“Getting Out of the Affair Elegantly”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with head of Deutsche Bank Rolf Breuer on merger mania, stock market crashes and his prognosis for the new year:

“A merger is a method of bringing together companies which results in at least one of the partners having to give up his identity. There are all sorts of forms below this kind of complete merger – whether you call them co-operations, or partnerships, or alliances – which probably lead to better results and produce less internal resistance. … I recall very clearly that a whole range of people advocated modesty in the new markets, restraint towards the stocks and shares of the New Economy. … I wouldn’t say that the end of the world had come, the crash had begun and that everyone should try to save their own skin. Because we are facing a business year 2001 that doesn’t look bad on either side of the Atlantic. … I don’t think I’m alone with my optimistic prognosis for 2001, in fact I’m in agreement with the vast majority of all research agencies.”

“Bush Is No Fool”

SPIEGEL interview with security expert Zbigniew Brzezinski on the tasks facing the new Washington president, on the second American century and peace in the Middle East:

“Europe quite simply won’t be able to agree to the extent that would be necessary to challenge the USA. We ourselves are the only force that could wrest global leadership from the USA. If the American people tire of this role, and stupidly and self-destructively withdraw behind their own borders, then that might happen. … We have to enlarge Europe by enlarging the EU and Nato. There must not be any grey area between Europe and Russia. … The scepticism could turn out to be a great advantage for George W. Bush. It will surprise everyone to find that he isn’t the way the world simplistically thinks of him.”

“There Will Be No Mercy”

Interview with Serbian head of government designate Zoran Djindjic on his electoral victory, the reforms on the agenda and the necessity of settling with the Milosevic regime:

“First of all the legal jungle has to be cleared, otherwise no one is going to invest in our country. For 50 years we have been leading an administrative double life. In real terms there were laws, while in practice matters were decided by phone calls and orders issued by the Socialist Party. We are going to remove all investment restrictions for foreigners. … Here in Serbia there is an impoverished and angry middle class. These people demand future transparency, but also an account of the manipulations in the past. … We do not have to detain Milosevic at all cost, that isn’t our priority. Milosevic is not under constant surveillance. … However: before he goes I would ask him to supply information about the balance of his accounts. … The international protectorate in Kosovo must continue for at least another five years. During this time we will build trust and show the Albanians that co-operation with Serbia is in their own interest.”

“The False Red of the Rose”

What happens in our heads when our eyes see something? How does consciousness, how does the idea of “self” emerge? In a SPIEGEL in-depth interview, brain researcher Wolf Singer describes the central organ as an “extremely decentrally organised, dynamic system”. He regards the concept of free will as a mere illusion:

“We do very many things for motives that we are unconscious of. Because much of what is processed and doesn’t reach our consciousness, is of course nevertheless important for our actions. That’s why we often subsequently invent motives for something that we have done. It is probably just a problem of the limited capacity of our consciousness. … So far we haven’t even completely solved the simple question of how perceptions are actually represented biochemically in our brains. I think we are at the moment considerably underestimating the complexity behind the dynamics of a brain that is constantly changing.”

“I Make Myself Empty”

Interview with French actress Isabelle Huppert on her work with film director Claude Chabrol, laudable resolutions and her new film “Sweet Poison”:

“The further away the camera is, the more you have to act. But you mustn’t do that in a close-up. The audience has to project its own emotions into my face. … From the outside Chabrol always seems like a friendly, almost jovial uncle, but inside he’s nothing like that. It’s difficult to really get to know him. … The older he becomes, the more impossible it becomes for Chabrol to make a bad film – least of all when I’m playing the lead role. … I make the same resolution every year, and every time I fail. Every time I resolve to make clearer decisions. I have great problems in that respect, not professionally – there I know exactly what I want – but in my private life.”

“Purple Troops in Black”

Vatican: Will Pope John Paul II withdraw to a monastery once the “Holy Year 2000” is over? Despite all the denials, staff manoeuvrings in the Vatican are sparking off new speculations as candidates for his succession get into position. During his 22 years in office, the stopgap candidate from the East, who was elected because the supporters of the top favourites blocked one another, has changed the church more than most of his predecessors.

“Madonna from the Twilight”

Art: Experts are at loggerheads over a privately owned painting that has recently reappeared after many decades. Is it an authentic preliminary draft for a famous painting by Raffael which the pope gave the king of France as a gift – or merely a later partial copy? There is no written document confirming that it is indeed a preliminary to the painting presented to the French king. That can only be deduced using a certain amount of reasoning when the two paintings are compared – provided the smaller one also comes from Raffael’s studio. Many experts assume this to be the case, though not all. If the supporters are right, the case will shed a new light on the workshop and business methods of the Renaissance master.