TURNING POINT OR STANDSTILL: WORLD POWERS IN THE NEW COLD WAR

Cathrin Kahlweit in conversation with Jan Claas Behrends

TURNING POINT OR STANDSTILL: WORLD POWERS IN THE NEW COLD WAR

The renowned historian and Eastern Europe specialist Jan C. Behrend not only teaches and researches at the European University Viadrina on the subject of „Dictatorship and Democracy - Germany and Eastern Europe from 1914 to the Present“. He is also a prominent and highly controversial member of German social democracy. Behrends takes a critical look at the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and Germany's attitude towards it. He was one of the signatories of an open letter to the German government calling for the phrase „turning point“ to be followed by action and for Ukraine to actually receive financial and military support for as long as necessary. Behrends is convinced that Berlin is hesitant towards Moscow; his credo is that the wars waged by Russia have not led to Germany revising its Russia policy by 2022. Until recently, Berlin believed in the power of dialogue and trade. In the face of aggression, however, there is a growing realisation that the use of illegitimate military force must be sanctioned. In an interview with Cathrin Kahlweit, Jan C. Behrends discusses the left's approach to Russia and the question of whether the „turn of an era“ is over before it really began.

Jan Claas Behrends works as a historian at the Centre for Contemporary History Research in Potsdam and teaches Eastern European history at the European University Viadrina, where he has held a professorship since March 2022. He specialises in Stalinism and comparisons of modern dictatorships as well as the history of perestroika and post-Soviet conflicts.

Cathrin Kahlweit, journalist and publicist, correspondent for the Süddeutsche Zeitung for Central and Eastern Europe