Kreisky Forum Talks

Is history erased when statues are pulled down? Or is history then made? In her book “Fallen Idols” – in German: “Heldendämmerung” – British  historian Alex von Tunzelmann explores how societies deal with their  monuments. In the past few years, there has been a rush to topple  statues. Black Lives Matter protesters also defaced of politicians and  philanthropists, who were slaveholders and/or imperialists. Edward  Colston, Christopher Columbus, Belgian King Leopold II or Winston  Churchill: Do they deserve their monuments? Vienna has its own controversy around the monument for Karl Lueger,  mayor of Vienna from 1895 to 1910. While praised for city reforms,  Lueger was also an avid antisemite who used racism as political  instrument – right in time for Adolf Hitler to learn the trade. Statues are a visible form of historical storytelling. The stories we  tell are vital to how societies understand our past and make our future.  Shall we contextualize controversial monuments or take them down? Who  controls history? HELDENDÄMMERUNG tells the story of twelve toppled statues around the  world. Übersetzt von Kristin Lohmann, Goldmann,2022, 384 S, 17 Euro. Alex von Tunzelmann is a British historian and  publicist. She is the author of several historical books – Indian Summer  2007 about the end of colonialsm, Red heat 2011 about Cold War in the  Caribbean – and her articles appear in The Guardian, The New York Times  and others. Tessa Szyszkowitz is a foreign affairs commentator for Falter and a London correspondent for profil & Cicero. Her last book was Echte Engländer, Britain & Brexit (2018). She is also Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

How do societies respond to great demographic change? This question  lingers over the contemporary politics of the United States and other  countries where persistent immigration has altered populations and may  soon produce a majority minority milestone, where the original ethnic or  religious majority loses its numerical advantage to one or more  foreign-origin minority groups. Until now, most of our knowledge about  large-scale responses to demographic change has been based on studies of  individual people’s reactions, which tend to be instinctively defensive  and intolerant. We know little about why and how these habits are  sometimes tempered to promote more successful coexistence. To anticipate and inform future responses to demographic change, Justin  Gest looks to the past. In Majority Minority, Gest wields historical  analysis and interview-based fieldwork inside six of the world’s few  societies that have already experienced a majority minority transition  to understand what factors produce different social outcomes. Gest  concludes that, rather than yield to people’s prejudices, states hold  great power to shape public responses and perceptions of demographic  change through political institutions and the rhetoric of leaders.  Through subsequent survey research, Gest also identifies novel ways that  leaders can leverage nationalist sentiment to reduce the appeal of  nativism—by framing immigration and demographic change in terms of the  national interest. Grounded in rich narratives and surprising survey  findings, Majority Minority reveals that this contentious milestone and  its accompanying identity politics are ultimately subject to unifying or  divisive governance. Justin Gest is an Associate Professor of Policy and  Government at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and  Government. He is the author of six books, primarily on the politics of  immigration and demographic change—all from Oxford University Press or  Cambridge University Press. Robert Misik, Author and Journalist

Against a background of an international climate of heightened  tensions, an unprecedented act of military aggression by Russia against  Ukraine, many unresolved issues in the US relationship to China, the Mid  Term Election of November 2022 has altered the domestic political  landscape in the US.  Foreign policy mainly is in the domain of the  President. Nevertheless, the question whether and to what extent the  outcome of the election can impact on foreign policy in general and on  the President’s capability to shape it needs to be explored Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned economics  professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in  sustainable development. He serves as the Director of the Center for  Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He is also President of  the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a commissioner of the  UN Broadband Commission for Development, and an SDG Advocate for UN  Secretary General Antonio Guterres. From 2001-18, Sachs served as  Special Advisor to UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan (2001-7), Ban  Ki-moon (2008-16), and António Guterres (2017-18). Sachs has authored  and edited numerous books, most recently A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism (2018), and The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (2020). Eva Nowotny, Board Member of Bruno Kreisky Forum, Amb. ret., Chair of the Vienna University Board

