Instead of the international police action we had hoped for during the war in Kosovo, there are wars again - conducted with state-of-the-art technology, but still in the old style.

The misery in war-torn Afghanistan is reminiscent of images from the Thirty Years' War.

Today's Islamic fundamentalism is also a cover for political motifs. We should not overlook the political motifs we encounter in forms of religious fanaticism.

I cannot imagine a context that would some day, in some manner, make the monstrous crime of September 11 an understandable or comprehensible political act.

Perhaps September 11 could be called the first historic world event in the strictest sense: the impact, the explosion, the slow collapse – a gruesome reality literally took place in front of a global public.

A threatened nation can react to uncertain dangers solely through administrative channels, to the truly embarrassing situation of perhaps overreacting.

I take as my fundamental starting point the fundamental distinction between work and interaction.

Partisans fight on familiar territory with professed political objectives to conquer power. This is what distinguishes them from terrorists.

I consider Bush’s decision to call for a war against terrorism a serious mistake. He is elevating these criminals to the status of war enemies, and one cannot lead a war against a network if the term war is to retain any definite meaning.

Instead of the international police action we had hoped for during the war in Kosovo, there are wars again – conducted with state-of-the-art technology, but still in the old style.