisely the error in thinking. AI is not abstract magic, but the result of very concrete, physical processes. Behind every answer are data centers, power lines, cooling systems, chips and entire infrastructures. The more AI enters our everyday lives, the more visible this reality becomes. And this is where the question of sustainability begins.

Anyone who talks about AI without talking about energy, resources and infrastructure is only describing the surface. This article goes deeper. Not with alarmism, but with a sober look at what AI actually needs to function - today and in the future.

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Declining gas storage in Germany: technology, limits and political consequences

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Gas storage in Germany

When the news reports about „40 percent filling level of the gas storage facilities“ When we talk about percentages, it sounds abstract at first. Percentages seem technical, far removed from everyday life. And yet there is something very concrete behind it: the question of how stable our energy supply really is - not in theory, but in everyday practice.

Gas is not only used for industrial plants or power stations in Germany. It heats homes, supplies hot water, drives district heating networks and is still the central backbone of the energy supply in many regions. Unlike electricity, however, gas cannot be produced at will „at the push of a button“. It has to be extracted, transported - and above all stored.

This is where the gas storage facilities come into play. They are like the country's store cupboard. As long as it is well filled, hardly anyone gives it a second thought. If it becomes visibly empty, questions arise: Will it last? For how long? And what happens if things continue to go downhill?

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Is killing undignified? A sober question about murder, terror and war

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Is killing undignified?

We live in troubled times. War, terror, violence - all of this is very present again. In the news, in political debates, in conversations on the sidelines. Decisions about war and peace are being made, often quickly, often with great determination. Arguments are being put forward, weighed up, justified. And yet I am left with a feeling of unease.

Not because I believe that everything is easy or because I dream of a conflict-free world. But because I notice how rarely a very specific question is asked. A question that is neither legal nor military. A question that doesn't ask about guilt or justice, but about something more fundamental. This question is: What does it do to a person when they kill another person?

This article is an attempt to pose this question calmly and soberly - without accusation, without moral pathos and without instrumentalizing current events.

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More than punk: Nina Hagen, Cosma Shiva and the art of not letting yourself be taken in

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Portrait of Nina and Cosma Shiva Hagen

When you approach a portrait of Nina Hagen, it's tempting to talk about music first. About punk, provocation, shrill performances. About everything that is loud and visible. This portrait deliberately begins differently. Not with songs, not with styles, not with images. But with something quieter - and more important: attitude.

Attitude is not a label. It cannot be put on like a costume, pasted on afterwards or explained with marketing. Attitude is evident in early behavior, long before someone becomes famous. It can be seen in how someone reacts to limitations, to contradictions, to power. And this is where Nina Hagen becomes interesting - not as an icon, but as a personality.

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Understanding Iran: Everyday life, protests and interests beyond the headlines

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Understanding Iran

Hardly any other country conjures up such fixed images as Iran. Even before a single detail is mentioned, the associations are already there: mullahs, oppression, protests, religious fanaticism, a state in permanent conflict with its own population. These images are so familiar that they are hardly questioned. They seem self-evident, almost like common knowledge.

And therein lies the problem. Because this „knowledge“ rarely comes from personal experience. It comes from headlines, from commentaries, from stories that have been repeated for years. Iran is one of those countries about which many people have very clear opinions - even though they have never been there, don't speak the language, don't know everyday life. The picture is complete, cohesive, seemingly free of contradictions. And that is precisely why it is so convincing. But what happens when a picture becomes too smooth?

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Nord Stream demolition: sabotage, power politics and the uncomfortable unanswered questions

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Nord Stream blasting

When people talk about energy, many think first of electricity - of light, of sockets, of power stations. In reality, however, Europe's everyday life depends on a quieter foundation: heat and process energy. Over the decades, natural gas has become a kind of invisible backbone. Not because it is particularly „beautiful“, but because it is practical: it is easy to transport, relatively flexible to use and can be reliably supplied in large quantities. For private households, this means heating and hot water. For industry, it means one thing above all: predictable production.

Particularly in industries such as chemicals, glass, steel, paper, ceramics or fertilizers, energy is not simply a cost factor that is „optimized“. Energy is an integral part of the process. If it fails or becomes unreliable, it is not just one machine that comes to a standstill - often an entire plant, sometimes an entire supply chain. This is the point at which „energy policy“ ceases to be an abstract controversial issue and begins to have a very concrete impact on jobs, prices, availability and stability. Anyone who has understood this also understands why Nord Stream was far more than just an infrastructure project on the seabed for Europe.

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