So now Vladimir Putin has made real what US President Joe Biden has been predicting for some time: The invasion of Ukraine. Here are a few preliminary thoughts.

Social ills are blamed on the capitalist economic order, and the state is therefore supposed to steer it and protect its citizens from all risks

We do not see demonstrations in Russia for the conquest of Ukraine. There are no young men marching through Moscow or Petersburg expressing their willingness to sacrifice. Hardly anyone wants to die for Vladimir and Holy Russia.

Overcoming political and social polarisation in Western societies could become a question of survival for the West.

The costs of climate protection have to be earned. No green accounting reform will change that. It's just not so green when economic figures are greened by reforms.

Could the green taxonomy not be about sustainability and climate protection at all, but about maximizing the acquisition of EU funds for each country's own national energy industry?