Articles for category: Regionen

The School Bell That Rings for War

On 1 September, known in Russia as Knowledge Day, thousands of schoolchildren were once again welcomed back with the ringing of the symbolic first bell, marking the beginning of new school year. However, this school bell does not toll for knowledge or peace. Instead, it symbolizes how Russia has transformed schools into factories for transmitting state-sponsored propaganda to younger generations. In this blog, I explain how Russia is strategically weaponizing the educational system to raise a militarized generation of subjects that accepts and embraces the normalcy of war. It seeks to achieve this goal, inter alia, through military training and involvement of children in the production of combat equipment; obligating teachers to teach state-mandated falsification of history; and forcing cultural assimilation of Ukrainians living in occupied territories.  

3. September 2025

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Reproduktive Ungerechtigkeit

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Reproduktive Rechte befinden sich weltweit in einer Krise. Der aktuelle Weltbevölkerungsbericht der Vereinten Nationen zeigt, dass Familienplanung und Fortpflanzung unter erheblichem (bevölkerungs-)politischen Druck stehen, auch in Deutschland. Schwarze Aktivistinnen fordern seit langem, diese Entwicklung nicht nur als Einschränkung persönlicher Freiheit zu sehen, sondern die strukturellen Ursachen als Teil der reproduktiven Gerechtigkeit („Reproductive Justice“) zu betrachten. Das erfordert ein Umdenken.

1. September 2025

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Hanan Ashrawi

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Few advocates of Palestinian liberation have become as familiar a name as Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. A principled activist and gifted speaker with a formidable academic background, she rose to international prominence during the First Intifada in 1988. Later, with the start of the Madrid Conference in 1991, she caught the world’s attention as the official representative of the Palestinian delegation.

1. September 2025

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Regelungslosigkeit als Prinzip

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Die Vergesellschaftung von Grund und Boden ist eines der umstrittensten Instrumente des Grundgesetzes. Im Zuge der Debatten um eine Neuausrichtung des Berliner Wohnungsmarkts hat die dortige SPD-Fraktion nun einen Entwurf für ein sog. Vergesellschaftungsrahmengesetz erarbeitet. Ein Blick in den Entwurf lässt erahnen: Hier entsteht ein regelungsloses Gesetz, welches die Verfassung lediglich nachbilden soll, ihren Sinn aber verkennt. Denn der Entwurf definiert auch solche Eigentumsregulierungen, die bislang als bloße Inhalts- und Schrankenbestimmungen galten, als eine Vergesellschaftung – und macht sie damit entschädigungspflichtig.

30. August 2025

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Marx, Enemy of the Constitution?

Is it constitutionally permissible to hold a Marx reading group in the German Republic? According to a recent judgment of Hamburg’s Administrative Court: unclear. A reading group can apparently only take place as long as it does not “actively and combatively” promote Marx’s ideas, since “the social theory formulated by Marx” is in essential points “incompatible with the principles of the liberal democratic basic order” of the Federal Republic. The judgement is worth examining in detail.

29. August 2025

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Verfassungsfeind Marx?

Darf man in der Bundesrepublik unbehelligt einen Lesekreis zu Marx veranstalten? Laut Verwaltungsgericht Hamburg: Unklar. Stattfinden darf der Lesekreis ohne Einmischung staatlicher Behörden anscheinend nur, solange er sich nicht „aktiv-kämpferisch“ für Marx‘ Ideen einsetzt, da „die von Marx begründete Gesellschaftstheorie“ in wesentlichen Punkten mit den „Prinzipien der freiheitlichen demokratischen Grundordnung nicht vereinbar“ sei. Es lohnt sich, dieses Urteil im Detail anzuschauen.

28. August 2025

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Lithium, Law, and the Limits of EU Sustainability

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In July 2024, the European Commission entered into a strategic partnership on critical raw materials with Serbia by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on sustainable raw materials and battery value chains. Three days before signing the MoU, the Serbian government had decided to renew the spatial plan for the realization of the “Jadar” project, which includes the exploitation of the mineral Jadarite in western Serbia. These two events have signaled the readiness of the Serbian regime to allow lithium mining in western Serbia and the EU’s commitment to exploit a source of critical raw material (CRM) in its neighborhood, particularly in the Western Balkans.

28. August 2025

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The Other Side of Trade

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On 10 August 2025, Germany announced it would suspend the export of offensive weapons to Israel, citing the risk of mass civilian casualties during Israel’s planned incursion into Gaza City. Yet Germany’s military trade with Israel is a two-way street. As crucial as Berlin’s arms exports are its growing imports of Israeli weapons, military technology, and security expertise, including training.

26. August 2025

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Not a Curtain Drop, but an Abuse of Rights

The recent Grand Chamber decision in Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina might send shockwaves through the legal and political landscape in Bosnia and Herzegovina or even across Council of Europe states, as Professor Joseph Marko suggests in his article. However, his analysis presents an incomplete picture of the Court’s decision and overlooks critical context necessary for a full understanding of why the Grand Chamber declared the application inadmissible.

26. August 2025