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

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

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 several 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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Game theory explains 25 years of geopolitics: How Europe lost its strategic role

Game theory explains 25 years of geopolitics

For many, game theory sounds like dry mathematics, like formulas, like something that only plays a role in lectures or business games. In reality, however, it is an ancient thinking tool that existed long before its academic formalization. Diplomats used it, commanders used it, captains of industry used it - long before it was even called that. In the end, it is nothing more than a sober question:

„When several players have to make decisions in an uncertain situation - what options do they have and what are the consequences?“

This kind of thinking has become surprisingly rare today. Instead of analyzing alternatives, much is narrowed down to moral narratives or spontaneous interpretations. Yet in geopolitical issues in particular, a clear analysis of the possibilities would be the foundation of any mature policy. It is precisely this old craft that I would like to take up again in this article.

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Where does SARS-CoV-2 come from? A factual overview of all corona theories

SARS-CoV-2 - Corona

When the first reports of an unusual lung disease emerged in Wuhan, most of us thought it was just a side note. A new pathogen, somewhere in China - you heard something like that from time to time. But within a few weeks, the situation changed dramatically. Borders closed, schools shut down, events were canceled. There was uncertainty, and suddenly this virus affected everyone - directly.

With a little distance, you can sense today that there is still a lot going on beneath the surface. Many people have the feeling that not everything was open, not everything was clear and not everything was fully communicated at the time. Anyone who tries to find objective information about the origin of the virus quickly encounters contradictions, gaps and conflicting accounts. For this very reason, it is worth sorting through the topic calmly and clearly - without haste, without polemics, without pigeonholing.

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What does the tension in Germany mean - and what would the specific consequences be?

Tension case-Germany-2025

In times of increasing international tensions, a term keeps cropping up in political debates that many citizens hardly know how to categorize: the "State of tension". But what does it mean in concrete terms when this case is established in Germany? And how does the case of tension differ from the better-known case of defense, which is usually associated with an actual war? In order to be able to correctly assess the possible consequences, it is worth taking a sober look at the constitutional situation.

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Fitness for war, conscription & refusal: what to do in an emergency

Conscription: refuse military service

At a time of increasing geopolitical tensions, many people in Germany are wondering what could happen to them in the event of a reintroduction of compulsory military service or a military escalation. Even though general conscription has been suspended in Germany since 2011, the constitutionally guaranteed right to refuse military service with a weapon for reasons of conscience still applies. This article provides a factual overview of the legal basis, the possible target groups, the procedure and the points to be observed, without replacing legal advice in individual cases.

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