Latest news with #Prussian
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK and Netherlands among Europe's most 'overbearing' nanny states
While the UK and the Netherlands are arguably the historic homelands of libertarian and free-market economic philosophy and personal freedoms, at least in Europe, turns out they have morphed into two of the most 'paternalistic' of the continent's so-called nanny states. The 2025 Nanny State Index, published by London-based Institute for Economic Affairs and the Brussels-based European Policy Information Centre, lists Turkey, Lithuania and Finland as the most restrictive places to drink alcohol, smoke, vape and snack, with the UK the seventh-worst and the Netherlands close behind at 12th on the list of most "overbearing" countries. The UK's ranking would likely have been close to bottom had the government not withdrawn a proposal made last year to ban smoking outdoors in beer gardens. Germany, with its history of sternly Prussian or green or social democrat-tinted statism - turns out to be Europe's closest thing to libertarian utopia, with Luxembourg next and the top five of the 29-country league table rounded out by Italy, Spain and Czechia. Ireland, with its pub-crawl image and popularity with tourists from the US (the self-styled 'land of the free') fares worse than the UK, coming in as mollycoddler number five in the 2025 index. Ireland's visitor numbers have plummeted thios year, with the first two months seeing drops of around 20% compared to 2024 as complaints soar about the high cost of hotels, transport and beer. The Netherlands, and Amsterdam in particular, has long been known for its permissiveness and anything-goes aura. But recent years have seen city authorities and locals in Amsterdam rail against ill-behaved visitors to its marijuana cafes and red-light district. Policies such as sugar taxes, curbs on smoking in public, high duties on alcohol and cigarettes and related advertising bans were considered in the compiling of the latest index, which the IEA has been updating since first publishing in 2016. "Insofar as public health campaigners acknowledge the damage done by their policies, they argue that it is more than offset by the benefit to health - the ends justify the means," the index report authors said. "But there is little evidence that countries with more paternalistic policies enjoy greater health or longevity," they claimed.
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
An exhibition in Kochi chronicles three generations of a family's journey in art
When the artworks of three generations of a family come together, it is more than a showcase of artistic talent. It is a heart-warming event tinged with emotion, memories and love. Sethubandhanam, an exhibition at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery, chronicles a family's journey in art. A tribute to the late artist, writer and illustrator K Balasubramanian, by his children Shalini B Menon and Kailas Menon, the exhibition, says Shalini, is a way to stay connected to their father's legacy. 'It is not just an exhibition for us, it holds a deeper significance. While honouring our father's body of work, we are also expressing our connection to him through art, a gift he gave us,' adds Shalini. Featuring the works of Balasubramanian, Shalini, Kailas and their children Vishnu sharan, Arpana K Menon and Agney K Menon, the show offers a range of artistic expression, across time, circumstances and style. 'The show was conceived before his (Balasubramanian's) death in 2020. He wanted to organise an exhibition that would celebrate a family united by its love for creative expression,' says Kailas. It took months of effort to curate the show. Shalini along with Kailas carefully sorted their father's works, some of which he himself had kept aside for the show. A selection of his nuanced illustrations for Chandrika and Mathrubhumi from the late 1960s and early 1970s occupy a large part of the show. Though he worked in the technical department at Mathrubhoomi (1965-1968), Balasubramanian was a regular contributor to the art and photography sections. He later moved to CIFNET, where he worked as an artist photographer. Though he was not in mainstream art, Balasubramanian continued to fuel his fire, painting, drawing and writing plays. He has written five plays, one of which was published, Cholliyattom, which won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award. The translated version of the book was launched at the exhibition. One of his paintings, a large portrait of an elderly couple, occupies pride of place at the exhibition. The portrait belongs to Commander S Gopalakrishnan, who commissioned it to the artist. 