Under discussion

Presumably, all people who receive an invitation from Goethe-Institute have their very own ideas of the Silk Road. If you have the chance to actually see it, you will be amazed by the architecture, the cultural riches and the conservation of its cultural heritage.More ...

Around 40 percent of environmental pollution today is caused by our consumer behaviour. The ecological footprint we leave behind us on the earth is 2.2 hectares per person – yet only 1.9 hectares are sustainable in the long term.More ...

Globalisation and its consequences – two differing opinions
The term “globalisation” contained in the title of the science conference “Globalisation and Identity” has become a buzz word in Germany since the 1990ies, which usually stands for world-wide networking and is associated with different ideals and developments due to the vagueness of the term.More ...

Five years after my research was concluded, I returned to Thessaloniki where I had spent a few weeks at the time. It was a meeting I was quite excited about.More ...

For all those who deal with Egypt professionally and know the country and its people, the observations I made during the German-Egyptian conference on “Identity and globalisation” held in May this year will not be surprising. I, however, was surprised.More ...

The German EU Council Presidency has ended and a compromise has been found on the delicate topic of the European Constitutional Treaty – at least for the time beingMore ...

In Greece, the reception of Hannah Arendt's work is amazingly diverse.More ...

Nigeria, a nation rich in fossil resources, has developed a Renewable Energy Master Plan.More ...

At the invitation of the Goethe Institute in Tallinn, I took part in a series of events staged by the "Von Krahli Academy", giving a lecture entitled "Society flying blind – can sustainability strategies show us the way forward?".More ...

It is only fifteen years ago that the Central Asian countries became independent as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Similar to all countries in the region, its most central country, Uzbekistan, has been searching for its own national identity ever since. This can be seen in approaches concerning language policy as well as in the determination of the international connections and integration of the country.More ...

On the initiative of the Goethe Institute in Cairo, German and Egyptian intellectuals met in mid September 2006 in the secluded oasis of Bahariyya to talk about ”Islamic identity and modern times”. The topic may sound open but it could not have been more complicated in today’s times.More ...

Dr. Sutterlüty, at the symposium “How to live with growing diversity in the European Union and in Canada”, which was held by the Goethe-Institut de Montréal on 5 September 2006, you gave a talk entitled “The belief in ethnic kinship: a deep symbolic dimension of social inequality”.
What was it about?More ...

The supposed irreconcilability of the “Islamic world” and the “modern West” is often held responsible for the conflict between them. Yet the development of and the relations between cultures are far more complex than that and dialogue can prevent tensions and mutual rejection.More ...

In Europe, we regard cities which boast more than a thousand years of history with something approaching awe, yet in Syria there are historical sites which can be traced back to 20,000 BC. These are believed to be the oldest cities in the world.More ...

Cyprus, early February 2007 – it is 1:50 in the morning. Lufthansa flight LH 3368 has just touched down in Larnaca, with us on board – Arndt Zeitz, Christian Berg and Fabian Brandt, three members of Think Tank 30 Germany, the young think tank of the Club of Rome.More ...