Unpredictable
Partial mobilization, fake referendums and probably soon the annexation of further Ukrainian territory –
this is how a dictator acts under pressure.
"Putin is now going all out," my colleagues write in our SPIEGEL cover story about the dangerously weak Vladimir Putin: "He has robbed his people of the illusion that the war of aggression against the neighboring country was, so to speak, in vain."
And he has taken the opportunity to back down from his destructive adventure.
Putin's fate, his political survival, is now hooked, for better or for worse, to Ukraine.
That doesn't make the 69-year-old any more predictable.
In addition to the military failure in Ukraine, there was a political failure in Uzbekistan at the meeting of the »Shanghai Cooperation Organization«.
China's Xi Jinping and India's Narendra Modi did not support Putin last week, instead admonishing him.
How will a cornered Putin react?
Flapping around, hitting civilian targets across Ukraine with its missiles?
Maybe even use nuclear weapons?
In America these days, they are reminiscent of the old story of the rat in a jam, which Putin once told from his childhood days in Leningrad: He chased a huge rat and cornered it so that it could not actually escape.
But then she went wild and attacked him, the hunter.
A good six decades later, Putin put it this way:
If Russia's "territorial integrity" is threatened, he reserves the right to "use all available means".
(Says the warlord who tramples the principle of territorial integrity in soldier's boots day after day).
And we, what do we do now?
Do we allow ourselves to be blackmailed by such nuclear threats?
Shouldn't we.
For what was the result?
The successful blackmailer would start the next blackmail attempt, and then the next.
And so on.
Those who can would then protect themselves: with nuclear armament.
The world would be an even more dangerous place.
By the way, as he said, Putin escaped the beleaguered rat: "I was faster and was able to slam the door in her face." Danger averted.
New phase in the Ukraine war: Putin's dangerous weakness
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
Putin is hoping for a hard winter - and the division of the West:
Europe's costs for Russia's invasion of Ukraine are rising, agreement on sanctions and arms deliveries is faltering.
How long will the front against Putin hold out?
The big diversionary maneuver:
Even after the most recent escalation from Moscow, Chancellor Scholz is sticking to his line.
The Social Democrat ignored the pushers from his coalition.
Is this the right course?
Most of the employees at Russian airlines could be drafted:
Many ex-officers work at Russian airlines – they could now be called up, according to a Russian newspaper.
Accordingly, "serious discrepancies" are suspected in the recruitment offices.
Furious
The major crises hit, the mood darkens.
Anger and insecurity - these two feelings grow in us Germans.
This is the result of a survey by the opinion research institute Civey for SPIEGEL, which we would like to let you, the LAGE readers, know about here first.
Accordingly ,
41 percent
affirm the question of whether the term
»anger«
applies to their current emotional state.
For comparison: In May 2020 this value was still 15 percent, in May of this year it was less than 30 percent.
42 percent
said
"uncertainty"
applied to their current emotional state, 33 percent "loss of control/powerlessness," and 26 percent "hopelessness/anxiety."
Positive terms were mentioned less often.
Only
23 percent said they were "confident
," 17 percent felt "gratitude," and just seven percent said they were "joyed."
Maybe we Germans are particularly sensitive to crises, maybe the notorious
German Angst
will kick in again .
Well, I recently read a text for the US foreign policy magazine »Foreign Affairs« that dealt with humanity in a meta-related way: Relative to the average time that a mammalian species spends on earth, we are only in childhood.
At the same time, however, the human species is able to switch off its own light quite quickly due to nuclear weapons, climate change or pandemics.
"Our story could end before it really begins,"
it said.
I read that pretty drowsy and just before I fell asleep.
Wasn't such a good idea.
Things may be really bad for us.
But I don't want to give up hope now.
(Okay, I know only 23 percent of you see it the same way I do).
In any case, Putin certainly knows very well about this German (or Western) state of mind.
Its nuclear threats (see above), Russian propaganda—all aim to increase this sense of insecurity.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz must take these threats seriously, but at the same time keep a cool head.
My colleague Dirk Kurbjuweit writes: Scholz has to include every conceivable and unthinkable scenario in his calculations because Putin is capable of anything.
“It's like a game of poker, you don't know each other's cards.
"It's not a bluff," Putin said after he again threatened to use nuclear weapons."
And Dirk adds aptly: "This sentence can also be a bluff."
Scholz and his tank restraint: The big diversionary maneuver
Too young
At noon today, the Bavarian Greens want to elect their top candidates for next year's state elections.
They already presented the duo recently:
the parliamentary group leaders Katharina Schulze and Ludwig Hartmann.
If the majority situation allows it and the Christian Union loses power to the Greens after sixty-six years (which it doesn't look like at the moment), only one person would still be able to move into the state chancellery: Hartmann.
Because Katharina Schulze will be 38 years old when the elections will be held in autumn next year.
And that's not enough.
She can only be elected Prime Minister from the age of 40.
This is what Article 44 of the Bavarian Constitution says.
Greetings from yesterday.
In the event of a surprising Green election victory, the so-called Israeli model might be a good idea: changing the head of government halfway through the legislative period.
First Hartmann, then Schulze.
But that's just theory.
If the Greens are lucky, they will become Markus Söder's junior partner.
Incidentally, Vice Prime Minister may also become a U40 politician.
Rivalry between Habeck vs. Lindner: One will lose
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today:
The former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was known for the two buzzwords "glasnost" and "perestroika".
What do the terms mean?
Winner of the day...
... are the Spaniards.
Their Finance Minister not only has a name with which she would have beaten any Markus in the CSU and would have been Prime Minister for a long time, but also a sense of justice.
Because
María Jesús Montero has announced a two-year tax on Spain's "large fortunes"
to finance the current aid measures for the middle class and workers.
The future tax on the rich will affect "no more than one percent" of the population.
It's about protecting the incomes of 99 percent of the country's citizens.
"When we talk about rich people, we're talking about millionaires," says Montero.
She did not provide any information on the tax rate or tax revenue.
Fight against inflation crisis: Spain announces wealth tax from 2023
The latest news from the night
Monopolies Commission does not see a long-term solution in the nationalization of Uniper:
Germany's most important gas importer is to be nationalized - but if an advisory body of the federal government has its way, it should not stay that way in the long run.
Uniper could therefore act as a test case.
US IT companies should improve Internet access in Iran:
Nationwide protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini had led to the shutdown of mobile Internet services in Iran.
US IT companies should now ensure a free flow of information.
Germany loses for the first time under national coach Flick:
It took 14 international matches, now Hansi Flick knows what a defeat feels like.
The German national team showed an extremely weak first half against Hungary.
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
The Balakliya torture prison:
Russian troops ruled the small town of Balakliya for six months before Ukraine recaptured the area in the Kharkiv region.
Now residents and investigators are reporting on atrocities committed during the occupation.
The Sailing Shoe Boys:
The CDU has a problem with young voters.
Many conservatives blame the Junge Union for this.
Is the offspring really too old-fashioned – or is the party?
The painful farewell to cheap parking:
In Freiburg, up to 480 euros are due, in Cologne maybe 600 soon: Parking is sometimes sixteen times more expensive for residents.
This is how cars are supposed to be pushed out of the cities – but there is criticism.
Why families have so much fun in Copenhagen:
petting rays and riding a roller coaster, a grandiose cultural night and playground hopping de luxe: Copenhagen is the queen of city break destinations for families.
Here are the top tips.
I wish you a good start into the day.
Yours, Sebastian Fischer
