EU

THE GLOBE: The two world wars forced humanity to seek peace and brought about the League of Nations and the United Nations. The pandemic and climate change have shown us that we need a planetary governance, and a planetary politics – but can we achieve this without a despotic world government?

FRED: Three hundred years after Immanuel Kant was born, the Prussian philosopher's arguments for a rational, clear-sighted pacifism are more relevant than ever. Europe has recently become a place where the opposition between good and evil is routinely invoked to justify irresponsible brutality, and where the drums of war sound ever louder. Kant is known as the author of one of the most famous anti-war essays in the history of philosophy: The Eternal Peace. Kant's cosmopolitanism is based on man's original, common possession of the earth and implies a recognition of a 'right' to visit all places without being treated with hostility.

FOOD SAFETY: Fiction and reality in EU agricultural policy: The chemical industry and lobbying companies such as Copa-Cogeca and CropLife Europe delayed and derailed the EU's Farm to Fork strategy. In total, the lobbying contracts were worth over 50 million euros in 2020–2023. In November 2023, the SUR law (Sustainable Use Regulation) was stopped and voted down in the European plenary meeting in Strasbourg. What happened?

FRED: Linn Stalsberg identifies in his new book that accepting war as a human normal state is one of the great danger signals today. We have become accustomed to the idea that war is a necessity, and that war can be morally required on top of that. At the same time, religion is often used cynically as a tool to promote a warlike development – ​​this extends from Pope Urban to Putin and Netanyahu to Hamas.

UNITED NATIONS: MODERN TIMES prints here Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's speech to the UN Security Council in New York on 20 September 2023. He emphasizes that the UN Charter is the cornerstone of today's international legislation – which has not been followed in terms of peace and security in Ukraine. Lavrov also points out that the Ukrainian constitution states that the state is obliged to respect the Russians and other ethnic minorities. In Lavrov's view, it is the Western countries that do not want to overcome the deep crisis that has arisen in international relations. Here you have the opportunity (and with ORIENTERING's several articles) to read and evaluate yourself.

AFTER THE WAR: Ukraine's regions may emerge from the war as economically weak, underpopulated and with limited administrative capacity. The flow of aid money threatens to lead to continued immigration to Kyiv at the expense of the regions.

EU: Europe has never become an adult and responsible player in a multipolar world. And a common foreign and security policy has never gone beyond the sketch plane. Will it happen now?

War: What will I do on the day the war is over and Russia is forced back behind the borders that applied before Putin in 2014 first went wild on Ukraine?

EUROPE: It is not the magazine's intention to dwell on Norway's affiliation with the EU. On the contrary. The exercise is inspired by the ongoing process in all EU countries with conferences and studies on the role and direction of EU co-operation. Is it possible to change the EU?

EUROPE: Europe and EU co-operation have developed in step with society's crises and challenges. On that occasion, MODERN TIMES has asked a number of Norwegian opinion leaders questions about the future of Europe. The EU's Green Deal shows leadership on the environment and climate, in addition to digital services. We ask which areas the EU should prioritize, with appropriate political, legal or industrial initiatives and forms of cooperation.

EUROPE: How can the EU, or the Council of Europe, play a leading role in power politics, and should the EU strengthen its security and defense policy cooperation? Or now with the Ukraine crisis, for example, to promote a pragmatic multilateralism rather than to hold on to all principles?

EUROPE: EU co-operation has developed in step with society's crises and challenges. But is it now high time for further reforms for the future of the EU? And is the right of veto really an obstacle?

THE GLOCAL: Citizens' councils can revitalize Europe. Their success depends both on their ability to strengthen the EU's participatory political processes, and on greater responsiveness to citizens' local communities. Here we look at how the first "European Commons Assembly" provided an opportunity for information-based political reforms together – based on social and ecological sustainability.

NEXT GENERATION EU: After prolonged covid-19 restrictions, a revitalization of the economy is high on the political agenda. The EU's "comeback strategy" is an economic recovery plan with 750 billion euros in grants and loan repayments. Are we heading into a federal era? And what lasting ecological measures can be taken in a fast, goal-focused turnaround operation?

EUROPE: Many argue that Europe should to a greater extent defend our fundamental values ​​such as freedom of expression and respect for the rule of law.

MODERN TIMES CONVERSATIONS: From someone who should know the intricacies of foreign policy and geopolitics: Thorbjørn Jagland on military rearmament and enemy images – when it comes to the USA, Russia, China, Turkey and Libya.