The war in Ukraine is putting the future of Russia more and more in our hands. A decisive victory of Ukraine makes an end to the Putin regime more likely. The West needs to prepare for this moment because it may offer a short oppor­tu­nity to encourage the country to embark on a more demo­c­ratic and law-abinding path, writes Maria Domanska.

Putin has turned Russia into a dicta­tor­ship, but the country is by no means destined to be a dark impe­ri­al­istic power. The Free World needs to support Russia’s next attempt for demo­c­ratic change instead of snubbing it, writes Vladimir Milov.

Lukaschenka präsen­tiert sich seinem Volk als Garant des Friedens, sein Regime scheint gefestigt – solange Russland den Krieg in der Ukraine nicht verliert. 

Russia’s shocking invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has changed the geopo­lit­ical realities in Europe, spelling the end to Russia’s position as Europe’s most important energy supplier. As a result, today Russia has the dubious distinc­tion of being the most sanc­tioned nation in the world’s history.

“As long as Putin is in power, there is no security with Russia, only against it”

French policy towards Russia was based on self-serving delusions that led to dangerous failures and exac­er­bated Putin’s paranoia. The West needs to overhaul its policies and build a strong security system in Europe and beyond.

Appeal by more than 70 writers, histo­rians, security experts and scholars on Eastern Europe

Confer­ence Report “Rethinking Russia” — Contain­ment, Deter­rence, Regime Change?

“Rethinking Russia”: On 31 October, we opened our new project “Expert Network Russia” with a confer­ence in Vilnius. Here is a selection of photographs from the event.

The Center for Liberal Modernity’s Expert Network Russia kicked off last week with a one-day meeting in Vilnius. In his opening remarks, Ralf Fücks reminded everyone why we need to Rethink Russia.

Do Russian war crimes consti­tute genocide? What oblig­a­tions does this impose on the inter­na­tional community? Experts from politics, academia and civil society discussed these questions at the inter­na­tional confer­ence “Inter­na­tional Law against Genocide”.

What’s at stake for the US and what impact of the outcome of the midterms will have – an Interview with Clay Risen

Our new project “Expert Network Russia” kicked on October 31 with an inaugural meeting in Vilnius. Network members will gather in the Lithuanian Seimas to discuss how the West should deal with an increas­ingly total­i­tarian and neo-imperial Russia.

Poland’s complex rela­tion­ship with Russia is deeply inter­twined with Germany and Ukraine, Janusz Reiter writes.

Germany’s decades-long policy of political part­ner­ship with Russia is in tatters — instead of a friendly demo­c­ratic country it got an aggres­sive dicta­tor­ship. To avoid future failures, we need strength and resilience, writes Ulrich Speck.

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.

The US tried to integrate Russia with the liberal inter­na­tional order, but Putin destroyed the basis for coop­er­a­tion by disman­teling democracy and seeking domi­na­tion of his neighbors, writes Dan Fried.

Half a year after the start of the large-scale Russian invasion, the West should continue to support Ukraine with further arms deliveries.

Under Orbán’s pressure, the EU-Commis­sion has removed the Russian Patriarch Kirill from the sanctions list – a fatal under­es­ti­ma­tion of the powerful role of the Russian-Orthodox Church in the war against Ukraine.

Liberal democracy is under pressure worldwide. At our confer­ence “Rethinking Liber­alism, Renewing Democracy” on 24 November in Berlin and online, we discussed with inter­na­tional guests from academia, politics, think tanks and business how liber­alism and liberal democracy must evolve in order to sustain. 

The tensions between Taipei and Beijing are also the result of an US non-commit­­ment, according to Bonnie Glaser, Director of the German Marshall Fund’s Asia Programme.

China reacted to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan with military exercises. Christina Sadeler spoke to I‑Chung Lai, a senior adviser to the Taiwan Thinktank about Taiwanese perspec­tives on the visit and...

Since the protests in August 2020, the ille­git­i­mate lead­er­ship of the Republic of Belarus sees itself at war against the “collec­tive West”, but it is waging the battle against its...

The war in Ukraine will throw Russia into an economic crisis, which it will try to combat through fossil fuels reversing the started green transition

Marieluise Beck is asked if she changed her mind about German foreign policy after recent arms deliv­eries. She also speaks about mistakes made by previous govern­ments and former Chan­cellor Schröders...

