Social issues

The dark side of calling for responsibility

by Antoine-Frédéric Bernhard,* Switzerland

(29 August 2023) Get vaccinated? An act of "responsibility"! Just like lowering your thermostat to 19 degrees, no longer flying or lowering your meat consumption. This rhetoric of calling for responsibility, omnipresent today, has a dark side.

Digital horror in children’s rooms – how much longer unprotected?

Is the turnaround in child and youth protection coming?

by Robert Tauschke*

(22 August 2023) After new studies on the hitherto more or less uncontrolled digitalisation in the children’s and youth area, as well as the first consistent governmental measures abroad, the course has been set for a turnaround in the German-speaking countries as well. The disastrous consequences of media consumption in “children’s rooms” are becoming increasingly evident.

“Oppenheimer” and the ABC’s of the Atomic Apocalypse

by Scott Ritter,* USA

(15 August 2023) Assessing the birth of atomic America, put on display as only Hollywood can, I watched Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. I walked away from the theater acknowledging the success of the film in portraying the protagonist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, as a fellow human traveler in this adventure known as life.

Urgent considerations about artificial intelligence and education

by Mauro Jarquín Ramírez,* Mexico

(8 August 2023) (Edit.) The digital form of the media has permanently changed the way people live together. The use of computers and the Internet has become an integral part of our everyday life. Computer science has developed the ability not only to absorb and process information, but also to recognise patterns, analyze them and make predictions. People have been talking about “artificial intelligence” or AI for short since the 1960s.

Why peace is possible at any time

Building on the European peace traditions

by Robert Seidel

(8 August 2023) Today, it can only be a matter of seeking ways to peace and supporting all forces embarking on this path. In the 21st century, all other options are obsolete due to the nuclear threat. Here are some reflections and references to Europe’s rich humanitarian tradition in these times of war.

In Ukraine, US Adds to Barbaric Cluster-Bomb Legacy

U.S. cluster munitions have maimed and killed civilians in countries including Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan and Iraq

by Abdul Rahman,* India

(8 August 2023) (Edit. CH-S) The delivery of cluster munitions from the USA to Ukraine is a humanitarian disaster. These weapons are at the expense of the civilian population. In the following article by Abdul Rahman, the circumstances surrounding the US delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine are examined in more detail.