"Military Bazaar on the Bosporus"

Foreign Policy: NATO is haggling over the scarce troops for Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkan countries. The USA demand greater European participation. Germany will not be able to refuse the request.

"The Tamer's Whip"

Colonies: Following aerial warfare and the expulsions after the war, a third taboo issue is now turning virulent: Germany's colonies. A hundred years ago, tens of thousands of Herero lost their lives to the Kaiser's troops in German South West Africa. Now, their ancestors are demanding compensation for this genocide. It is not just the sinister centenaries that have forced Germany's colonial past more and more onto the agenda. A new generation of historians and authors is in the process of reappraising the half-forgotten, half-transfigured period between 1884 and 1918, in which Germany was the third largest colonial power, behind Britain and France, and ruled over 120 million people abroad; the territories in Africa, China and Oceania that were governed from Berlin were five times as large as the motherland.

"Off into the Corner to Sulk"

Poland: After the fiasco at the constitutional conference in Brussels, Poland is suffering from a hangover. The country is isolated and well on its way to becoming the notorious troublemaker of the European Union. The Western Europeans are cross with the unruly not-yet member, even other Eastern European candidates, such as the Czech Republic, are unwilling to support Warsaw's tough line, and German Polish relations have been noticeably shaken. The calculated alliance with Spain is in the meantime considered to be crumbling. Because the pre-Christmas friends are in truth bitter rivals when it comes to EU funds: Spain, like the other Southern members, wants to prevent the structural and cohesion aid from flowing into Eastern European pockets in future, instead of its own. One reason why Spain was so adamant about maintaining its number of votes at the EU summit was precisely so as to defend its vested rights against Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

"The Fronts Have Become Hardened"

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski about his country's difficult relationship with the European Community, tensions between Poles and Germans, and his fellow countrymen's special liking for the USA:

"It would have been much simpler if we had had a constitution two years ago. Then we would now be joining with the awareness that this constitutional agreement was binding for everyone. On the other hand, it would perhaps have been premature had we passed the draft constitution now. Because the Polish debate prior to the membership referendum was based on the treaty of Nice. And now, when we are not even officially in the EU, these rules would have changed yet again. That wouldn't have been fair. ... Iraq didn't help us either in terms of German Polish relations or within Europe. Our different views about it created a negative climate that could also be felt in Brussels. ... In Poland, the liking for America is far above the European average. Nevertheless we make an effort to base our foreign policies on two equal pillars: NATO and the EU.

"Something Is Rotten"

Interview with the Jewish functionaries Edgar M. Bronfman and Israel Singer about growing anti-Semitism in Europe and the argument with the head of the European Commission, Romano Prodi:

Bronfman: "We get the impression that some European governments aren't taking the growing anti-Semitism in their countries particularly seriously. I know of Jews who no longer go to the synagogue on Saturdays because they are afraid of being beaten up on their way there. All of a sudden it seems to be okay again to be openly anti-Semitic."

Singer: "In this atmosphere, the Commission publishes a survey according to which the majority of EU citizens consider Israel to be the greatest threat to world peace."

Bronfman: "What ultimately made us speak out was the fact that at the same time, an EU study was being suppressed that proves that anti-Semitism is on the increase in Europe."

Singer: "Why is one report published, and not the other? It looks as though something was fundamentally rotten in the state of Europe."

"Heat for the Battle"

Aviation: US security authorities want to fit civilian aircraft with anti-missile systems. The German ministry of transport considers the venture too hasty. Transferring this type of war technology to civilian aviation is not without certain problems. For instance, the deception of missiles may endanger other planes in the same airspace, but also human lives and buildings on the ground. In the "current situation of threat", says ministry spokesman Michael Zirpel, installing devices for missile deception is "not necessary". In any case, he continues, it is better to secure airports against terrorist attacks using "dragnet controls and reconnaissance in the area". But this is likely to go far beyond the means of the German security forces.

"Feathered Geniuses"

Animals: Laboratory experiments have revealed that some crows and parrots are as intelligent as monkeys or dolphins. Biologists have demonstrated the use of tools, innovation and a simple understanding of language. They even believe such birds have the capacity for self-awareness and a concept of the past. The biologists' hypothesis of "ecological intelligence" states that, through evolution, similar environments and habitats ultimately lead to the same inevitable outcome. Some 280 billion years separate today's birds and mammals from their last common ancestor - enough time to have developed intelligence independently of each other.

"Thermos Flask on Patrol"

Robots: So far, robots have mainly slaved away in industry. Now they are conquering new jobs: robot security guards patrol factories, offices and apartments at night. Mosro 1, the first robot security guard in the world to go into series production, has already sold 200 times. At BMW it guards cars, at Bayer chemical plants, at DaimlerChrysler a mainframe computing centre. It works an 18-hour shift without a murmur of complaint. Other than that, it looks rather boring, very solid, and extremely German. The mobile thermos flask was built and developed by Robowatch, a 25-strong company in the north-east of Berlin.