The Tehran-Moscow axis seems threat­ening, but it was born out of necessity and does not change much for Israel and the Middle East. However, the Russia-Israel rela­tion­ship has already deteriorated...

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...

In Sri Lanka, demon­stra­tors have taken over the pres­i­den­tial palace, partly because the prices of wheat and petrol have risen immea­sur­ably as a result of the war in Ukraine. Russia is...

In Israel, Chinese invest­ments are increas­ingly viewed crit­i­cally, partly because of China’s relations with Iran. On the other hand, China offers enormous economic oppor­tu­ni­ties, according to Galia Lavi of the...

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...

What happened in Srebrenica 27 years ago is now occurring in Bucha, Mariupol and other areas of Ukraine conquered by Russia. An essay by Marieluise Beck

Oil and gas revenues continue to fill the Russian war chest. In order to damage the Russian economy severely, a drop in the supply of products for the IT sector would...

Open letter to the German Govern­ment and the Bundestag: Russian warfare fulfils the central char­ac­ter­is­tics of genocide. Germany must fulfil its “Respon­si­bility to Protect”.

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...

EU research has shown that a credible member­ship perspec­tive is an effective means of anchoring liberal democracy from the outside. That is why Ukraine must now be granted candidate status.

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus” we publish a series of input papers on the topic: Per­spec­tives and Path­ways to EU Can­di­date Status for Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic...

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus” we publish a series of input papers on the topic: Per­spec­tives and Path­ways to EU Can­di­date Status for Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic...

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus” we publish a series of input papers on the topic: Perspec­tives and Pathways to EU Candidate Status for Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic...

On 31 May, we discussed the future of the Russian economy after the war in Ukraine with Dr Vladislav Inozemtsev, Angelina Davydova, Dr Janis Kluge and Michael Harms.

The Ukrainian TV channel “1plus1” broad­casted live on May 8th from Berlin. During the interview with Marieluise Beck one of the topics was the role of NATO in the war...

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....

After the Bundestag’s decision to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine, a contro­ver­sial debate has flared up about Germany’s attitude towards the Russian war of aggres­sion against Ukraine.  The signa­to­ries call on Chan­cellor Olaf Scholz and the German govern­ment to ...

Just a day after the first videos of the Bucha massacre were posted to social media, on 3 April 2022, Hungary’s FIDESZ-Christian Demo­c­ratic alliance won its fourth consec­u­tive landslide victory with 54,10%,...

Russia’s war of aggres­sion against Ukraine is a turning point for Europe and the whole world. What are its policy impli­ca­tions? Are the sanctions imposed so far suffi­cient to contain the...

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.

More than 80 scholars, politi­cians, busi­ness­people and civil society repre­sen­ta­tives have signed an appeal to the German govern­ment to stop oil and gas imports from Russia. Remark­ably, the coalition of...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is reaching a perilous stage. The West needs to step up efforts to make Putin’s war unwinnable. Conces­sions will only prolong his regime and increase Moscow’s appetite...

Moldova, a country in the heart of Europe, its current lead­er­ship and first and foremost its people, opened not only its borders but also their homes for the suffering neigh­bours. The...

Military expert Gustav C. Gressel on the war in Ukraine: The outcome will depend in part on whether the West supplies Ukraine with the weapons it needs. It is also...

On 22 March, at 2 pm, the Center for Liberal Modernity in coop­er­a­tion with Naftogaz Ukraine and the Ukrainian Feder­a­tion of Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry invites you to...

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

By waging a war against Ukraine, Putin has badly miscal­cu­lated. The Russian leader has become victim of his own propa­gan­distic visions and failed to antic­i­pate the Western respo­nse, writes Vladislav Inozemtsev.

How should we deal with a repres­sive and confronta­tional Russia? Join our annual discus­sion “Russia and the West” on 24 March, which will be held jointly with the Munich Security Conference...

We must stop funding Putin’s war with our energy imports

French election campaigns are usually desper­ately navel-gazing. Foreign policy issues are all but absent from the debate. And even in ‘ordinary’ times, all main­stream evening news programmes consider inter­na­tional news...

