Tuesday 19 August, 2008
The Atlantic holds up the termite as a paradigm of bio-efficiency. The New York Times investigates wine classification in Bordeaux. In Tygodnik Powszechny, writer Marek Nowakowski outlines his strategy for accommodating communism. Letras Libras misses the hawkishness of Roberto Bolano. Outlook India portrays the new Bollywood star Aksay Kumar. In Rue 89 Michel Wieviorka warns about burgeoning racism in France. And in L'Espresso Umberto Eco smells fear and regression in Italy.
Monday 18 August, 2008
Philosopher Jürgen Habermas called for a pan-European referendum in the wake of the Irish 'No'. He overestimates the wisdom of the masses and underestimates what has been achieved up to now, counters Alfred Grosser.
Friday 9-15 August, 2008
Georgian author Devi Dumbadze criticises the powerless nationalism of his compatriots. Andre Glucksman and Bernard-Henri Levy diagnose Europe in a coma. A new book by Patrick Buisson describes the erotic confusion that gripped Vichy France. Syrian philospher Sadik Jalal al-Azm points to a third way for Islam. The SZ takes a magical history tour of YouTube piano recitals. And old Austrian men in lederhosen take to the streets in protest against Kippenberger's crucified frog.
Wednesday 6 August, 2008
Galicia might be a Ukrainian myth but this is no reason to try to thwart Ukraine's bid to join the European Union. Even its failure to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria would not be enough to eliminate it from the running. The EU's problem is its own crisis, argues Sonja Margolina.
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Monday 21 July, 2008
The dead body of Russian artist Anna Alchuk was pulled out of the river Spree in April this year. She and her husband, philosopher Michail Ryklin, had moved to Berlin in November 2007 after life in Russia became intolerable as a direct consequence of Alchuk's participation in the exhibition "Caution: Religion!". Michail Ryklin looks to his wife's tormented diary entries to help him approximate the causes of her death.
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Monday 7 July, 2008
Author Martin Pollack issues a rebuttal of Richard Wagner's arguments against Ukraine's EU bid, accusing him of Western bias and ignorance. If we follow his line of thought, even Italy has no place in the European Union.
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Tuesday 1 July, 2008
Since the beginning of the year, the German feuilletons have been probing the relationship between architecture and morality. Their interest was kindled by the publication of Deyan Sudjic's book "The Edifice Complex: How the Rich and Powerful Shape the World", which came out in 2006, and examines the role of European architects in non-democratic states such as China and Libya. We take a look at how the debate developed.
Tuesday 17 June, 2008
At the Durban Conference against Racism in 2001, anti-colonialism bared its anti-Semitic face. The UN is planning a follow-up conference next year in Geneva. Pascal Bruckner tells democracies to keep their distance.
Wednesday 11 June, 2008
Advocates of Ukrainian democracy are motivated by old desires for independence from Moscow and, now that political autonomy has been achieved, by the need to get under the protective umbrella of Nato and the EU. From an objective point view, though, there are plenty of arguments against Ukraine turning its back on Russia. By Richard Wagner (Photo: Lothar Deus)
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Monday 4 February, 2008
A large-scale and long-overdue project has begun. German historians are documenting the persecution and extermination of the Jews in 16 volumes of primary source texts where metal merchants and budgie lovers all have their say - with no recourse to hindsight. By Eckhard Fuhr
Monday 21 January, 2008
"Fear" is the punchy title of book about Polish anti-Semitism whose recent publication in Poland has sparked an emotional debate. Very few people have come to the defence of its author, Jan Tomasz Gross, who has taken on the difficult task of making uncomfortable facts known to a wider audience and removing blind spots in Polish history. By Jakub Kloc-Konkolowicz
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