“United in Diversity”—this is the motto of the European Union. Today, its meaning extends beyond the variety of national cultures. Europe has become a preferred destination for migrants. This not only leads to greater ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity: discrimination, xenophobia, and right-wing populism are also on the rise. The debate “The Others Among Us” at the Burgtheater (p. 4) made clear that this trend cannot be stopped by raising the walls around “fortress Europe” still higher. European societies need to develop an understanding of themselves as societies of immigration.
While there is still a long way to go before the eu has its first Muslim president, the us already has its first black president. When Barack Obama won the election in November 2008, he had become the symbol of hope around the world. His campaign slogan “Yes, we can!” raised expectations for fundamental changes in international politics. The Burgtheater debate “Obama and the Europeans” (p. 3) and a Józef Tischner debate in Warsaw (p. 6) asked what remains of this hope halfway through the second year of Obama’s presidency. “Can he? No, he can’t,” believes Robert Kagan, participant in the Burgtheater debate, in his guest contribution (pp. 15–16): Obama will not change the world because the role of the us in international politics is going to become less important.
The year 1989 was celebrated as a victory for democracy. But what is the state of democracy twenty years after the peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe? In three essays we present here, Ivan Krastev again emphasizes the major advantage of democracy, namely participation (p. 7); Mykola Riabchuk analyzes Ukrainian democracy after the political defeat of the Orange Revolutionaries (p. 8); and Haideh Daragahi examines the central role of women in the democratic movement in Iran (p. 9).
On April 10, a plane carrying a significant part of Poland’s political elite crashed, killing everybody on board. They had been on their way to Katyn to commemorate the murder of thousands of Polish army officers on Stalin’s orders. In the final article of this iwmpost, Timothy Snyder expresses his hope that this catastrophe may, despite its brutal irony, mark a new beginning for Poland and Russia in dealing with their bitter common past.
I hope this newsletter is an exciting and varied read!
Sven Hartwig
Download the IWMpost 103 as a PDF
Content
Debates at the Burgtheater
Europe’s Obama
United in Diversity?
Lectures and Discussions
Democracy, Crisis Management, Poland and Germany—Monthly Lectures
Austrians, Czechs and the Iron Curtain—Book Presentation
Feminist Critical Theory Revisited—Workshop
Tischner Debates in Warsaw
Can He or Can’t He?
Essays on Democracy
No Satisfaction Machines / by Ivan Krastev
After Orange Ukraine / by Mykola Riabchuk
The Female Face of Revolution / by Haideh Daragahi
From the Fellows
Myths of Neutrality / by Arne Ruth
Mao’s Starving China / by Ewa Rzanna
Fellows and Guests, Varia
Publications
Guest Contributions
Obama’s Post American World / by Robert Kagan
Ghosts / by Timothy Snyder
