Friday October 7, 2022
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Meeting Both In-Person and by Zoom
Room Change: Room LL06A/B/C, Lower Level, Kelvin Smith Library*
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues:
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have been less of a surprise than Germany’s response. The new German Chancellor, Olof Scholz of the Social Democratic Party, responded with what was widely viewed as a “revolution” in German foreign policy. On February 27, “in an extraordinary session of the German parliament (the first-ever Sunday meeting), Scholz described the Russian attack on Ukraine as a ‘turning point’ that required a German national effort to preserve the political and security order in Europe.” Germany significantly increased its own military spending, agreed to exclude Russian banks from the international SWIFT financial transfer system, pledged significant military aid to Ukraine, supported strict EU sanctions and halted certification for the Nord 2 pipeline. He was supported by his coalition partners, the Free Democrats and the Greens, as he reversed his own party’s tendency to emphasize dialogue with Russia. Yet there have been complaints that the “revolution” has not gone far enough.
As I wrote this text, German defense minister Christine Lambrecht had just visited Odessa, meeting with Ukraine’s defense minister in a bunker when air raid sirens went off and pledging delivery of new weapons systems. But Germany was also being criticized by the Ukrainian government and others for doing too little, such as not sending new tanks to help the Ukrainians attack Russian positions. In Scholz’s words in late September, Germany was supporting Ukraine but “doing it in a way that is not escalating to where it is becoming a war between Russia and NATO because this would be a catastrophe.” Or so he hoped.
While Germany has backed major sanctions against Russia, it also has been especially dependent on Russian petroleum products, relying before the war on Russian imports for half of its natural gas and a third of its oil. As a result Germany has not supported a full embargo of Russian oil and gas; in fact, it seems as if the Russians have been using supply cuts as a weapon rather than seeing demand reduction as a threat. Therefore Germany’s response has included not just military and economic support for Ukraine but attempts to reconfigure its own energy economy. How well Germany and other European nations will do remains to be seen. It is certainly a major challenge as winter approaches.
What happens next? What are the key pressures on the German government and economy? Germany is central to Europe’s response to the invasion, and also to how the EU responds to the economic crisis the invasion created. Join us as Andreas Sobisch, an expert on German and European Union politics, shares perspectives on Germany’s response so far and in the future.
In-Person and Virtual Attendance
In order to make it easy for people to protect themselves and still participate, the meetings are accessible on Zoom. Participants can register for each meeting in the same way they did for the past two years. The link is posted below.
This “dual delivery” is a work in progress. Please be patient with any glitches. The first few sessions seem to have mostly gone well. The discussion begins at 12:30 p.m., but the room (changed to LL06A/B/C in the lower level of Kelvin Smith Library this week) should be open no later than Noon. We try to have beverages and refreshments set up soon after that. Participants should be able to sign on to Zoom also by Noon. But please remember not much will be happening online until the talk begins at 12:30 pm. Please also remember to show identification when entering Kelvin Smith Library.
Zoom participants should speak up when asked for questions or comments, or submit thoughts through Zoom’s chat function. Please keep yourself muted until you are choosing to speak.
Each week we will send out this newsletter with information about the topic. It will also include a link to register (for free) for the discussion. When you register, you will automatically receive from the Zoom system the link to join the meeting. If you do not get the newsletter, you should also be able to get the information each Monday by checking http://fridaylunch.case.edu/. Then if you choose you can use the contact form on that website to request the registration link.
This week’s Zoom link for registration is:
https://cwru.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEuc-2gpjItHNxdRlvcSCfYCMVwf732ojgR
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Please e-mail padg@case.edu if you have questions about how the Zoom version of the Friday Lunch will work or any other suggestions. Or call at 216 368-2426 and we’ll try to get back to you. We are very pleased to be partnering this semester with the Siegal Lifelong Learning Program to share information about the discussions.
Best wishes for safety and security for you and yours,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Dr. Andreas Sobisch graduated cum laude from Georgia College with a B.S. in Political Science. He later earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Emory University. Having served as an Associate Professor for John Carroll University from 1990 to 1996, Dr. Sobisch then became the Director of Global Education from 2005 to 2015. He is currently an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science.
Dr. Sobisch’s areas of study are Comparative Politics, European Politics, Politics of the European Union, and Research Methods. He currently teaches Comparative Politics, European Union, Political Parties, Public Policy, Global Citizenship Political Radicalism and Extremism, Neo-Nazism, Communism, Terrorism, and Research Methods: Philosophy of Science, Research Design, & Statistics. He is also part of the Advisory Board for the West European Studies Program out of the University of Pittsburg. A current member of the European Union Simulation Consortium, Dr. Sobisch also serves in the German Studies, the European Union Studies, and the American Political Science Associations.
* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
October 14: More Money for the IRS. With Timothy Fogarty, Ph.D., Andrew D. Braden Professor, Department of Accountancy.
October 21: To Be Determined
October 28: Is This the EU’s Moment? With Elliot Posner, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science.
November 4: Midterm Election Polls and Prospects. With Thomas Sutton, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science and Director of the Community Research Institute, Baldwin Wallace University, and CWRU faculty.
November 11: Law Enforcement and the Opioid Epidemic. With Daniel J. Flannery, Ph.D., Dr. Semi J. and Ruth Begun Professor and Director, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, MSASS.
November 18: The First Energy Scandal and the Challenge of Utility Regulation. With Miranda Leppla, J.D., Director, Environmental Law Clinic, CWRU School of Law.
November 25: Thanksgiving Break
December 2: To Be Determined
December 9: To Be Determined |