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

Statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Two prominent members of the Ukrainian parlia­ment appeal to their colleagues in the German Bundestag to stand by Ukraine in the face of Russian threats of war.

After failing to agree on exclusive spheres of influence in Europe with the Trump admin­is­tra­tion, the Kremlin is chal­lenging Washington’s ability to keep unity among Euro-Atlantic allies and protect European...

Finally: Here are the Insights and High­lights of our Inter­na­tional Confer­ence “Rethinking Liber­alism, Renewing Democracy”!

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

This Wednesday, the Eastern Part­ner­ship Summit will take place for the first time in four years. On this occasion, Iryna Solonenko, Senior Fellow at the Center for Liberal Modernity, sheds...

As 2021 draws to a close, we look back on this year’s important events. Among them is the Crimea Platform, which was launched in August at Ukraine’s initia­tive to shore up...

The political crisis in Georgia continues after the municipal runoff elections. The close election result exac­er­bates the polar­iza­tion between the supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition...

On 22 October, the foun­da­tion stone for a new memorial to the 1941 massacre was laid in Odesa. The future memorial is the result of an initia­tive of the Centre for...

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...

  On October 5, 2021, the Center Liberal Modernity held the public discus­sion on prior­i­ties for coop­er­a­tion with Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova under the Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus project. The discussion...

Europe is suffering from high gas prices. At some gas hubs, they increased more than 250% since January, and already have impact on the retail prices for house­holds in many...

In the LibMod Policy Paper: Assess­ment of progress in the fight against corrup­tion in the EU-asso­­ci­ated states of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, our author Dr. Khatia Kikalishvili argues that insufficient...

When Angela Merkel took office as German Chan­cellor in 2005, she was better prepared for the chal­lenges on the EU’s eastern border than any other West European head of government....

In the LibMod-Policy-Paper: Towards a European Climate Diplomacy, Dr. Georg Zachmann analyses the extension of the European Green Deal to the three asso­ci­ated states of the EU (Ukraine, Georgia and the...

The reactions in Ukraine to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recent visit to the United States vary widely and are often politi­cized. They range from state­ments that the visit lifted relations to...

A year ago protests began against electoral fraud in Belarus. Dictator Lukashenko responded with a wave of harsh state violence, which led to the country being further isolated and sanc­tioned internationally....

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.

In this analyses Dmytro Shulga argues for the EU and specif­i­cally Germany to consider it’s own strategic gains in offering Ukraine a way to full EU member­ship over an extended amount...

Digi­tal­iza­tion repre­sents one of the major chal­lenges of our time. Hence, it is crucial to obtain a profound under­standing of the digital trans­for­ma­tion in order to be able to design and steer it.

An answer to Wladimir Putin’s fine tuned op-ed in the German weekly Die Zeit by Ralf Fücks, Center for Liberal Modernity.

Statement by Ralf Fücks und Marieluise Beck: The Russian Pros­e­cutor General’s decision to brandmark the Center for Liberal Modernity together with the German-Russian Exchange (DRA) and a Russian exile orga­ni­za­tion as “unde­sir­able...

The recent visit of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Kyiv has generated some interest in Ukraine and beyond. This face-to-face meeting was a good oppor­tu­nity for the United...

Climate change and its conse­quences are viewed differ­ently in Russia than is the case in the West. The issue is under­stood as “part of a political game”. This differ­ence in outlook has rami­fi­ca­tions for both political and economic coop­er­a­tion. The interview study “Russian Experts’ Opinions on Global Climate Change”, conducted by Russia’s Levada-Center and commis­sioned by the Center for Liberal Modernity, affords in-depth insight into the Russian elites’ perspec­tive on climate change and its societal and economic consequences.

The protests in Belarus in 2020 did not lead to a change in gov­ern­ment. But Lukashenko’s chosen way of brutal suppres­sion will not gain him any popular support — and is...

In late March 2021 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revoked a decree made by runaway president Viktor Yanukovych appointing Oleksandr Tupytsky and Oleksandr Kasminin to the Consti­tu­tional Court. This raised eyebrows in...

Since January 2021 there has been growing military esca­la­tion in conflict-affected areas of Donbas. Russia has built up military equipment deploy­ment along the Russian-Ukrainian border, repo­si­tioned its army and strengthened...

