The Law of Blood. Inside the Nazi Mindset

Going deep into the mindset of a political and intellectual movement requires a lot of attention and hard work. From the small details of the everyday ways of thinking, an academic analyst can pursue the mentality pattern, its genesis, reproduction and alterations. In times when the far right is becoming a frequent mention in political reports, it is about time to return to a recognition process of their roots.

La Loi du Sang. Penser et agir en nazi (The law of blood. Think and act as a Nazi), by Johann Chapoutout that I´ve read in the original French language, is a well research investigation into the history of the Nazi mentality. It focuses on Germany, based on an exhaustive investigation of an impressive intellectual sources and production that covers several decades.

Despite the amount of information filtered, used and quoted, the author succeeds in organising the material in a systematic way, covering main topics which describe the best the intellectual Weltanschauung of the Nazi regime. 

There are so many subjects that are explored in addition to the main topics which help to reveal the deep Nazi mentality. For instance, the relationship between human and nature, which continues to permeate the right (alt-right) mindset, as it assesses a global perspective where the human individuality should be abandonned, mirroring the supreme categorisation based on racial categories. An authentic return to the essentiality of the race is passing through the return to the natural human condition that, according to the intellectual supporters of this idea was derailed by both the Jewish and Christian interpretations of nature. The opposition to ritual slaughtering which is a current thema nowadays has its roots in the cruelty against animals (Tierquälerei) a predilect topic in the Nazi works.

Also nowadays, we can easily read and hear, in newspapers, social media and in the public discourse politicians and media pundits complaining about how the society was corrupted by foreigners who are accepted into the body of the nation if they are following not only the neutral laws, but equally the traditions and cultural norms of the majority (Leitkultur). 

I´ve found this book a real revelation which at a certain point frightened my mind, as I recognized so many patterns of thinking spread all over the public discourse in Germany and abroad. Book like La Loi du Sang are such a helpful intellectual tool for those who will not give up in tracing and countering the far-right intellectual pollution of the public space. It is also a good reminder that the mentalities do have a long history and dealing with all the details of a specific topic is such an extraordinary adventure of the mind.

Rating: 5 stars

#FreeNasrin

In a world half of the time devoid of role models and glamour on rust, there are women fighting for the right of their children to a lies-free world. Women like Nasrin Sotoudeh and Narges Mohammadi in Iran, for instance.

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a human rights activits in Iran, active in defending especially children and women rights and opposer of death penalty and compulsory hijab. Mother of two, she is one of the bravest and most genuine voices in Iran, a role-model for all the prisoners of conscience all over the world. A voice for the voiceless. Modest, humble, strong in her belief in building a better world.

Sotoudeh, who was released shortly a couple of weeks ago, is serving a 38-year sentence for her human rights activism. 

Directed by Jeff Kaufmann, the movie Nasrin, recently released at the Berlin Human Rights Film Festival, was filmed illegally in Iran. From the fragments of various testimonies and snapshots from Sotoudeh´s everyday life, the movie draws the portrait of one of the most inspirational women of this century. There are many women and dissidents associated those days with the fights for rights in Iran, vocal and highly promoted. Nasrin Sotoudeh belives in what she is fighting for with no reward in sight. Her humble fight on behalf of those lacking the right justice and basic freedoms is an example of humanity. Together with Shirin Ebadi, who also appears in the movie, and Narges Mohammadi who appears episodically, Nasrin Sotoudeh is the voice of the prisoners of conscience from Iran and all over the world. 

Nasrin is the diary of a woman whose main superpower is fighting on behalf of the powerless. Strong against tyranny by the force of her fragility.

Academic Freedoms under Attack

Academic freedoms, scholars and students are under threat from governments and non-state military actors from all over the world, according to the latest report issued by Scholars at Risk Network. Covid19 created additional pressures and problems for the academic realm, with universities positions reduced and online harassment increasing. 

It´s my first time reading this report and found it very relevant for the state-of-the arts of academia nowadays. It copes less with legislation and more with different itrusive, aggresive and violent actions of state and non-state actors against members of academia. 