'This is a portrait of my parents. I gave him a black and white photograph of theirs for reference. I remember him asking me what colour my mother loved. And I said green. The portrait has my mother draped in an emerald green sari,' says Gopalakrishnan, who offered the painting to be The showcase also includes posters designed by him, newspaper reports and a hand-written note he left for his wife Rema, just a day before he passed. Shalini and Kailas picked up their early lessons in art from their father. 'Being surrounded by art, we were naturally inclined to it,' says Shalini, who worked as an audit manager, before taking up art full time. A protege of artist Suresh TR, founder of Prussian Blue Art Hub, she has displayed her watercolour series on the quaint countrysides of Wadakkancherry, a village she was familiar with through her father's stories. She revisited the place before painting the series, which evoke a sense of nostalgia — the charm of a mansion in a village, a temple festival, a lonely alleyway. Some of her acrylics are also on show. Kailas, who did his fashion designing at NIFT Chennai, worked in Dubai for over 17 years, has been part of a few art exhibitions there. His striking series of drawings in charcoal and brush and ink, titled Sindoor, depicting women with and without the bright vermilion spot on their foreheads. Kailas explores the concept of the veil and beauty hidden, in another colourful triptych. Two striking works in charcoal, one of a palace complex in Jodhpur and one which shows the other side of Jodhpur, is a detailed depiction of the cityscape. He uses a bold palette, mixing styles and drawing from his experience as a designer, while also staying connected to his roots. Shalini's son Vishnu Sharan, who is pursuing his MBA, expresses his love for sport in two paintings, while Kailas's children Arpana (who has just completed her Plus Two) and Agney's (who is in Class X) works include watercolours of landscapes and sport stars, reflecting their interests. The show is on till May 26 at Gallery A, B and C of Durbar Hall Art Centre till May 26.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why Washington failed to end the Russo-Ukrainian War
In the early 19th century, one of the founding fathers of modern war studies, the Prussian general and military historian Carl von Clausewitz, commented on the Napoleonic Wars: "The conqueror is always peace-loving; he would much prefer to march into our state calmly." This remains an observation that applies to most military aggressions. Yet, Clausewitz's basic idea was ignored by most Europeans in their interpretation of Moscow's behaviour after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014. Much of European diplomacy and commentary until 2022 instead built on the assumption that the Kremlin's public insistence on the peacefulness of its intentions towards Kyiv implies that one can and should negotiate and moderate Russian aims and behaviour in Ukraine. This inapt premise ignored that Russian President Vladimir Putin merely preferred Ukraine's non-violent takeover to an uncertain future military campaign against Kyiv. When, eleven years ago, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea and covertly invaded eastern Ukraine, the war as such had no benefits for Putin and his entourage. Instead, a hybrid subversion of Ukraine by Russian agents and proxy forces, rather than a violent occupation of most of the Ukrainian lands by tens of thousands of regular Russian troops, was the preferred method. During the last three years, however, the role of Russia's - now full-scale - military invasion of Ukraine for Putin's regime has changed. One the one side, the war itself has acquired a stabilizing function for the Russian political system that relies on an increasingly extremist ideology, militarized economy and mobilized society. On the other side, most European politicians, diplomats and experts now have fewer illusions about Putin's putative love for peace than they had a decade ago. In contrast, the hitherto largely adequate perception of Moscow's strategy in Washington has been replaced, since January 2025, by an escapist approach to the Russo-Ukrainian War. Read also: 'It's all a farce' — Ukrainian soldiers on Russia's 'smokescreen' peace talks in Istanbul The degree of the new U.S. administration's political naivety, moral indifference and diplomatic