In an Op-Ed for spiegel.de, Ralf Fücks and Marieluise Beck present 10 propo­si­tions about what is at stake in Russia’s war against Ukraine and what needs to be done.

In the light of Vladimir Putin’s military failures in Ukraine and discus­sions about Russia’s possible future after Putin, there has been much discus­sion recently about Russia “disin­te­grating” or “falling apart”...

On the 24th of August Ukraine cele­brates its Inde­pen­dence Day. An inde­pen­dence for which the country pays a high price. In his commen­tary, Vitaly Sych, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian media house NV, explains why it will still be a day of hope.

Ukraine must rely on its partners for funding to win the war and rebuild the country. This year’s Ukraine Recovery Confer­ence (URC) was an oppor­tu­nity for Ukraine to build trust and trans­parency regarding its plans and goals for the funding. Now Ukraine should address its long-term chal­lenges and its commit­ment to build a stable business envi­ron­ment, while preparing for the URC 2024. Despite or even because of the ongoing war Ukraine should make reforms its priority next to fighting Russia and liber­ating its territories.

Another Russia is possible: On 5/​6 June, repre­sen­ta­tives of the Russian oppo­si­tion and the EU discussed the perspec­tives of a post-imperial and demo­c­ratic Russia. LibMod Director Ralf Fücks summa­rizes the four key takeaways.

It is time to think about a Russia after Putin. If defeated in Ukraine, condi­tions in the country will also change. Whether for the better or the worse is an open question. Without a departure from the imperial delusion, Russia will remain in the eternal vicious circle of war politics and author­i­tarian rule.

In the once secular US, religious funda­men­tal­ists are increas­ingly gaining influence, as most recently shown by the abortion ruling. Trump has appointed 120 conser­v­a­tive judges during his term in office...

Chan­cellor Scholz supports Ukraine only so much that it can defend itself with diffi­culty, but cannot launch a coun­ter­at­tack. But if Putin is not defeated in Ukraine, there will be no...

The granting of candidate status does not mean accession: it is above all a recog­ni­tion of the progress Ukraine has made in reforms and a great symbolic gesture to a people who are...

Hong Kong’s free society is being destroyed by China’s National Security Laws. With the election of John Lee as Chief Executive, a nightmare has come true for Hong Kong’s democracy movement....

So far, the people of Ukraine have borne the burden of the war all alone. For the German precept of “never again”, this is a reality shock, comments Marieluise Beck.

Based on six criteria of the United Nations Conven­tion against Genocide, Russia is commit­ting genocide in Mariupol, says Inter­na­tional law expert Otto Luchterhandt.

Political scientist Olek­sandra Keudel warns of European and global conse­quences in the case of Russian attacks on Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

How should the West counter Russian threats of war? We document Ralf Fücks’ OP ED at DIE WELT, 21.12.2021.

The consid­er­able break­throughs in the EU-Ukraine economic agenda have been harmed by sluggish political devel­op­ment, partic­u­larly concerning the rule of law. The judicial reform, anti-corrup­­tion efforts, inde­pen­dent and efficient law-enforcement...

The impact of the Biden-Merkel-Agreement on Nord Stream 2 in Ukraine is simply disas­trous. Espe­cially among western oriented, reform-minded people trust in Germany and the US fell at a record low. China...

A commen­tary by Ralf Fücks on Putin’s latest histor­ical policy manifesto, published by the Kremlin.

Only temporarily, says Michael Zürn, Director at the Berlin Social Science Center. 

In the coalition agreement, the CDU and the SPD dodge important reforms and take a scat­ter­shot approach to the distri­b­u­tion of a great deal of money. The big chal­lenges, like climate, demographic...