All over the world, campus and academics are not a convenient partner. Universities are places of dissent due to their main intellectual mission. Although supported by the state, financially and logistically, they are the guarantee of freedom and progress. When academics are in chains, the whole country is so. When academics are under permanent threat, including physical one, like in the case of Afghanistan, for instance, where Talibans are regularly raiding campuses and academic compounds killing ramdomly students and teachers, the higher the political and social risks im the country. 

For me, it was interesting to follow up the dramatic situation of the academic life in Yemen, after five years of intense civil war, as well as the latest development in Turkey, where academic life is under threat for years following the escalation of Erdogan´s power, a situation that practically forced many academics to leave the country.

Such reports are very important for the state of the world nowadays, because they show how much is at stake when it comes to academia. And why it is important that academics are protected against the various state-based attempts to give up.

Book Review: The Shadow Commander by Arash Azizi

Today, as never before was such a need for intellectual clarity and extensive information about the main actors - political, military, other - in the Middle East. Despite the abhorrent character and crimes perpetrated by some, it is important to know to whom belong those names that suddenly make it on the Breaking News. 

The Shadow Commander. Soleimani, the US and Iran´s Global Ambitions by Arash Azizi is a noteworthy and the first substantial research in English on the biography of the general Qasem Soleimani, killed in an American drone attack at the beginning of this year near Baghdad International Airport. 

A ´boy from the margins of the society´, a provincial karateka, his seamless raise on the top of the revolutionary Iran hierarchies and complicated intrigues occured during the Iran-Iraq war and further on, by leading various local operations in his native Kerman. Since January 1988 he was appointed on the top of the Quds - from Arabic al-Quds, ´the Holy one´ referring to the city of Jerusalem - Force that he will lead until his death, turning it ´into the most ambitious expeditionary army in the history of the modern Middle East´.

The soldier-diplomat Soleimani become feared and appreciated - depends on which side of the Sunni-Shia divide one´s stand - for his bloody attacks he perpetrated and the direct, sometimes spontaneous, involvement in various local battles. His death was celebrated openly in Iraq and Syria where his survival victims were still having fresh memories of his attacks. In Iran, a majestic set-up was ordered and display, soon after massive protests all over the country ended in a brutal crackdown. Soon after, the authorities hit accidentally - but refused to acknowledged for a long time - an Ukrainian airplane killing the 176 passengers on board, mostly young people searching for a stable and brighter life in Canada. Indeed, while busy to play bloody cards in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, what a big achievement of the Islamic Revolution and its proxies to be the cause of the massive brain drain in the country´s history!

The current minister of Foreign Affairs, Javad Zarif, is portrayed - frequently and uncritically - as a fine diplomat, aimed to charm and sometimes charmed too, by a Western audience. He may have been more than once in conflict with Soleimani but the fact that he played on his music and acquiesced to the placing of Quds ´diplomats´ that perpetrated or planned acts of terror using the diplomatic network doesn´t diminish his responsibility within the regime. 

Although the book deals with complex Middle Eastern policies, it is written in a very captivating style, with political facts evolving sometimes with a cinematic alacrity. The journalistic, non-pretentious yet informative style helps a lot to avoid information overload. After all, Soleimani was not any kind of academic, but a person of action and this approach suits both the reader and the subject.

Even for someone with basic to middle level of knowledge about local politics and Iranian ambitions, it was interesting to observe how Tehran in the post-Islamic Revolution realm ambitioned in turning into a Moscow of the Middle East. The desperate internationalism with a pregnant Shia Islam outreach ended up by creating deep divisions within the fellow Muslim countries. It also recalibrated dramatically the regional alliances until this very day: Once upon a time, countries like Turkey, Iran and Ethiopia were part of a larger policy of alliances endeavoured by Israel to counter the vocal - but often just for the sake of the cameras - Arab bloc. Nowadays, it´s the other way round, as both Iran and Turkey are lead by personalised regimes endangering the fragile post-Cold War geopolitical balances.

