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Germany

«Craftsmen for peace»

Congress of craftsmen and entrepreneurs in Dessau-Rosslau

by Marita Brune

(18 April 2023) For once, it wasn’t the well-known groups of the classic German peace movement that hosted a congress for peace. This time the initiative came from the heart of society, from craftsmen and entrepreneurs from small and medium-sized businesses. On Sunday, 2 April 2023, the “Craftsmen’s Peace Congress” took place in Dessau-Rosslau in Saxony-Anhalt, organised by Karl Krökel, head of the Dessau Metal Guild. About 250 people, twice as many as expected, came to the “Hugo Junkers” Museum of Technology. The star guest of the event was Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, long-time Russia correspondent for the German public TV channel ARD.
“Credit Suisse”

Afterthoughts to the end of the party

If you want to win back the trust of people, you have to protect them from the excesses of the financial world

by Marc Chesney*

(18 April 2023) The lights are out: For Credit Suisse (CS), the party is over. Members of the executive board and the board of directors temporarily leave the muted green carpet of the casino financial world. They do so with serious faces, full pockets and light hearts. Expressions of regret and apologies fit the occasion. They would have done their best.
International Law

UN Charter – The Ukraine War and our commitment to peace

by Michael von der Schulenburg,* Germany

(11 April 2023) To argue again today that peace can only be achieved by force of arms is a throwback to the war-torn times before the UN Charter of 1945. The war in Ukraine is now entering a second year – without even an attempt at a diplomatic solution. Instead of peace talks, the warring and conflicting parties have become further entangled in a dangerous spiral of military escalation using ever heavier weapons systems. As if we were still stuck in the thought patterns of the first half of the 20th century, large-scale military offensives are now supposed to bring the solution.

“Economic coercive measures are crimes against humanity”

Reports from the “International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism” (Part 2)

(11 April 2023) (Edit.) The opening of the “International People’s Tri-bunal on U.S. Imperialism – Sanctions, Blockades and Economic Coercive Measures” took place in New York on 28 January 2023,1 (see Box on the right). The Tribunal will last about six months and end in July 2023 with a closing ceremony at the Simón Bolívar Institute in Caracas, Venezuela.

In a first article, "Swiss Standpoint" has already published the presentation of Alfred de Zayas, former independent UN expert on international order, in which he, among other things, clarified the term “sanctions”.2 (see Box on page 2)

Putin’s Nuclear Red Line

by Manlio Dinucci,* Italy

(11 April 2023) Russia has announced the transfer of nuclear weapons to Belarus. Contrary to what one might think, this is not a particularly aggressive attitude on the part of Russia, but rather a defensive countermeasure to the deployment of nuclear weapons by the United States on Russia’s borders. If Moscow had wanted to respond equally, it would have installed its nuclear warheads in Cuba.
Pedagogy

Teacher shortage: the real reasons

by Prof. Dr. Mario Andreotti*

(11 April 2023) Up and down the country, school presidents and principals are looking for teachers for the new school year. In eastern Switzerland, the situation is somewhat less dramatic than in other parts of the country. In the Lake Constance region, all vacant teaching positions were once again filled. Nevertheless, the situation remains tense here as well, as guest author Professor Dr Mario Andreotti writes.