“The Tsar Who Loves the Germans”

Cover story: Following his inauguration in Moscow, Putin is taking over a country steeped in contradiction. Extremely poor, yet blessed with riches. A proud nuclear power, and a supplicant degraded to the status of a developing country. Will he lead Russia to a Pinochet-style autocracy – or a social democracy along Western lines?

An account and background reports on the kidnapping in the Philippines

“In Dry Robes”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with Otto Graf Lambsdorff on drawing a line under the compensation payments to Nazi slave labourers and the money still owing from the German industry:

“I do consider it very, very desirable that we are able to draw a line under the whole affair in a rather ceremonial setting during the American president’s visit to Berlin on June 2. … The German industry is not going to disgrace itself. If it promises five billion marks through its leading representatives, then those five billion will be paid. I am absolutely sure of that. … We believe, and always have believed, that the reparations are done with now, starting with the London Agreement on German External Debts and finishing with the Two-plus-Four Treaty.”

“Digital People’s Home”

Reforms: Once again, the small country of Sweden has performed a miracle: nowhere else in Europe is the Internet industry booming as strongly, nowhere else is the government’s budget surplus as high – and yet there is nevertheless a welfare state that holds together the society. It is a large-scale experiment by a people of eight million which will reveal whether a society can be steered into the age of digital capitalism in a civil fashion, and how.

“Be Brusque, Do It Fast”

SPIEGEL interview with Swedish prime minister Göran Persson on the restructuring of the welfare state in the age of globalisation:

“Based on our experiences in Sweden, my number one piece of advice is: start with the things that produce quick results, otherwise the political process gets out of control. Advice number two: don’t promise people that it won’t hurt – because it will hurt. And advice number three: don’t fiddle optimistic figures, do the opposite instead.”

“Panic-stricken Calmness”

Currency: Unrest at the European Central Bank: central banker Trichet is wavering, a statement of honour by the USA in favour of the euro has failed and now intervention in the foreign exchange market is being considered.

“Contempt for Women Is Increasing”

SPIEGEL in-depth interview with the Australian Marxist and feminist Germaine Greer on the failure of women’s emancipation, male society and the consequences of sexual liberation:

“I think discrimination against women is stronger today than it was thirty years ago, because back then men had nothing to fear. At that time, we made coffee, eagerly copied leaflets for them and did anything else we were told to. Today the contempt for women is much more visible; society as a whole has become more masculine. … Men stand to lose too much through feminism. … I think you cannot be a feminist without at the same time being a socialist, and probably also a pacifist. … I grew up in a time when a decent girl said no. Today a decent girl says yes. And in addition, she’s expected to be really wild about it and to have an orgasm immediately.”

“Ringside Seat for the President”

Middle East: A railway line connecting the Palestinian enclaves and a currency of their own – Arafat’s dream of an independent state is taking shape. But a rash proclamation could endanger the government of Israel’s Prime Minster Ehud Barak. Since Israeli negotiator Oden Eran broke an Israeli taboo on Monday in Eilat during the peace talks with the Palestinians by describing a “Palestinian state” as being the ultimate outcome of the negotiations, the life’s dream of the Palestinians seems to have moved within reach. The new vigour with which Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Barak is pressing ahead with the talks with the Palestinians, suggests that he is seeking the badly needed success with Arafat. For the time being, the jubilation of the Palestinians remains restrained. Many doubt that the former occupiers will leave the young Palestinian state enough room to breathe. Others questions concern its own leadership: will the former guerrillas manage the transition to a civilian society? The hopes that the Palestinian state could be the first long-term democratic republic in the Arab world, have already been noticeably dampened.

“Rumpus in the Pantheon”

Music: The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the peak of German orchestral culture, is threatened by heavy turbulence: the Federal government would like to appropriate the ensemble as its state orchestra, while future head conductor Sir Simon Rattle wants to radically reform the ensemble’s programme and structure.

“We Were Like Twins”

SPIEGEL interview with Kevin Warwick, head of the cybernetics laboratory at Reading University, England, a man who wants to enter into a symbiosis with a computer and has undergone surgery for this purpose. Warwick dreams of a future in which the Internet transmits ideas from one person to the next:

“I am painfully aware of the limitations of the human body. In particular when I compare how machines are able to perceive the world and what computers are capable of. Man is limited in his physical and mental abilities, which is why I find the prospect of improving the body very exciting … Because the chip was part of my body, my computer was able to read me my e-mails when I arrived in my office and after a while I developed a kind of relationship with my computer. It would be an exaggeration to say we were like Siamese twins, but there was a bond between us. I was sad when the link was severed, when the implant was removed again … The bundle of nerves that we want to tap does not only control the muscles; it also contains nerves which send information back to the brain, such as the sense of touch. We want to record the nerve signals that are produced when I move, and send them back into my body. For one thing we then want to see how much of the original movement is reproduced, and on the other hand we want to find out how my brain interprets these signals. … In the long run I would like a direct mental link between my brain and the computer.”

“Living in the Dead”

Forensic medicine: Insects that live in corpses often supply decisive information in cases of murder and manslaughter. With their help, forensic biologists are able to solve mysterious crimes. Every living organism that feeds off a corpse, alters it in the process. The organisms that colonise and decompose the human remains – more than 500 types have been counted in dead bodies – often provide crucial clues. For instance about whether the site where a body is found was also the scene of the crime. And in particular how long the corpse has lain there for.

“Secret or Not Secret”

Stasi: After much hesitation, the Americans are handing over the records on East German spies. The CIA had classified the card file as “secret” and in the negotiations about its return the German authorities were made to promise that the file would be treated as a state secret. There is strong controversy as to how this promise can be reconciled with Germany’s own interests. The debate in Germany is particularly bizarre because according to security experts, the Americans only insist on keeping the files secret for reasons of principle. They are worried that if their material is made generally accessible in Germany, this will spark off a discussion about releasing the information in the USA too.

“An Ecstasy of Hormones”

Tennis: Sex sells. Thanks to her immaculate looks Anna Kurnikova is the best-paid female athlete. Her erotic public appearances have made her the number one topic of the gossip columns. Her competitors are eyeing her career enviously – and gratified by each defeat. The fact that pert Anna of all people managed to become the centre of the tennis universe is an unusual quirk of recent sports history; because at the end of last week the Moscow girlie, who is Number 13 in the world rankings, still hadn’t won a single tennis tournament in her four-year career as a professional.