The damage in the region made by violent outtakes authored by Soleimani is hard to evaluate as for now. In the case of the beloved ´Palestinian case´, Soleimani´s interposers played and still playing more or less consciously a game that does not serve a long term solution to the conflict. Actually, it fuelled it by supporting radicalised actors whose only raison d´etre is a permanent state of conflict, otherwise they may be out of work. ´The Quds Force might still claim that it was a ´´voice of the oppressed´´ but in practice it had become an instruments of Iran´s state-based foreign policy of extending Iranian influence in the Aran world and doing so through sectarian Shia proxies´. Although I´ve found a bit forced more than once the comparisons between the left internationalist movements of the Cold War and the Shia-oriented one, when it comes to the Middle East, both Moscow and Tehran may be proud of playing their own dirty games in full disrespect of the free will of the everyday Palestinians. 

Books like The Shadow Commander, on other main regional and Iranian players - no matter their despicability - aimed at an international audience are a very useful source of information for a different, realistic approach of a region that for the time being has the highest potential of ongoing frequent mentions on the Breaking News reports.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review 

Book Review: The Age of Aryamehr: Late Pahlavi Iran and Its Global Entanglements

 The Shah of Iran regime is generally evaluated and judged through overcritical lenses. The most frequent - and in most of the cases justified - references are to the deep corruption of his regime, the abuses against human rights and religious freedom and the lack of democracy. However, the job of an academic researcher is to outline the mentality patterns and directions which, when using the right neutral theoretical matrix, may reveal new and interesting aspects.

The Age of Aryamehr. Late Pahlavi Iran and Its Global Entanglements edited by Roham Alvandi is an outstanding collection of essays covering a big variety of topics related to the late years of the Pahlavi regime. Some of them are relatively well known, such as the Shiraz Festival of Arts or the 1971 Persepolis Celebrations, but what in my opinion stands up is the divergence of all the studies towards identifying global trends and the move towards a different political and geopolitical identity for Iran.

What for my own interests was equally relevant were the articles and points dedicated to intellectual history, specifically of the European left and it´s misreading of the Islamic revolution (the article by Claudia Castiglioni). The intellectual West was unable ´to fully capture the meaning and the possible implications of the Iranian revolution´. ´Universal in scope, but with a strong national connotation, anti-communist, despite the global emphasis placed on social justice, fought under the banner of religion despite the professed secularism of many among its protagonists, the Iranian revolution presented a conundrum for intellectuals, especially those of leftist orientation´. 

The ways in which the political representatives of the late Shah tried to use culture as an efficient tool of soft power was more than an abusive way of self-embelishment of the Shah - which at a certain extent it was - but a powerful statement trying to reposition Iran on the global trends, particularly during the complexities of the Cold War. From the mid-1960s, the Shah tried to create his own pattern of political alliances, playing the global card with the big players of the bi-polar blocks. He tried to integrate the cultural assumptions of a Great Civilisation - tammadon-e bozorg - into a larger geopolitical narrative. 

However, no matter what, he lost all his local cards and he was not the only one who was taken away by the debacle. 

This book is an example of quality intellectual discourse on topics that in most cases ignite ´for´ and ´against´ mindset. It shows how much the academic research and advancement of thoughts may win when the research is driven exclusively by intellectual curiosity and desire to find the truth.

Rating: 4 stars

Short Dream about Cosmopolitanism...

Some ideas are so easy to practice, but it´s frustrating to see that the easier the way the harder the acceptance.

The Ghanian-British philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah has an optimistic outlook: cosmopolitanism has a chance because of intellectual curiosity and openness. Differences can be easily overcome as long as there is an openness to understand and accept the differences.

Written in the post-9/11 environment, and taking fully into account the new identity challenges, this relatively short book about cosmopolitanisn - that I´ve read in the German translation - goes through a variety of examples, mostly from the literary realm. He sees cosmopolitanism as ´an adventure´ and ´an ideal´ that takes into account the differences as they are, without trying to circumvene them to other universal category than the humanity as such.

Interestingly, by explaining various examples from the religious world, it outlines how the religious universalism may exclude in fact the difference and be insensitive to tolerance.

Although I´ve found that the book does not go beyond the general - optimistic - approaches of the topic, it creates a certain frame for an ideal world where cosmopolitanism is a possibility, a high one. It´s mostly a free choice, but one of the best one can make, in fully knowledge of the intellectual advantages of such a position.

