Unsere Reihe geht kommenden Mittwoch (12. November) mit dem Imre Kertész Kolleg in #Jena weiter: Dort diskutieren
@emesef.bsky.social, @ervitz.bsky.social, @umland.bsky.social und der Schriftsteller Marko Martin. Prof Joachim v. Puttkamer moderiert:
russlandverstehen.eu/de/herausfor...

Breaking these assumptions is essential for crafting a stronger, united Russia policy. Poland & Germany, together with Nordic and Baltic partners, can lead Europe in rejecting outdated thinking and adopting a strategy grounded in reality not wishful thinking. /END

Flawed assumption no. 4: Economic interdependence leads to peace.
The "Wandel durch Handel" approach proved disastrously naive. Rather than fostering cooperation, it gave Russia economic leverage to exploit. Dependency was used for power projection, not for peace-building. 9/

By tolerating Russia’s claims of influence, the West signaled weakness, inviting further aggression. Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Armenia and Moldova and their societies have paid the price. 8/

Flawed ssumption no. 3 (implicit in public expression, explicit in actions) Russia has a "legitimate sphere of influence".
This thinking enabled and fueled revanchist ambitions of the Kremlin to undermine sovereignty of many of its neighbors. 7/

Moscow views the West as its adversary, not a partner. Its leaders see democracy as a threat to their kleptocratic regime, and its aggression stems from a deep-rooted rejection of Western ideals 6/

Flawed assumption no 2: Russia roughly shares the same values and goals as the West.

False. Russia operates on imperial ambitions and authoritarian values, fundamentally incompatible with Europe’s democratic principles. 5/

Russia has excluded itself from the global community of law-abiding nations through its aggression in Ukraine. Europe’s security must now focus on deterrence, strength, and self-reliance—not appeasement. 4/