dilettantism, during its first four months in office, has been astonishing. Even in view of the aberrations during Trump's first presidency of 2017-2021, the inadequacy of the last months' statements and actions by the White House regarding the Russo-Ukrainian War has triggered shockwaves in Europe and elsewhere. One suspects that not only strategic infantilism, but also political respect and even personal sympathy, in the Trump administration, for Putin, have been driving the recent zigzags of the U.S. Four months of American shuttle diplomacy and mediation attempts have achieved only little. The results of this week's two-hour conversation between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump have also been meagre. To be sure, the two presidents spoke, after their telephone talk, of success. Yet, there are no tangible outcomes of the intense trilateral negotiations between Washington, Moscow, and Kyiv, and of the direct interactions between the U.S. and Russian presidents. Putin made it clear that there would not be any ceasefire soon. Russian imperialism will not be neutralized by negotiations, compromises, or concessions. Trump announced that there should be direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, as if the two countries had not been negotiating with each other, in different formats, for more than eleven years already. In his comment about Monday's phone call, Putin, in fact, engaged in a trolling of Ukraine, the U.S., and the entire West in two ways. First, the term that Russia has recently introduced and Putin used to label the primary aim to be achieved in upcoming negotiations is "memorandum." Everybody familiar with the history of post-Soviet Russo-Ukrainian relations will know that there exists already a historic security-related "memorandum" signed by Moscow and Kyiv (as well as Washington and London) at Hungary's capital more than 30 years ago. In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, Moscow guaranteed, in exchange for Kyiv's agreement to hand over all of its nuclear warheads to Russia, that it would not attack Ukraine. Washington and London too assured Kyiv that they respect the Ukrainian borders and sovereignty. After Moscow has been demonstratively trampling the letter and spirit of the Budapest Memorandum for eleven years, the Kremlin is now offering to sign another Russo-Ukrainian "memorandum." Second, Putin did not exclude, after speaking to Trump, that future negotiations with Kyiv may lead to a truce. Yet, the Russian president added that, "if appropriate agreements are reached," a "possible ceasefire" would only be "for a certain period of time." Even if the negotiations are successful, the armistice will be merely temporary. That caveat by Putin is an apt admission: The Russian war economy and population's military mobilization are now so far advanced that they cannot be easily stopped. Moscow is not any longer able to abruptly discontinue warfighting. What would happen to Russia's hundreds of thousands of enlisted soldiers, large-scale weapons production, and routine bellicose as well as intense Ukrainophobic campaigns in many spheres of Russian social life (education, media, culture etc.), if there is suddenly a permanent peace? These and similar signals from Moscow allow only one conclusion: To end the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia needs to experience a humiliating defeat on the battlefield. The lesson from the past is, moreover, that Russian military failures have triggered domestic liberalization, such as the Great Reforms after the Crimean War of 1854-1856, or the introduction of semi-constitutionalism following the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. One of the determinants of Glasnost and Perestroika was the disastrous failure of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979-1989. Russian imperialism will not be neutralized by negotiations, compromises, or concessions. Instead, such approaches only promote further foreign adventurism in Moscow and military escalation along Russia's borders. The Kremlin will one day end Russia's expansionist wars as well as genocidal terror against civilians in Ukraine and elsewhere. Yet for that to happen, the Russian people first need to start believing that such behaviour cannot lead to victory, may trigger internal collapse, and will be resolutely punished. Submit an Opinion Read also: 'There we go again' — For war-weary Europe, Trump-Putin call yet another signal to 'wake up' We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
New European
