Christoph Becker

It is her own personal story that gives hope: Israeli Tzipi Diskind was born in Jerusalem and is a member of the ultra-religious Haredim. According to the mother of four, her religious community could play a special mediating role in the conflict with the Pales­tinians. After all, they have a lot in common with religious Muslims, she says. Empathy and trust, above all, are needed so that dialog between Israelis and Pales­tinians can succeed, as Tzipi Diskind writes. She believes in a peaceful solution to the conflict — despite the extremely difficult political situation. 

Samer Abdel­razzak Sinijlawi grew up during the first intifada. He was imprisoned as a teenager. It was in prison that he got to know the other, the Israeli view of the conflict. Despite the current political situation, he believes in a peaceful solution between Israelis and Pales­tinians — with the help of a dialog based on trust and mutual empathy. The West can also contribute, he says.

When the Center for Liberal Modernity was founded in 2017, the “illiberal counter­rev­o­lution” (Timothy Garton Ash) was already in full swing. But the force with which autocratic and illiberal currents have since picked up speed exceeds our fears. Our inter­na­tional conference “Rethinking Liber­alism — Challenges to Liber­alism in Turbulent Times” took place just days before Trump’s second inaugu­ration, in the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and overshadowed by the electoral successes of right-wing populists across of Europe. 

Ukraine’s membership bid taken on real momentum since the country applied for EU membership in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Though Ukraine’s track record is generally positive, the devil is in the details. Difficult reforms, especially in the judiciary, require the attention and support of the EU and its member states.

Ten years ago, the Minsk Agreement was negotiated and signed to end the war in eastern Ukraine. Just 7 years later, Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Diplomat Johannes Regen­brecht was involved in the negoti­a­tions and analyses what lessons can be learned.

The Center for Liberal Modernity cordially invites you to the inter­na­tional conference “Ukraine and Us. Where do we go from here?” in Berlin on 21 March, 2025.