Lukas Daubner argues that the liberal forces of all stripes should once again take a positive view of the future.

Slovakia is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Europe. After MP Matovic and several ministers resigned, liberal oppo­si­tion politi­cian Michal Simecka demands a fast solution to the...

The analyt­ical paper “Invest­ment plans of the EU: oppor­tu­ni­ties for Ukraine in the area of the European Green Deal imple­men­ta­tion” iden­ti­fies the most important spheres of involve­ment for the Ukrainian...

Anna Donath, MEP, comments on Orban’s FIDESZ Party leaving the European People Party’s (EPP) faction in the European Parlia­ment and a new alliance of the Hungarian oppo­si­tion gainst the anti-european Prime...

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is facing protests and requests to resign after Armenia lost the war with Azer­baijan for Nagorno Karabakh. Richard Giragosian, Director of the inde­pen­dent Think­tanks Regional...

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

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

While violence thrives in silence, it has no chance to persist if brought to public attention. Inter­na­tional attention and support to the people in Belarus are now more crucial than...

The Roadmap „Towards Climate-Neutral Aviation“ by Ralf Fücks (Zentrum Libe­rale Moderne), Mat­thias von Randow (Chief Exe­cu­tive of the BDL) and Volker Thum (Chief Exe­cu­tive of the BDLI) sum­ma­ri­zes the results...

A four-month stand-off between Belaru­sian strongman Alexander Lukashenko and the pro-demo­c­ratic protesters posed a serious challenge for the EU. The block that had announced its ambition to become a geopo­lit­ical actor, has...

Liberal democracy has come under pressure from various quarters: from the outside by author­i­tarian regimes, from within by populist movements and parties. In this dossier, we want to combine ideas of a new liberalism.

Online-Panel Discus­sion on October 6, 2020, with Gunther Krichbaum, Johannes Schraps, Renata Alt, Manuel Sarrazin und others.

Lessons learned from Covid-19: Ralf Fuecks discusses with Anthony Giddens

In Germany, a majority favour closer ties with Russia despite new autho­ri­anism under Putin, military aggres­sion against Ukraine and bombing in Syria. Where does the desire for a special rela­tion­ship with Russia...

Panel and online dis­cus­sion with Marie­luise Beck, Vla­di­mir Kara-Murza und Michael McFaul on 9 Sep­tem­ber 2020, 7 pm CET

Ahead to the Past – The World in the Mind of Putin Эту статью можно читать и на русском

The paper ‘From status quo to status reform: Account­able Gover­nance in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova’ argues that greater priority should be attached to the rule of law and demo­c­ratic governance...

With its “Eastern Part­ner­ship 2.0” project, LibMod is bringing perspec­tives from Georgia, Moldova and the Ukraine to Berlin’s and Brussels’ policy circles.

Tradi­tional oppo­si­tion parties and movements has long seized to be a polit­i­cally mean­ingful force in Belarus. It is time for Western decision-makers to finally admit this unpleasant reality and shift its...

In the LibMod policy paper: “The Eastern Partnership’s Missing Security Dimension” Gustav C. Gressel analyses the precar­ious security situation in the three EU associate countries and sheds light on EU...

Ukraine is under­going profound trans­for­ma­tion. One click will take you to the website www.ukraineverstehen.de, where you will find infor­ma­tion, analyses and reports on the latest devel­op­ments in the country. With a dedicated...

The Russian Govern­ment is trying to get access to the internet – perhaps the most important refuge for freedom of speech. Cyber­space is increas­ingly restricted through state censor­ship: state pressure...

This aim of LibMod’s “Liberal Democracy and Its Adver­saries” project is to examine the “long lines” of antilib­eral thought and discuss its relevance for the debate of today. The project’s...

An interview with Dr. Ulana Suprun, former acting minister of Health of Ukraine (2016–2019) on the government’s response to COVID-19, including an erratic commu­ni­ca­tion strategy, a lack of trans­parency and corruption...

Eco-inno­­va­­tions, economic oppor­tu­ni­ties and social partic­i­pa­tion in times of climate change are the subjects of this book, edited by Ralf Fücks and Thomas Köhler, in which widely acclaimed authors discuss...