20-05-2025
- General
- New European
Germansplaining: The House of Hohenzollern, a dynasty fit for a Netflix drama
This near-century-long dispute could be a Netflix series featuring imperial palaces, royal corpses, Spanish snuff, a Prussian prince, the Nazis and commies, and a few plot twists. Some conflicts last for ever. One has just been wrapped up after only 99 years: German authorities and the noble House of Hohenzollern have buried the hatchet, though not in each other, which is progress. Previously on Hohenzollern Unrestored: from the 18th century, the dynasty supplied Prussia with monarchs, and from 1871 it also provided the new Reich with a few Kaisers. That all came to a screeching halt when the Weimar Republic was declared, and Wilhelm II flounced off into exile in the Netherlands. Family assets were confiscated. A 1926 law settled who got what, but legal ambiguities remained. They wrangled through the Third Reich, then through the GDR, and even persisted in reunified Germany, long after Prussia itself had been officially dissolved by the allies in 1947. Prussia, which had made up two-thirds of German territory before the war, remained a historical problem area. At last, this month the federal culture secretary and Prinz Georg Friedrich von Preussen, great-great-grandson of the last emperor Wilhelm II, announced an agreement. The saga, it seems, has a finale. Georg Friedrich had inherited the legal headache in 1994, aged just 18, when he became head of the once-royal house. By that point, the family had spent decades trying to claw back property and compensation. They even asked the GDR for the right to reside in Potsdam's Cecilienhof Palace (as if the Berlin Wall was just a garden fence). And communist-in-chief Erich Honecker offered 'His Imperial Highness' a proper burial for the Prussian kings Frederick William I and his son, Frederick II 'The Great', at Schloss Sanssouci. The royal coffins had been taken from Potsdam in 1943, stored in a potash mine in Thuringia, then transferred to Marburg in Hesse (West Germany) and finally to Hechingen near Stuttgart, to the ancestral castle of the Hohenzollern. For the corpses, considering the bumpy journey, RIP must have stood for 'rest in one piece'. In the end, it was chancellor Helmut Kohl (and not Honecker) who attended the final burial of 'Old Fritz', aka Friedrich II, on the terrace of Sanssouci Palace. The public authorities refused to pay compensation for Hohenzollern palaces expropriated under Soviet rule – as this is legally denied to anyone who 'significantly aided and abetted' the Nazis. And, well, Kaiser Wilhelm II's oldest son, another Wilhelm, wasn't exactly resistance material. To bolster their claim, the Hohenzollern family commissioned an expert report from Cambridge historian Christopher Clark. According to Clark, Wilhelm Jr had expressed admiration for Hitler and the Nazis. The ex-crown prince was, however, too insignificant to have 'significantly supported' them. 'As if!', thought the Bundesrepublik, and provided two counter-experts. Both added incriminating facts to Clark's list, emphasizing Wilhelm's enthusiasm for Italian fascism and his PR for the regime. A fourth historian – Team Prussia again – came up with the creative twist that supporting the Nazis may have just been a ruse to restore the monarchy. A draw. And in 2023, the Hohenzollern finally dropped the lawsuits and returned to negotiations, focusing on movable goods – 27,000 of them, to be precise – including memorabilia, furniture, textiles, paintings, library and archive collections, some of considerable value and historical significance. Most have been in public museums in Berlin and Brandenburg. And thanks to the new deal, the majority will stay there. Highlights include a Lucas Cranach the Elder portrait of Joachim I of Brandenburg, baroque ivory furniture and the table service for the Breslau City Palace, acquired by Frederick II in 1750. A newly created non-profit, Hohenzollern Art Foundation, will oversee the collection. The family gets three board seats, but the public sector has a majority say. Some disputed pieces are returned to Hohenzollern property, however, including seven tabatiers – fancy tobacco tins Frederick the Great used for Spanish snuff. One of them, legend has it, saved his life in the seven years' war by deflecting an enemy bullet. Two tabatiers will remain in museums on permanent loan, but the other five may soon appear at auctions. So if you've got a few million pounds lying around and a taste for fancy antiques, you're in luck.
