Geisa Talk “Ukraine conflict”

Experts and a highly interested audience discussed the effects of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war on politics, society and the public at the second Geisa Talk organized by the Point Alpha Research Institute in the Gangolfi Hall of the City Palace. A lively discussion developed between the scientists and the participants. “As an institute, it is of central importance to us that science and society come into contact with each other,” said Prof. Dr. Christiane Kuller from the University of Erfurt, member of the Board of Directors and moderator of the event.

Solidarity with Ukraine

Prof. Dr. Matthias Klemm reported that the population in Germany is largely behind the support of Ukraine, even if this is associated with disadvantages for them. The sociologist is also certain that the Ukraine conflict is not the sole trigger for the current crises, but rather acts as an accelerator.

Public opinion and media echo

Prof. Dr. Christine Domke stated that, in her opinion, the end of the war did not mean an automatic return to the status quo. She emphasized that never before had a war been covered by the media like this one and that the initial peak phase of war reporting had triggered increased solidarity with Ukraine in society. Although this solidarity is unbroken, concrete support is currently declining. In addition to the war, there is an increased presence of other topics in the media, such as the gas and climate crisis. Domke sees the public debate with open letters dealing with the war issue as very positive.

Science in conflicts

The academics agreed that there would be no politically simple solutions to end this war immediately. Political scientist Prof. Dr. Claudia Wiesner noted that even political science has no general solution in the current situation. “If someone had asked us for our opinion five days before the outbreak of war, we would have said: That’s not rational, Putin won’t do that!” said the spokeswoman for the directorate of the research institute. She explained that it is currently particularly important to learn to tolerate different opinions again. Therefore she referred to findings from conflict research, according to which it is necessary to wait until the opponent has been pushed so far against the wall that he can no longer refuse negotiations. This perspective would justify the current arms deliveries.