An Open Letter to the Parlia­men­tary Assembly of the Council of Europe: Please don’t deprive yourself of the right to impose sanctions on member states that are violating the statutes...

An intro­duc­tion to our report and a summary of our results.

Fly less! Eat less meat! In the struggle against climate change, there is one thing in partic­ular we should do: moderate our lifestyles. Indi­vidual respon­si­bility defi­nitely matters. Will renun­ci­a­tion and...

On this date 74 years ago, the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau exter­mi­na­tion camp. The 27th of January became the Day of Remem­brance for the Victims of National Socialism. Much has...

On January 17 the Centre for Liberal Modernity held its second inter­na­tional Russia confer­ence. This year’s topic was if Germany’s policy of detente of the 1970s can offer any guidance...

The book discussed below (Why we need peace and freedom with Russia) explic­itly presents itself as an appeal for a change in Germany’s policy towards Russia. It brings together authors from...

For decades, Sinol­o­gists who were largely blind to China’s expansive power politics have dominated Germany’s political advice circles, culti­vating an image of China that our author calls “Late Orien­talism”. Shaped...

Over the last 200 years, Liber­alism has been a stunning success story. It brought forward liberty and pros­perity for the many instead of priv­i­leges for the few. Yet, today liberal thinking and...

A summary of the elections in Bavaria, one of the major German states with more then 9 million voters.

With the annex­a­tion of Crimea and the unde­clared war in Eastern Ukraine, the Russian lead­er­ship gravely violates the prin­ci­ples of the European peace order. In response, the Parlia­men­tary Assembly of...

Sandra Detzer und Sebastian Schaffer of the German Greens travel to Sweden where the right-wing-populist “Sweden Democrats” could win the election in September. But where danger is, rescue also grows:...

What will be at stake when Moscow and Beijing begin to share their lessons?

Are Russia’s inter­ven­tions in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria merely a reaction against the expansion of NATO? Facts and arguments concerning a propa­ganda myth.

The elections on April 8, 2018 gave Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party another two-thirds majority in parlia­ment. Attila Juhasz explains why this does not imply a broad support for the concept of ‘illib­erale democracy’. The hungarian...

Society is caught up in a whirlwind of change. The power of liberal democ­ra­cies is dwindling and the political balance in the world is shifting. An interview with Ralf Fücks on...

The anti-liberal revolt ist not limited to the US and Europe. Tenden­cies towards an ‘illiberal democracy’ and ethnic nation­alism can be observed in Israel as well. The Israeli author Dahlia...

On March 13 the Center Liberal Modernity held its first inter­na­tional confer­ence on Russia. The event’s main intention was gaining a deeper under­standing of the Putin System and to find out...

A Russian agent who switched sides is attacked with a military-grade nerve agent in a provin­cial English town. Prime Minister May holds Moscow respon­sible for the attack. Are we back in the...

During the election campaign, appealing to people’s anger and demo­nizing the opponents is the most common strategy. Political programs hardly matter. The political landscape is highly frag­mented. In election polls,...

Reca­pit­u­la­tion of a faltering peace process: the second Minsk Agreement of February 2015, intended to put an end to the war in eastern Ukraine and to set a political process in motion,...

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...

The five AfD Members of the Bundestag from Saxony are among the most radical in the party’s (Alter­na­tive for Germany) parlia­men­tary group. At a party event near Pirna, the party base...

Karen Horn reminds us of forgotten, pioneering thinkers on liberty and high­lights the necessary contra­dic­tion within which a modern liber­alism exists: the tension between limiting state influence and recog­nizing that influence...

The rapid devel­op­ment of wind and solar energy alone will not put an end to climate change. Green­house gas emissions continue to rise around the world. Even Germany has not...

The EU as we knew it does not exist anymore. This is Ivan Krastev’s point of departure. The opti­mistic belief in the idea of progress that was widely held during...

There can be no liberal modernity without social justice, which is why nothing can surpass the social demo­c­ratic idea, which has been margin­al­ized in the current SPD. Anyone, who is...

The rapid pace of moderni­sa­tion renders people suscep­tible to populism. In cosmopolitan milieus, this came as a surprise. Yet the warning signs had long been apparent.

About the motives for founding a Center for Liberal Modernity.