DER SPIEGEL studies the relations between Germany, Europe and America after the war, from a German perspective.

Terrorism: In the fight against terrorism, the Americans are willing to resort to virtually any means. Officially, their European allies are complaining about their rigid treatment of the prisoners. But secretly they too profit by the tough approach taken by the US.

“Security as an Export Earner”

Police: Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan – public officials in the crisis regions of the world are building up their police forces along exactly the same lines as German’s, in every detail right down to the green-and-white uniforms. The assistance they receive from Germany is not without self-interest. When the Federal Border Guard, BGS, trains police officers in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Rumania, Bulgaria or Hungary, it is also hoping that its colleagues will in future turn back illegal immigrants and criminals as far from Germany itself as possible. In addition, the German economy benefits from the fact that the countries being supervised chiefly order their official vehicles “made in Germany”. There is already a lack of international staff.

“We Are Washed Out”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with economics minister Wolfgang Clement about the German welfare state, the wrong recipes for dealing with unemployment, and the necessary reorientation of his party, the SPD:

“The rebuilding of East Germany, which we are doing as well as we can and with lots of goodwill, costs us four percent of our gross national product every year. … We should in particular have made sure that we successfully found jobs for the unemployed, so that they could start working again. Instead, so far everything has revolved around the rights of social protection. … And then there’s the closely regulated society which we have built up in Germany over the decades and which, unlike other countries, we did not call into question soon enough. … The industrial age with all its regulations and traditions is coming to an end. You don’t necessarily have to be dealing with a normal company having normal employment relations. We will be seeing very different kinds of job relations which no longer correspond to our traditional conceptions.”

Former TV magnate Leo Kirch helped former members of ex-Chancellor Kohl’s cabinet to better their pensions by offering consultancies to those who had helped him out.

“Saddam Was Our Creature”

SPIEGEL interview with Kanan Makiya, mentor of the exiled Iraqi opposition, about the end of the dictator, new fronts in Washington and the project of the ideal Arab state:

“The war against the regime of Saddam Hussein is a just war – like any war against fascism. … The totalitarianism of the Baath party shares important features with that of the Nazis. … Federalism has always been the guiding principle for the Iraqi opposition. … It will not be easy to convince millions of Iraqis of the advantages of this principle. … We are thinking in terms of a system of peace treaties with neighbouring states. … The relationship with Israel should no longer be characterised by war or non-recognition, or by the constant desire for others to solve our problems. … I think we Arabs have finally got to realise that we ourselves are responsible for our fate.”

“New Ailments for Old Men”

Medicine: Pharmaceuticals companies are launching new testosterone gels onto the market – and inventing the disease they are meant to treat while they are at it. According to the manufacturers, millions of ageing men are undergoing male menopause: afflicted by forgetfulness, uneasiness and sexual weakness. Now they are being turned into patients. But does the disease actually exist? Undoubtedly, testosterone levels do drop in the course of a man’s life – but so far doctors have viewed this as a consequence of ageing. The market criers praise testosterone as a potential elixir against sexual apathy, moodiness, muscular weakness, hot flushes and fragile bones. But most claims are based on experiments involving at most 227, often only seven or eleven men. While the added dose certainly won’t give men who already have enough testosterone of their own any extra boost of masculinity, it does in fact hold the danger of substantial side effects.

“Feeling the Pulse of an Ant”

Innovations: At the inventors’ congress in Geneva, hundreds of innovators compete in the quest for things that do not yet exist. The world has now been enriched by oak-flavoured ice-cream, a folding shoe sole and a rotating crematorium. Inventing is a laborious business. It is mainly the smaller companies and institutes that have been meeting for 31 years at the traditional “Salon International des Inventions” in Geneva; about a third of the exhibitors are private, one-man shows. They are finding the search for things that don’t as yet exist more and more difficult. The wisest move is to look precisely where it seems most futile. A true inventor will not accept anything as being an inescapable fact. Hence inventors will solve any problem – at the price of actually noticing it in the first place. This makes them the born enemies of people who have come to terms with and accepted life as it is.

“Building Worlds with Mouse Clicks”

Computer games: Computer games from Germany are generally considered too intellectual for international tastes. Will the explorer simulation game “AD 1503” be the first to succeed on the global market?

“Women as the Spoils of War”

Contemporary history: The diary kept by an anonymous woman during the spring of 1945, while the Red Army was occupying Berlin, is now to be re-released by a German publishing house. The moving report describes the privations of the survivors – and the brutal humiliation that many women had to endure. The account by the woman, who did not want to reveal her identity, was first published in 1954, but at the time only by an American company. It was followed by translations in eight European countries and in Japan.

“Finale in the Desert Sands”

Association football: The Gulf state Qatar is recruiting European has-beens to give its football clubs more glamour. Apart from Stefan Effenberg, the sheikhs have also lured Andreas Möller and Thomas Häßler with million-euro contracts. In sporting terms, however, the “stage league” is more of a frustration to the success-oriented pros. The opportunity is excellent: with many clubs in England, Italy, Spain and Germany obliged to trim their ranks because of a drop in the proceeds from television licenses, numerous club managers are suddenly refusing their pampered players the usual privileges. In Qatar, by contrast, everything is to remain as it was for the scorned players. The sheikhdom, half the size of the state of Hesse, wants to become the fourth big player in Asian football, after South Korea, Japan and Iran, which would be sufficient for it to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 in Germany.