When foreign ministers from the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France, China and Germany all manage to coordinate schedules and get together under the same roof to discuss a problem, you know they mean business. And Thursday's meeting in the German capital certainly proved that the world is taking the question of Iran's suspected nuclear ambitions very seriously indeed. But did anything concrete actually come out of the meeting? Apart from a general "we-don't-want-you-to-get-the-bomb" statement, which everyone assumed anyway, the summit's only real achievement was to provide a visual line-up of the big boys Iran is up against: probably the only solution the West can rustle up for now.

On Wednesday evening, the day before the meeting took place, the UN Security Council set a 30-day time limit for Iran to give up all uranium enrichment. Time limits and resolutions are all well and good, but it is difficult to see what the UN would then do, if Iran just shrugged its shoulders and carried on with its nuclear program anyway. Russia and China are against sanctions, and the US, for all intents and purposes, already imposes them. Outside of a few hawkish circles in Washington, no country truly wants to embark on another military mission like the US-led misadventure in Iraq.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung is unequivocal, saying that "because threats won't work on their own, the West has to make better offers." For the commentator, it is clear that Washington UN Ambassador John Bolton's harsh words have been ineffective, mainly because the West has failed to present a united front. "The Russians and the Chinese have prevented Iran's highly dubious nuclear ambitions from being declared as a danger because this would have led to sanctions. And at their meeting in Berlin, foreign ministers from the world's powerful countries also left it unclear what they would do if Tehran refuses to budge." This is because they don't know, the paper believes. The main problem is that the West doesn't actually possess anything with which it could threaten Iran, and Tehran knows this. "Because of opposition from China and Russia, and the current high price of oil, sanctions are hardly imaginable. The military option is even less realistic." For that reason the paper proposes two rather original solutions: first, the US should defuse Iran's prickly attitude by treating the country as an equal and re-establishing diplomatic relations; secondly, the West should compromise by allowing Tehran, under strict controls, to enrich small amounts of uranium inside Iran.

The Financial Times Deutschland is also unimpressed by the West's irresolute stance in Berlin this week. "The lowest common denominator which the European Union, the US, Russia and China managed to agree on, was very low indeed." While the paper admits that at least this minimal show of unity is a step in the right direction, it expresses concern that if the situation deteriorated any more, Western powers will be too hesitant to take further action. "If Iran doesn't soften, then the UN should consider taking out a legally binding resolution. A community which speaks with one voice, but doesn't say anything, isn't worth anything," the paper concludes. 

The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung believes that what we are seeing now is another Iraq -- an unsurprising view considering the paper's traditionally US-critical stance. "The American administration, whose real aim is to bring about the fall of the Iranian regime, has made clear from the beginning that the current UN paper (which calls for Iran to abandon its nuclear program) is merely a first step." The commentator calls for certain facts to be remembered. "First, even though the statements of Western politicians indicate otherwise, there is still no proof that Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Second, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) guarantees countries the right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. Third, the treaty calls for the equal treatment of all members. But Iran is being called upon to give up activities that other NPT member states are allowed to do. Not to mention nuclear-armed countries, such as Israel and India, which have turned their backs on the treaty entirely." The commentator concludes by calling for the US to be more open to compromise.

The conservative daily Die Welt, on the other hand, is less understanding of the Iranian position and places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the mullahs, warning that Europe is the region most at danger from an Iranian threat. "It is strange that the Europeans, represented by the EU negotiating team from London, Paris and Berlin, believe they are doing America, as well as Israel, a favor by talking to Iran … What is really at stake here is the safety of Europe." Threatening the US and Israel would be suicide, believes the commentator, but Iranian weapons are well on the way to having a range which will cover the whole continent." The paper feels that the European compromise of allowing uranium to be enriched in Russia would be a good way of saving face. "The Iranian demand that uranium can be enriched in Tehran under international monitoring is, after all the disappointments and the deceit, not a credible alternative. And the tough option (of military action) hardly bears thinking about."

-- Damien McGuinness, 12:15 p.m. CET ____________________________________________________

We Don't Want No Education

"Berlin teachers give up their school for lost" screams one front-page headline, "Police protection for Berlin school" reads another, while the populist daily Bild goes so far as to have a picture of young schoolboy being crushed to the ground by a fist under the headline: "Too Much Violence." Although a quick glance at Friday's newspapers in Germany may give the impression that the country's education system is in a state of anarchy, the actual real cause for the national uproar is a single letter written by teachers at one troubled high school in Berlin.

A month ago, teachers at the Rütli school in the rough and tumble Berlin district of Neukölln, wrote a letter to the city's local government, calling for help. Teachers had completely lost control of their pupils, who at times were violent, and they were afraid to go into classrooms without a cell phone in case they had to call for help. The staff has even called for the school to be closed down. On Thursday, the letter was published in the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel leading to an outcry across the country, and calls for a complete reform of the school system.

But just how typical is the situation at the Rütli school? Situated in a culturally-mixed area of high unemployment, more than 80 percent of its pupils are from immigrant backgrounds -- which of course means that the problem has got German commentators talking about every issue imaginable, from immigration and poverty, to educational standards and family structures.

The left-wing Berliner Zeitung believes that part of the problem is due to the high number of immigrants in areas such as this part of Berlin. "Many of the children, at schools like the Rütli school, have parents whose German is poor or non-existent. A lot of these pupils grow up in families which neglect them. In the overcrowded classrooms a lot of different cultures are pushed together. The greater the conflict, the more people tend to retreat back into their familiar environments." For the commentator the only solution is to invest more money in these schools to provide specialized teaching, longer school days and even security personal. "It is not only in the interests of the state, to hang on to these children. It is also the state's duty to make sure they are cared for." However, the paper also believes that a lot of the problems seen in poor inner-city areas are also endemic in modern society everywhere, such as the fact that "many children are more interested in action films and mobile phones than books and grammar. Kids are aggressive, hyperactive and unbalanced because they watch too much television and don't play enough sports." The commentator suggests that teachers be trained in how to compensate for these social ills -- only then can learning begin to take place.

The conservative Die Welt is blunt about the root cause of the issue. "Young, male, immigrant -- at the moment those are synonyms summing up a problem which more and more Germans are asking, not only how it should be solved, but also why. Social workers can't create real prospects for these kids out of thin air. So why should the German taxpayer invest in a future which doesn't even exist?" The paper even bemoans that the children of so-called guest-workers can't be "sent home" -- ignoring the fact that, since most were born here, "home" is probably Germany. The commentator continues in a bellicose mood: "There is no question of giving in. We need cooperation with the police, muscled native-German teachers … and zero tolerance for knifers -- anything else is nothing more than useless populism."

According to the center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung, although the overall level of violence in school has dipped, the situation is becoming worse all the time in certain inner city areas. "It is hardly possible to even get round to the business of teaching. Instead of giving lessons, the teachers are being forced to flee. Getting rid of these schools won't solve the problem, but at least it would be a chance for a fresh start." Until now, the paper writes, more affluent parents have had hardly any idea what really happens in the bottom-rung schools. "For decades now politicians haven't cared whether children of immigrants get a chance at school or not." The fact that schools in poor areas have the worst facilities only serves to exacerbate the problem, the commentator concludes.