Values, Weapons, Reality. Germany’s Responsibility in Peace Processes

On Thursday evening, November 20, an evening event was held at the Old Town Hall in Bonn to conclude this year’s Bonn Symposium. It was organized by the Development and Peace Foundation, with the Academy of International Affairs as this year’s cooperation partner. The event consisted of three online panels dealing with three current conflicts: Ukraine, Congo, and Syria. The key findings of the event organized by the Academy of International Affairs on “Peace with or Protection from Russia? Rethinking Europe’s security after Ukraine” on October 1 were summarized at the beginning of the event, which was intended to provide an overview of Germany’s responsibility in peace processes as a whole. After welcoming remarks by Mayor Guido Deus and Oliver Krauß, Member of the State Parliament, Anka Feldhusen (Federal Foreign Office), Christoph Reuter (DER SPIEGEL), and Stefan Mair (SWP), moderated by Conny Czymoch, discussed how Germany is involved in the prevention of crises and violent conflicts as well as in peacebuilding worldwide.

The focus was on the classic fundamental conflict between values and interests. It was pointed out that the situation is further complicated by conflicts of values and interests. There was agreement that Europe and Germany have lost a great deal of influence in the geopolitical order of the 21st century, but that Europe’s strength should not be downplayed if it finally acts as a unified player. Successes, contradictions, and options for future action were discussed with the interested audience. We would like to thank Marcus Kaplan, Nora Witt, Ingo Nordmann, Emilia Thiel, and the entire sef team for their smooth and fruitful cooperation and for the exciting series of events, which has now come to an end for this year.