Die Unzufriedenheit mit dem Schulsystem ist groß: Kinder sind unter-  oder überfordert, Eltern beklagen zu großen Druck und ein zu hohes  Lernpensum. Lehrer*innen wollen unterrichten, sehen aber, dass sie  manche Schüler*innen nicht erreichen oder zu wenig Unterrichtszeit für  sie haben, um ihnen das zu vermitteln, was sie brauchen. Direktor*innen  sind frustriert vom ständig steigenden Administrationsaufwand. Also wie  weiter? „Die Notwendigkeit zur Veränderung an Schulen könnte man nutzen,  um nicht nur wieder ein kleines Reförmchen anzugehen, sondern das  Bildungswesen neu zu konzipieren.“ meint Alexia Weiss. Im Gespräch mit  dem Bildungsexperten  und -aktivisten Daniel Landau präsentiert sie ihre  Überlegungen und Vorschläge. Alexia Weiss hat an der Universität Wien Germanistik studiert und eine Journalismusausbildung gemacht. Seit 1993 ist sie journalistisch tätig. Derzeit ist sie Redakteurin des jüdischen Magazins Wina, schreibt als freie Journalistin für gewerkschaftliche Medien wie Kompetenz oder Arbeit & Wirtschaft,  fallweise auch für andere Magazine und Zeitungen. Ihr erster Roman  „Haschems Lasso“ erschien 2009, 2011 das Kinderbuch „Dinah und Levi. Wie  jüdische Kinder feiern (Annette Betz Verlag), 2014 ihr zweiter Roman  „Endlosschleife“. Mit „Jude ist kein Schimpfwort“ (Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau) legt sie im Frühjahr 2021 ein sehr persönlich gehaltenes Sachbuch vor. Ihre Streitschrift „Zerschlagt das Schulsystem … und baut es neu!“ ist seit August erhältlich (Kremayr & Scheriau, ISBN: 978-3-218-01353-6) Daniel Landau absolvierte Ausbildungen zum  Dirigenten, Magister der Betriebswirtschaftslehre und Diplompädagogen  für Musik und Mathematik. Er war Mittelschul- und AHS-Lehrer, ist  künstlerisch u.a. als Regisseur und Dirigent tätig (ua mit seinem  Orchester „Live your charity“), und er ist Gründer zahlreicher  Bildungsinitiativen, darunter das Bildungsvolksbegehren, zukunft.bildung  sowie jedesK!ND. Aktuell ist er Bildungskoordinator der  Bundesregierung, zuständig für die jungen ukrainischen Schutzsuchenden. In Zusammenarbeit mit Kremayr&Scheriau

Der Ökonom Markus Marterbauer plädiert für einen besseren Sozialstaat an der Stelle von neoliberaler Wirtschaftspolitik. Ein Gespräch mit Robert Misik im Bruno Kreisky Forum.

The EU can learn from parallels to the Austrian Empire. EU expert Caroline de Gruyter surprised many with her new book “Das  Habsburgerreich – Inspiration für Europa?”. There is little sympathy  left for the Austrian Empire today. But De Gruyter traces striking  parallels between old monarchy and new European Union: Like the Empire  then, the EU today provides a roof over the heads of many nations and  language groups, keeping the bigger ones in check and protecting the  smaller ones. Playing for time, avoiding conflict, working on  never-ending reforms and finding ugly compromises are key  characteristics of both Habsburg and EU governance – muddling through,  in short. Hundred years after the First World War, Europe now faces a similar  dilemma as the Habsburgs did then: As an interstitial power squeezed  between rivals the EU is constantly challenged. Caroline de Gruyter will  discuss parallels and differences: Can cultivating buffer zones outside  the external borders help? And: Will the EU as an organisation survive  the war in the Ukraine or cease to exist like the Habsburg Empire after  WWI? Caroline de Gruyter is an EU affairs journalist  based in Brussels working with the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad and  Foreign Policy as a Europe columnist and correspondent. She is a member  of the European Council on Foreign Relations, her commentary appeared in  The Guardian, The New York Times a.o.. She is the author of five books,  her latest was translated into German by Leopold Decloedt: “Das  Habsburgerreich – Inspiration für Europa?” Tessa Szyszkowitz is a foreign affairs commentator for Falter and a London correspondent for profil & Cicero. Her last book was Echte Engländer, Britain & Brexit (2018). She is also Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

Seit über einem Jahr wird Afghanistan wieder von den  militant-islamistischen Taliban regiert. Wir erinnern uns: Am 15. August  2021 fielen die Extremisten in die Hauptstadt ein, während der letzte  Präsident der afghanischen Republik, Ashraf Ghani, ins Ausland flüchtete  und die USA und ihre Verbündeten mit ihrem Truppenabzug beschäftigt  waren. Doch wie kam es zu jenem schicksalhaften Tag und was hat der  „längste Krieg“ der Amerikaner am Hindukusch überhaupt gebracht? Emran Feroz ist freier Journalist, Kriegsreporter  und Autor. Er berichtet seit fast zehn Jahren aus und über Afghanistan  und schreibt mitunter für das US-Magazin Forein Policy, CNN, die New  York Times, für Profil und den Spiegel. 2021 erschien Feroz‘ Bestseller  „Der längste Krieg“, worin er kritisch und detailreich 20 Jahre War on Terror in Afghanistan analysiert. Im selben Jahr wurde Feroz für seine Arbeit  mit dem österreichischen Concordia-Preis in der Kategorie Menschenrechte  ausgezeichnet. Gudrun Harrer, Leitende Redakteurin, Der Standard;  Lektorin für Moderne Geschichte und Politik des Nahen und Mittleren  Ostens an der Universität Wien und an der Diplomatischen Akademie Wien

