German armed forces: The German government wants to strengthen its armed forces in order to be able to play a more independent role in future crises.

“Nato against Freestyle Wrestlers”

Caucasus: A battle is raging on Georgian soil over influence and oil in the Caucasus. While separatists loyal to Moscow are arming themselves with Russian help in the north of the country, US officers are drilling elite Georgian troops near Tblisi for an emergency. As yet, Tblisi depends on Russia for oil and gas. But as of 2005, petroleum is to flow through Georgia on its way from Azerbaijan to Turkey via the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline, to be followed a year later by gas. This is the real battle that is currently being fought in Georgia. This is why elite soldiers and combat units of the US troops stationed in the Middle East were crawling through the Georgian countryside just days before the beginning of the war in Iraq, training Caucasian country lads in close combat. Whoever controls the pipelines in Georgia stands to become independent of transit countries such as Russia and Iran.

“The Saudi Connection”

Internal security: The Tunisians arrested on suspicion of terrorism appear to have had prominent supporters – at the Saudi embassy in Berlin. The case confirms a suspicion that German and American criminal investigators and intelligence agents have already had for some time: Saudi Arabia, which is officially a partner in the war against terrorism, is serving as a base for the followers of Osama bin Laden. At least parts of the Saudi government apparatus appear to support the fundamentalist groups that they are officially supposed to be hunting – financially and, as the Berlin case shows, logistically, to the point of giving Islamists privileges such as official cars. In the case of at least one high-ranking diplomat, the investigators have been able to prove the Saudi connection by means of both audio and visual evidence: a member of the embassy’s staff by the name of Mohammad J. Fakihi, officially accredited as an attaché, keeps turning up in front of the investigators.

“The Stranger in the Mirror”

Identity: British surgeon Peter Butler wants to transplant the faces of dead people onto the heads of living patients who have been disfigured by cancer, accidents or war. The first candidates have already signed up for a project which is the subject of great controversy among doctors and patients. By the age of about 18 months, a child learns to recognise the image it sees in a mirror as “me”. But that face is vulnerable, it can be disfigured by burns, impact, or gunfire, destroyed suddenly by accidents, terrorism or war. Or by cancer that eats its way through the body’s tissue, and subsequently by the surgeons who fight that cancer, often leaving behind little of what was once “me” in the mirror. In every country there are people who are obliged to live with such faces. These are the people one has to ask what it is like living without a face. And whether it would be better to wear one that you knew had belonged to someone else before.

“The Warrior and the Cook”

US soldiers: On day one of the invasion, Major David Gurfein was already celebrating victory in front of the television cameras. On day three, Specialist Shoshona Johnson was taken prisoner of war in Iraq. Their fates mirror America’s hopes and fears – and the disillusionment after one week of war.

“Striving for Happiness”

Economics: Economic researchers are discovering happiness as a measure of all affluence. Now they are measuring the satisfaction of commuters, spouses and jobless people the world over. For statisticians, the world of feelings and emotions simply consists of upward and downward deflections. Whatever happens to people, they either feel better or worse afterwards. And one can offset the other. A growing band of economists has set out to measure people’s satisfaction with life world-wide. The weekend before last the happiness researchers met for an international congress in Milan, at which the enormous scope for the new approach became apparent. While some are studying the influence of bonding between couples, others have chosen to investigate air traffic noise, inflation or the inequality of incomes in a country. The question as to the effect on happiness is very easy to express: How much money would you have to give people (or take away from them) in order to please (or upset) them to the same degree?