Thread by @bctallis

There's been a lot said about @TimothyDSnyder's devastating takedown of Jurgen #Habermas perspective on #Ukraine & #Russia which is, sadly, representative of a major strand of discourse in #Germany that also impacts 🇩🇪policy & positioning.

I want to highlight a few things 🧵

https://twitter.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1542260371213410307

Snyder's main point, which is spot on, is that #Habermas take is actually not about #Ukraine or really even about #Russia (apart from in a very instrumental way) - its all about #Germany.
This is important because it indicates the level of Onanistic self-obsession that dominates

way too much of the debate here. Ukrainians might be fighting & dying for what should be all of our cause - because they are fighting for all of our freedoms (& security) against an aggressive authoritarian regime - but for too many 'elites' in #Germany, the main issue is Germany

This is totally unacceptable as Snyder points out because it wastes time that #Ukraine doesn't have that we Europeans & the wider West don't have, that anyone who wants democracy to vanquish dictatorship doesn't have. It shows dangerous self-absorption & callous disregard which

leads to exactly the kind of ineffective (& endless) discussion of #Germany & its 'unique' moral conscience, talking about delivering weapons more than actually doing so (even if some are finally getting through), which as Snyder notes creates a false impression of action

This is compounded by talk of a #Zeitenwende - which has again given the impression that #Germany is really responding, changing appropriately in reaction to the sudden shattering of the European security order (even if it had been decaying for a long time) but this is also FALSE

The #Zeitenwende isn't dead (as some fear)
- but only because it hasn't happened ...

the changes that have been announced are the bare minimum in gap-filling & don't make up for years of neglect.

Nor can a still quite stingy shopping list for the Bundeswehr stand in for

the major shift in attitude & mindset that are really needed to integrate a new vision for #Germany's security & foreign policy identity with the appropriate capabilities, institutions & partnerships.
That's where these internal German debates DO matter- but #Habermas isn't alone

From 'Open Letters' & celebratory interventions to the endless appearance of half-wit controversialists on the circus of evening talk shows, there is a very strong current of opinion in #Germany that can't or, more likely, won't wake up to the new reality

https://twitter.com/bctallis/status/1519995511230640130?s=20&t=54SOniK991jI5Q6CdmEF0g

They won't because it would be too much of a shock to their cynical & complacent worldview that all too easily lends itself to moral grandstanding but still needs recognition as being superior.

This is based on their delusion that #Germany gave up war after 1945 & ignores

the huge contribution that Germans made to NATO during the Cold War. They do so because it's convenient to free ride on others for security while you proclaim all values dead or hypocritically imperialist but still benefit from them in 🇩🇪 & thus feel pretty good about yourself

Which is why we get the tone policing on 🇺🇦Amb Melnyk & others who dare to question this particular German order of things - it is intended to morally cover the lack of real discussion or action but of course it falls short & only further exposes the poverty of its perpetrators

who ruthlessly enjoyed their cushy lives, pronounced nonsense (for a good wage) & avoided responsibility for either #Germany's future or the international order, enjoying the ill-gotten gains of dealing with Putin's mysteriously anti-imperialist (non-US) empire until ...

#Ukraine did something amazing. Despite having been sold down the river, it stood up to the bully. Rallying around the flag, everyday folk from all walks of life showed these 🇩🇪 'intellectuals' exactly what could be done & why its worth fighting for freedom, rights & democracy

and, predictably, they hated it. It showed them up for what they are. So they try & strike back in these pathetic ways, speaking of 'peace' which actually just means that another #CEE country should take one for the 'team' so they can get back to living in their easy peace

But for many, including #Habermas, #CEE doesn't matter - it never has.
Look at his description of '89 & '91 as 'Catching Up Revolutions'.
Look at his 2003 description of the region as 'non-core Europe' (foreshadowing the mistakes many Western Europeans would make re #Ukraine)

Some of his ilk have even directly said that Budapest '56 & Prague '68 - show the value of NOT standing up to the bully, to the dictator. What they mean is that they are happy to ride on the suffering of others, while proclaiming morality from their Lehrstulen & TV soapboxes

This is the true harvest of the 'post-heroic' society that Habermas & others have done so much to foster (while of course enjoying their own hero-intellectual status & reaping its rewards). Real heroes must obviously learn from past shortcomings, but we really do need them -

& no, not everyone who tries to be a hero is a Nazi - how conveniently screwed up that idea is. No wonder there's such reluctance in Germany to actually take responsibility, to take a decision, to risk something & do the right thing. This hurts 🇩🇪s in the LT but hurts 🇺🇦s now.

Snyder also notes this attitude ignores the v. real responsibility that #Germany bears for the more recent suffering of #Ukraine nor for how it arrogantly trampled all over the agency of #CEE states, ignoring their warnings about #Putin & #Russia, nor for its free riding on NATO

There is still insufficient recognition in 🇩🇪that not acting does not absolve you of responsibility - inaction is also action. But really so much of this is a cynical facade. This is the #Germany that exudes moralism while pretending not to be powerful & yet mercilessly pursuing

economic goals that benefit its elite, which ensures there is enough money to be distributed to its universities & to foster TV debate culture while undermining international security (esp in #CEE) - but still lets you feel good about yourself because you only believe in 'peace'

All of this is to say how utterly fed up so many people INSIDE & OUTSIDE Germany are with the endless navel-gazing & smug advocacy for faux 'peace' while Ukrainians are dying in a very real war unleashed on them by an authoritarian power that will only be stopped by force. So ...

Please, stop the introverted debate & get real about helping #Ukraine. Now.
Divorce that side of the equation from the other, much needed discussion about #Germany's own future direction.
Yes there are related questions, but that can be smartly dealt with that. ST, MT, LT ...

& #Habermas, please just stop now.
#Germany needs a nationally proud, heroic society capable of acting as a force for good.
No one needs your #Westsplaining, endless debate, historical errors & facilitation of cynicism.
We've had enough for a lifetime, let alone wartime.
END.