Freedom of expression

Freedom of expression is one of the cornerstones of an open society. It does not mean that every statement has to be correct, clever or free of contradictions, but that thoughts, doubts and criticism can be expressed without fear of sanctions or social exclusion. Especially in complex times, freedom of opinion is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for social learning processes to take place at all. Where opinions are pre-sorted, morally evaluated or only accepted within narrow corridors, public discourse narrows - often insidiously, but effectively. Freedom of opinion does not develop its value in a comfortable consensus, but in the respectful treatment of uncomfortable positions. It requires composure, the ability to differentiate and the willingness to endure arguments, even if one does not share them.

Propaganda: history, methods, modern forms and how to recognize them

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What is propaganda?

For many - and I felt the same way myself for a long time - propaganda was something you learned about in history lessons. A topic that seemed to be firmly established: in the Third Reich, perhaps even in the GDR, i.e. in clearly defined, authoritarian systems. We were taught that propaganda existed there because these systems needed it - and that it didn't really play a role in an open, democratic society like the Federal Republic of Germany.

This view was comfortable. And it was plausible for a long time. Because propaganda was almost always shown as something obvious: as a slogan, as a poster, as martial imagery. Something that you recognize as soon as you see it - and from which you can distance yourself internally. Today, this certainty seems fragile. Not because people have suddenly changed, but because the form of influence has changed. And that is precisely why it is worth clarifying calmly and without agitation what propaganda actually is - and what it is not.

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The Crimean Tatars - history, origins and present of a forgotten people

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Crimean-Tartar steppe

Crimea has been in the headlines again and again for years. In this context, the name of the Crimean Tatars is often mentioned - usually briefly, often without explanation. However, if you want to understand who the Crimean Tatars are, you have to go much further back than the political conflicts of the present.

It is not about a single event or a clear „hour of birth“, but about a long historical process. This chapter attempts to explain this in detail: where this people comes from, how it was formed and why its identity cannot be pinned down to national borders.

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Jeffrey Sachs warns Germany: Why Europe's security needs to be rethought

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Jeffrey Sachs writes open letter to Chancellor Merz

In his open letter to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, published in the Berliner Zeitung on December 17, 2025, the well-known economist and professor Jeffrey D. Sachs speaks out with a clarity that has become rare in the current European debate. Sachs speaks not as an activist, not as a partisan and not as a commentator from a distance, but as an economist and political advisor who has worked for decades at the central interfaces of international crises, security architectures and economic upheavals. The open letter contains an unusually sharp quote:

„Learn history, Mr. Chancellor.“

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Ulrike Guérot: A European between idea, university and public discourse

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Ulrike Guérot and Europe

There are people whose thoughts you like to follow not because you agree with them on everything, but because they make an effort to penetrate things. For me, Ulrike Guérot is one of these voices. I have been watching her lectures for a few years now - not regularly, not ritualized, but when I come across a topic that I feel is worth listening to more closely. What strikes me is that her arguments are calm, structured and largely non-ideological.

This does not make her lectures spectacular in the media sense, but they are sustainable. You can listen to her for a long time without getting the feeling that she is trying to sell a ready-made world view. Especially at a time when political debates are often morally charged or emotionally truncated, this way of speaking seems almost old-fashioned. In the best sense of the word.

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Cloud AI as head teacher: why the future of work lies with local AI

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Cloud AI becomes the head teacher

When the large language models began their triumphal march a few years ago, they almost seemed like a return to the old virtues of technology: a tool that does what it is told. A tool that serves the user, not the other way around. The first versions - from GPT-3 to GPT-4 - had weaknesses, yes, but they were amazingly helpful. They explained, analyzed, formulated and solved tasks. And they did this largely without pedagogical ballast.

You talked to these models as if you were talking to an erudite employee who sometimes got lost, but basically just worked. Anyone who wrote creative texts, generated program code or produced longer analyses back then experienced how smoothly it went. There was a feeling of freedom, of an open creative space, of technology that supported people instead of correcting them.

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Permanent crisis as a normal state: How narratives distort our perception

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Permanent crisis, narratives

It's strange how certain developments creep up quietly and only reveal their full impact in retrospect. When I think about how I perceive the news today, I realize that my approach to it changed fundamentally more than twenty years ago. Since the turn of the millennium, I have hardly watched any traditional television news. It was never a conscious decision against something - more a gradual growing out of it. At some point, I simply realized that the daily bombardment of alternating doomsday scenarios was neither improving my life nor making my vision clearer.

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Jan-Josef Liefers: A portrait of attitude, origins and artistic freedom

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Jan-Josef Liefers

When you see Jan-Josef Liefers today as the eccentric Professor Boerne in „Tatort“, it's easy to forget how long it took to get there. I myself have always enjoyed seeing him in this role: as a mixture of subtlety, narcissism, humor and astonishing clarity. But this mixture doesn't come out of nowhere. It is the result of a life that began in a completely different Germany - in the GDR, in a country with narrow borders and clear guidelines.

To understand why Liefers takes such a consistent stance today, you have to go back to his childhood, to his parents' theater world and to a time when criticism of the system was anything but without consequences.

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Why Dieter Bohlen speaks when others remain silent: A portrait of diligence and clarity

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There are personalities that you only really understand when you detach yourself from their public image. Dieter Bohlen belongs exactly in this category. Musically, I myself am not a big fan of his shallow, often very simple melodies - and yet, to be fair, it has to be said that what he created was extremely precise, target group-oriented and clearly structured for the 1980s. Bohlen was never the great artist in the romantic sense. But he was an outstanding businessman, a hard worker and someone who understood his craft in a way that few do today.

What makes him interesting for me is not so much his music - but the fact that he remained successful for decades, while whole generations of artists came and went around him. That he attended the same commercial college in Oldenburg as I did. And that today - after many years of silence - he is suddenly taking a clear stance on social issues. That is the reason why it is worth looking at Dieter Bohlen as a person beyond the usual media image: not as a pop titan, not as a TV pundit, but as a craftsman, businessman and mirror of a time that understands itself less and less.

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