"Bush Has to Present a Peace Plan"

SPIEGEL interview with former American security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinksi about a post-war order for Iraq, a possible end to the conflict in the Middle East and overcoming the quarrel between America and Europe:

“Of course, the presence of the US military will be necessary for a certain time, hopefully not too long. But the civilian supremacy should be given to an international authority as soon as possible in order to hand it over to the Iraqis. … I consider North Korea a far more serious and more threatening problem for international stability … The true test of the immediate future is that the Bush administration must finally put forward a plan for peace between Israel and Palestine. … We undoubtedly have to concentrate on what we can achieve together in the areas adjoining Europe and in the Middle East – and of course also on how stability can be achieved against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and terrorism.”

"Everything’s Being Violated"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Indian writer Arundhati Roy about the war in Iraq and the world-wide resistance against American hegemony:

“The ‘Shock and Awe’ that the American military announced before the war is what they are now experiencing thanks to the astonishing fighting spirit of many Iraqis. It’s fantastic the way they are offering resistance, and that confirms my hope that things won’t always work out the way those in power conveniently calculate. … The USA, which was originally critical of European colonialism, has in the meantime adopted the leading role. Since the Second World War the predominantly white Americans have been bombing predominantly non-white people. They engage in wars whose racial message is: You people in the Third World don’t count. … Every society has to find its own way of fighting against injustice and oppression. … The attacks of September 11 were an irrational, violent lashing out against American hegemony. The war in Iraq, which they’re trying to sell to us as the next stage in the war against terror, is the irrational, violent continuation of the project of American hegemony. … The war demonstrates to governments in the Third World that they need nuclear weapons in order to be safe from the USA.”

"The Bavarian Duel"

Car industry: Martin Winterkorn, the head of Audi, has ambitious plans. He intends to overtake his rival BMW. Audi’s cars are to be better, more sporty, more beautiful, and most of all more successful. As yet, the Ingolstadt-based company is trailing the one based in Munich. Does it actually stand a chance? For one thing, the Volkswagen subsidiary wants to grow appreciably in the important US and Japanese markets, in which BMW still lies clearly ahead. On the other hand, five additional models, which are to be launched in the next five years, are to boost the Audi make. In Four Cylinder House, the headquarters of BMW, the declaration of war from Ingolstadt is being viewed with some anxiety.

The Euro is roughing up the dollar.

(length and details not yet known)

"Kriemhild in the Safe"

Cultural treasures: The discovery of fragments of the original Nibelungenlied in Austria has triggered fierce debates. Some experts view this as a “sensational find” which lays bear the roots of the Siegfried legend. But are the pieces of parchment really over 1000 years old? Even for critics there is no question that the substance of the Nibelung legend extends far back into history. The plot is set during the death throes of the Western Roman Empire, when the ancient order was crumbling. It was the time of the migration of the peoples – a dark chapter in Europe’s past. In the coming weeks, palaeographers and ink researchers will examine the seven parchments. Major tests are called for.

"Hula Hoop to the Hail of Bombs"

Art: While war is raging in Iraq, European exhibition centres are devoting themselves to Islamic and Arabic art – everything to do with the Orient is very much in vogue. A photomontage by the Moscow group of artists AES, in which a symbol of the empire has already been converted to Islam on a trial basis, was suddenly no longer wanted for a British exhibition. However, in the rest of Old Europe, art dealing with Islam and Arab culture is in greater demand than ever just now. The “Bin Laden effect” was already described a year ago by French political scientist Jocelyne Cesari: the interest in Islam has increased in line with the fear of the Saudi Arabian villain.

"Resounding into Eternity"

Music: A tunnel-builder from Halberstadt wants to realise one of the most bizarre ideas in the history of music. A piece for the organ by John Cage is to resound non-stop for 639 years. The sparse few notes of “Organ²” are scattered over four pages of A4 and are meant to be played “As SLow aS Possible”, in line with the capital letters that form part of its title. For the time being – say for the next few decades – the futuristic marathon will take place on a small scale. All that is to be seen in St. Burchardi at the moment is softly hissing, motor-driven bellows, six measly organ pipes and a tiny manual on which three keys are held down by three little sandbags – a rudimentary sound-generator which should however, one distant day, blossom to become a queen of instruments, with 650 pipes ranging in length from one centimetre to five metres. Since the beginning of February, the strange provisional instrument has been producing three notes – always the same ones, tooting away day in and day out: middle G-sharp, middle B and the G-sharp an octave above middle G-sharp. This sequence is the first sound of the great Halberstadt project. Musical offspring are not expected until next year, on 5 July 2004: a high and a low E.

"The Spirit of the White House"

The small, Texan oil-drilling town Midland is George W. Bush’s hometown:he met his wife here, he went broke here and he found his faith in God. If you want to understand President Bush, you have to understand Midland and the people who live here. Everyone knows everyone else through some connection or other. And if you listen to them for a while they become more and more alike. George became President, Mike mayor, Donnie became finance minister and Tommy supreme commander. “Well, I pray for our troops, but also for the Iraqi people. I hope it’ll be over soon,” says the parish priest. You won’t find more resistance than that in Midland. It’s a bit like the opposite of Germany. Cars drive along the streets of Midland with bumper stickers that read “Protesters Are Traitors”.