Our understanding of peace is very much given by the experience of war. An underlying dimension is the definition of the other as enemy, referring to aliens, strangers, outsiders etc. and the attribution of some kind of hostility.
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I want to begin the present reflections by looking briefly at the institutionalised Europe and its origin. • It had been about overcoming the confrontation, • taming of industrial conflicts (coal, steel) and some forms of compensation (social funds, agriculture) • and finally communication. The latter, central to the so-called Monnet-method, was strongly led by the ‘communitarian’ idea of bringing people together, working as politicians, CEO’s, engineers, interpreters etc. together, this way developing mutual trust, commonalities. – Sure, the main background of this proposal had been the underlying big confrontation, i.e. that between East and West, with a very limited role for the Global South even if we consider China, Cuba and Vietnam, later in addition Angola.
While the situation was not without contradictions, there had been at least two lines that shaped in a decisive way of the decisions: the accumulation regime, with reasonably clear industrial interests; and the clear confrontation between West and East, not least visible by the strong support of Western countries by the Marshall Plan. A third element must be seen on top of it: at that time we found a strong anti-communist/anti-left consensus that lasted for a long time – McCarthy, Berufsverbote, the capturing of the Italian communists by the Catholic national consensus etc., but also the presence of formerly leading fascists again in leading positions.
While the constellation than can be seen as one of bipolarity, the situation today is different. Do we have to speak of non-polarity, multi-polarity, tri-polarity or still bi-polarity? I suppose it is a bit of everything; in the following I will be looking at some major and global changes, disruptions, that question the concept of polarity.
We are looking at • one capitalist world, • with multinational corporations, • still being somewhat nationally based. In the light of these considerations, the main thesis is here: soft politics and policies, though being harsh and material at times, gain a pronounced role – nationally and internationally.
* Let’s begin with the ‘somewhat nationally based’ identity of multinational corporations. While the production is surely INTERnational, the distribution of profits follows the orientation on the ‘hosting’ nation state – this may be the state/national area or region or it may be another country, offering tax advantages or the like. An example par excellence is Apple, often in depth investigated with view on location of production and distribution of profit. Importantly, it is about international relationships, not a global setting: the concrete terms and conditions are ‘negotiated’ between national actors.
* Saying so, must be qualified, however; while economically depending on international relationships, they – and that means in particular the CEOs – are politically characterised as global instances. Moreover, they are increasingly not only influencing politicians but occupying directly the role of politicians.
* Another qualification is needed: we are witnessing a change of polities themselves. This does not primarily concern the separation of powers. More important is a creeping privatisation of political processes. This is characterised by two dimensions: the one is an increasing transfer of political decisions to courts, especially concerned with questions of the constitutionality of certain decisions and measures; the other is the mentioned takeover of political positions and decisions directly by individuals.
As much as it had been justified to criticise the role of the professional politician, as important is to look at the problematique of a new generation of politicians: individuals (often persons, not personalities) who do not have any specific experience. More in general, we can say that traditional features of professionality and performance as personality are blurring: a tech-wizz, nominating himself philanthropist; a real-estate businessman as US-president; a corporate lawyer without political experience, celebrating himself as prime minister in Germany; a philosopher and author of children’s books as minister and vice-chancellor and an all-round-entrepreneur who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome.
The latter is part of a difficult issue – as one easily enters an area that is near to discrimination. However, if it is correct that
[p]eople with Autism Spectrum Disorder tend to focus on their own personal interests, without seeing the needs and wishes of others. This often causes them to lead isolated lives.
Others see this behavior as self-centered or insensitive, but what causes people with ASD to focus on themselves are their difficulties with reading body language and facial expressions as well as the challenges they experience in picking up the rules of conversation.
This is not to imply that people with ASD don’t desire social contact. In many cases, they crave company and stick close to others.
(Roberson, Kenneth, 3/2012: What Are the Main Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adults?; MARCH 27, 2012; https://kennethrobersonphd.com/what-are-the-main-characteristics-of-aspergers-syndrome-in-adults/#; 29/05/2025)
one must ask, if this is a good precondition to enter the political stage. Having said this, it may be of less importance than it seems at first sight: it is more the general, structural change: CEOs behaving like patriarchs/patrons – that there are some women amongst them doesn’t make a difference. This entails that – besides the general insecurity of traditional employment, there is an increasing ease to fire. The US-government orientation against DEI issues is not cause, but only an ideological backing. And while the cost factor plays definitely a role, it is also part of a power game.
Another ideological backing must be seen in a new orientation on subsidiarity – in the USA we find a development that makes it difficult for the large foundations to continue their charitable work – not necessarily a bad thing; globally we find a new Pope – the choice of the name suggests that he is returning to the catholic social teaching, an explicitly anti-working class ideology and practice.