Express Tribune
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
AI and the changing character of warfare
Listen to article The nature of war — defined by violence, chance and rationality — remains constant while the character of war — influenced by geopolitics, geo-economics, societal norms and technology — is prone to constant change. Over the decades, despite experiencing several Revolutions in Military Affairs (RMA) — marked by the invention of gunpowder, tanks, aircraft, and nuclear weapons — the phenomena described by the famous Prussian strategist Clausewitz remain relevant. In particular, modern conflicts are witnessing a revolutionary transformation in the nature of warfare, driven by the development and deployment of AI-based weapon systems. Advancements in the field of AI has enabled the introduction of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) that have the ability to autonomously scan, identify, lock and destroy as well as carry out battle damage assessment over a range of airborne, seaborne and ground based targets with remarkable accuracy. AI-based systems are impacting various domains and influencing decision-making processes at different levels. However, this autonomy often leads to unacceptable collateral damage, posing challenges not only to the desired level of human control but also raising serious concerns about the extent of decision-making autonomy granted to machines. More and more countries and military industrial complexes worldwide are spending billions of dollars and dedicating resources to surpass others in the pursuit of AI-enabled command and control systems. In 2017, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs carried out a study to identify a growing trend amongst number of countries to pursue and develop the use of autonomous weapon systems. According to the report, the ever-growing trend inherited a real risk of uncontrollable war. Similarly, a study on AI and Urban Operations conducted by the University of South Florida concluded that "the armed forces may soon be able to monitor, strike and kill their opponents and even civilians as will." Ruthless and lethal use of AI-driven targeting system was exemplified by IDF in Gaza. In December 2023, The Guardian revealed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used an AI-based targeting system called Hesbora (Gospel) to target more than 100 targets in a single day. According to Aviv Kochavi, the former head of IDF, a human intelligence-based system could only identify up to 50 targets in an entire year. Chief Executive of Israeli Tech firm 'Start up Nation Central' Mr Avi Hasson stated that the "war in Gaza has provided an opportunity for the IDF to test emerging technologies which had never been used in past conflicts." Consequently, IDF destroyed more than 360,000 buildings, indiscriminately killed over 50,000 and injured over 113,500 Palestinians, most of whom were innocent women and children. Ironically, indiscriminate killing of non-combatants is forbidden in the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. Interestingly, technologically advanced, militarily strong, and economically wealthy countries worldwide are investing heavily in the development or acquisition of AI-based weapon systems. The AI in the Military Global Market Report 2024 projected a 16.6% growth in the global military market for 2024, reflecting a global race to dominate AI-driven military technology. In its New General AI Plan, China declared that "AI is a strategic technology that will lead the future" and aims to be the world leader in AI by 2030. Similarly, the US has adopted the "Third Offset Strategy" to invest heavily in AI, autonomous weapons, and robotics, vowing to maintain its technological edge. In February 2023, Asia Times reported that the US Department of Defense launched the Autonomous Multi-Domain Adaptive Swarm of Systems project, aimed at developing autonomous drone swarms to overwhelm enemy air defense systems across air, land and sea. In June 2022, Indian Ministry of Defence organised the 'AI in Defence' (AIDef) symposium and introduced 75 AI-based platforms. Indian author and strategist Mr Pravin Sawhney, in his book The Last War, published in August 2022, has amplified the decisive role of AI and AI-based autonomous weapons and swam drones in a projected armed conflict between China and India. In the same context, Pakistan has also launched the Centre for AI and Computing (CENTAIC) under the auspices of Pakistan Air Force to spearhead AI development and AI-based integration of various air, land and sea weapon systems into operational and strategic domains. In the South Asian context, given the long-standing enmity under the nuclear overhang, the introduction of AI based LAWS and their unhesitating use could have serious repercussions on the security architecture. In the same context, absence of a comprehensive and regulatory legal framework coupled with non-existence of state monopoly further complicates the security situation. To gauge the destructive and dangerous nature of AI-driven command and control systems, a group of researchers from four US universities simulated a war scenario in January 2024, using five different AI programs, including OpenAI and Meta's Llama. The results were shocking for both scientists and advocates of AI-based LAWS. The study's findings revealed that all simulated models selected nuclear weapons as their first choice of weapon over other options, including diplomatic or peace initiatives, when confronting adversaries. The widespread availability of AI technology, coupled with the absence of global or state-level regulations and monopolies, makes it vulnerable to exploitation by non-state actors. This situation calls for the initiation of collective action and the implementation of a stringent regulatory framework at both the global and national levels. Concerted global efforts are needed to legally and ethically advance AI-driven initiatives. Recognising the significance and urgency of this issue, UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasised in his address during the 2023 New Agenda for Peace policy briefing that "there is a necessity to conclude a legally binding instrument to prohibit the development and deployment of autonomous weapon systems by 2026."