BETWEEN GREATER KHOROSAN AND THE KHOROSAN PROVINCE The continuity of Greater Khorasan in the social identity of Iranian Sunnis in Khorasan province The Persian-speaking Iranian Sunnis of the Khorasan province feel a  deep collective resonance with the historical roots of Greater Khorasan  in their social identity. Even today, they continue to praise and  illustrate the glorious Islamic past through their narratives. This is  in contrast to most Iranian Sunnis with a non-Persian-speaking ethnic  identity. Historically Khorasan has long been recognized as the center of Sunni  education. This dates back to the Seljuk period and the establishment  of Sunni educational institutions such as Nizamiyyeh of Niyshabur.  However, the central status of this eastern region of the Islamic world  was diminished following the 15th century – in particular, due to the early 16th-century  expansion of Shiʿi Islam under the Safavids. Yet the sense or idea of  centrality has continued like a thread weaving through the social  identity of the Iranian Sunnis in Khorasan and remains reflected in  their religious and historical narrations today. This lecture explores  this continuity of Greater Khorasan, shows how the historical roots of  Khorasan shaped the social identity of Sunnis in the Khorasan province,  and investigates transnational identity within the local social  identity. BERT FRAGNER MEMORIAL LECTURE 2022 The Bert Fragner Lectures highlight current developments in Iran and  establish connections between historical classification and contemporary  challenges. Inspired by the life’s work of the eminent Austrian Iranist  Professor Bert Fragner (1941-2021), they offer a forum for exchange  with established and – in the spirit of Bert Fragner’s tireless  promotion of young scholars – younger researchers.

Die Menschheit ruiniert den gesamten Planeten, und besonders  bedrohlich ist die Klimakrise. Politik und Wirtschaft hoffen daher auf  „grünes Wachstum“. Doch das ist eine Illusion. Der Ökostrom aus  Solarpaneelen und Windrädern wird nicht reichen, um permanentes Wachstum  zu befeuern. Die Wirtschaft muss schrumpfen. Dies wäre jedoch das Ende des  Kapitalismus, weil er nur stabil ist, solange es Wachstum gibt. Die  Wirtschaftsjournalistin Ulrike Herrmann beschreibt, wie die Zukunft  aussieht – ohne Wachstum, ohne Gewinne, ohne Autos, ohne Flugzeuge, ohne  Banken, ohne Versicherungen und fast ohne Fleisch. Ulrike Hermann, Wirtschaftsredakteurin bei der „tageszeitung“ (taz) Moderation: Robert Misik, Autor und Journalist Ulrike Hermann ist ausgebildete  Bankkauffrau und hat Geschichte und Philosophie an der FU Berlin  studiert. Von ihr stammen mehrere Bestseller. Ihr neuestes Buch ist:  „Das Ende des Kapitalismus. Warum Wachstum und Klimaschutz nicht  vereinbar sind – und wie wir in Zukunft leben werden“ ist im September  2022 im Verlag Kiepenhauer & Witsch erschienen. In Kooperation mit Buch Wien 2022

At the core of a US policy debate over the Middle East lies the  question of how to best ensure regional stability and protect US  interests. Lost in the debate is whether the cost of maintaining  stability by supporting autocratic rule is lower in the long term than  the upfront expense of adhering to human rights principles, pluralism,  and transparent and accountable governance that would initially alienate  Middle Eastern partners. For a long time, the United States have been supporting autocracy at  the expense of making greater transparency and accountability  cornerstones of cooperation with Washington. The short-term benefits are obvious but so are the wounds that fester  because they are not properly treated, causing greater turmoil and  costs further down the road. Moreover, the approach that juxtaposes US  actions against US rhetoric makes US pledges of adherence to values ring  hollow at a time when credibility may be a major determining factor in  the rivalry with Russia and China. While neither China nor Russia is willing or able to replace the  United States as the region’s security guarantor, regional alliances,  particularly with Israel, may compensate to a degree for uncertainty  about US reliability but are fraught with pitfalls. Gulf states are a  long way away from being able to shoulder full responsibility for their  defense, which in the case of the smaller states may never be  achievable, even if there is a greater emphasis on building domestic  arms industries. James M. Dorsey is an adjunct senior fellow at the  S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang  Technological University, a syndicated columnist, and the author of the  blog and podcast, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer. As  a journalist and scholar Dorsey focuses on the geopolitics of Eurasia,  political and social change in the Middle East and North Africa and its  impact on Southeast, South and Central Asia, as well as the nexus of  sports, politics and society. Gudrun Harrer, Senior Editor at Der Standard, Lecturer on Modern History and Politics of the Middle East, University of Vienna and Diplomatic Academy of Vienna