Also relevant is that the harshness of the recent developments – not only since Trump’s re-election – is meeting growing protest/non-acceptance.
* The question is, however, a different one – to be more precise: there are two questions that require attention:
• The ‘virtualisation’, miniaturisation and peripherialisation of the economy:
Fundamentally, capital is made from two ingredients: an asset, and the legal code. I use the term “asset” broadly to denote any object, claim, skill, or idea, regardless of its form. In their unadulterated appearance, these simple assets are just that: a piece of dirt, a building, a promise to receive payment at a future date, an idea for a new drug, or a string of digital code. With the right legal coding, any of these assets can be turned into capital and thereby increase its propensity to create wealth for its holder(s).
(Pistor, Katharina, 2019: The Code of Capital. How the Law creates Wealth and Inequality; Princton/Oxford: Princeton University Press: 2)
In other words, and this is of central meaning, that we are today dealing with an economy that is so-to say producing nothing – no real use value but a huge amount of exchange value.
It requires further investigation if we must see in the involvement of commercial entities, intermediaries, etc. must be seen as an artificial relative increase (extension) of variable capital. For instance, booking accommodation on a gateway site means possibly that the gateway site itself ‘booked’ the accommodation from another gateway site that booked the accommodation directly — or not: it may part and parcel from a package deal that involves an airline, rent-a-car-business etc. in other words, a simple booking requires a person who books the room by signing a contract with somebody who works for hotel or the like; however, now it involves the various subcontractors, intermediaries who are creating a kind of zombie-profit while they are – in terms of capital – variable capital. If this interpretation can be reasonably applied, we must speak of an artificial inflation of the profit-rate. In any case, inflation in a very ordinary sense is hitting private households.
The tendency of the profit rate to fall can be countered by an exponential growth of the absolute profit – looking for investment possibilities not only for the sake of more profit but also and not least aiming on remaining capital instead of disappearing in the sphere of consumption.
• The emergence of a political class that defines itself – or to be more precise: the members of which define themselves by means of scandalisation, personal networking, but also the application of violence as means on the political agenda – not only in form of right-wing excesses. This is a field that is often criticised on par, which is surely not helpful. One important point that I see linked to the development of ‘personalisation’ is the change of the economy: While, with all proviso, dealing with economic issues – in whichever array – had been some form of ‘qualified craftmanship’, the new economy can do well without qualification in the traditional sense – needed are speculative skills and some forms of gambling. It seems that many of the new leaders do not have higher qualification, some dropped out of studying, some used questionable means against competitors and also on the market, without any respect for rules of the market and the meaning of contractual obligations etc. . Important is that we recognise this as change of the accumulation regime, i.e. the conditions of production and reproduction of capital and people’s life. In other words, it is not a ‘relaxation’ or ‘de-moralisation’ of the mode of regulation that allows/encourages such new orientations in the economic realm – it is still valid, and applicable here too: “First food, then morals”
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With all this, there are at least the following global, ‘secular’ challenges:
- demography, concerning the age-structure and questions of migration, subsequently questioning/qualifying the core meaning of nation states
- limits of growth, i.e. industrialism reaching limits, not providing an answer on what it’s supposed goal is: happiness of all
- the unsustainability trap, being a threat to humankind and the existence of the planet itself.
While we cannot overlook recklessness in many instances, we must recognise the fact that the situation in all these respects changed:
In the age of technology, however, ethics has to deal with actions (albeit no longer of the individual subject) that have an unprecedented causal reach into the future, accompanied by a prior knowledge that also, as always incomplete, goes far beyond anything former. Added to this is the sheer magnitude of the long-distance effects and often their irreversibility. All of this places responsibility at the centre of ethics, with time and space horizons that correspond to those of the deeds.
(Jonas, Hans, 1984: Das Prinzip Verantwortung. Versuch einer Ethik fuer die technologische Zivilisation; Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp: 9; translation P.H.)
In other words, the following mark some strategic cornerstones and changed parameters for responsibilities and for the question of peace. The following important consequences must be considered for a new role for law!?
- It is about responsibility of and for collectivities
- Criteria for assessment and judgements must be collectivities and the future
- Instead of punishment restitutive law (though not necessarily in the Durkheimian understanding).
This means, when we look closer at human rights, that they must not least be understood as rights of humanity, not individuals. From here, universality must be re-thought. And obviously, peace can only be thought of and reached by cooperation within a new understanding of unipolarity.
See also:
Peter Herrmann: Populism – distraction of a problem
Deep roots of today’s political concerns; Springer: Forthcoming