Rating: 4 stars

What Covid 19 Crisis Brought to the Intellectual Debate

The unfolding Covid 19 Crisis brought a couple of interesting ideas and debates that affect not only the everyday practice of the state of law, but equally issues that on the medium and long term may change the approach to citizenship and solidarity.

From the very beginning: I am a strict mask wearing follower, with a problematic immunity condition. I respect the lockdown - partial and complete - decisions in my home country of Germany, I am trying as much as possible to limit my human contacts, and using intensively the online tools video options for connecting both to my work, academic and personal contacts. I am working from home since mid-September and me and my mini-family we spent religious holidays and birthdays and other personal encounters in very reduced format. I did the Covid test preventively twice and every time I have to attend a doctor meeting, I keep a track of my symptoms and temperature, at least 5 days in advance. I didn´t travel out of Germany and actually out of Berlin since the beginning of March. I am pushing for extra caution and I do not put into question the state decisions regarding the overall rules and regulations as well as responsibility during the pandemics.

However, as a political scientist and historian of mentalities, I am observing trends and challenges and I am keeping an eye on the eventual consequences for human rights and freedoms. There are a couple of aspects that I´ve noticed in the last months that I would outline, without making any clear conclusions as the situation is on the run as for now and most probably there will be more challenges taking place. My observations are based on everyday interactions with people and news and analysis pertaining to a large diversity of sources mostly from US, France, Germany, Sweden, Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe. I wish I have more available time and resources to extend my observations to other corners of the world, such as Latin America, Australia or Africa.

-  An important aspect that is common all over the world is the critical situation of the medical system. No matter where and what. There is not enough medical personnel and the hospital beds simply do not reach the high demand not only for Covid 19 patients, but generally. The sector is underpaid and so is the personnel. 

- The full chain of support for the medical personnel is also lacking, and this applies as well to the people working in other essential sectors, such as rule of law - justice and police - or educational personnel. 

- Single parents and people with a precarious social situation - including refugees and old people - are directly affected by the economic restrictions and laydowns that enfolded in the last months. Some countries are lacking a proper social system to compensate those staying at home or unable to work during the pandemic. The number of people at high social risk increased significantly and it´s a very dangerous situation from the social point of view.

- There are categories at risk - women and children - of being the target of an increased domestic violence. The fact that the institutions and organisations in charge with preventing such abuses were on ´home office´ which often meant unreachable either by email or by phone and without access to basis files and information - at least the case in Germany - complicated the situation.  

- From the scientific point of view, we are far from fully understanding how the virus operate, what and how fast are the mutations and what exactly we can do to prevent its spread. The lockdowns operated pretty well, but once people are back to normal, the number of cases are increasing. The solution of a vaccine is welcomed, but how life will look like in one year or two is hard to evaluate. The rules of the scientific research may require a lot of analysis and investigation and careful conclusions and there is a pressure on behalf of the society, including for economic reasons, to find a solution. Scientists cannot operate properly under such conditions.

-  As for now, it is not clearly known how the virus spreads. The dynamics within a family, for instance, can vary, with cases when both parents were infected, while children not. For children growing up in a climate of fear and suspicions that they may be the cause of infection for their beloved ones it is a high risk of psychological trauma. The fact that they may go to school and requested to limit their contact with their peers, as well as with their parents and grandparents adds on more distress. 

- The old people, some of them isolated for months in care facilities do experience their own trauma as well, besides the inevitable problems of the old age. Many of them died alone, some are unable to have contact with their beloved one which increases their anxiety and alienation. 

- People living separated from their beloved one also represent a category of mental health risk. Living alone in a foreign country, for different reasons, separated from your beloved ones, that may be themselves in critical situations, creates difficulties that video calls may diminish but still cannot replace the reality of a close hug. The therapists and mental health personnel are faced with new situations and proper answers are relatively improvised solutions as for now.

- Let´s talk statistics. First and foremost, in countries with a limited or non-existent democractic system, the official data released regarding the Covid 19 rates of infection and death are largely put into question. Reporting a high number of data may create credibility issues for the political regime therefore hiding the truth is what the local politicians will rather do. On the other hand, when it comes to democratically elected countries, there are still difficulties in offering a credible account of the extent of the pandemic as sometimes the medical causes of death are not corroborated with previous medical conditions. The ways in which data are reported, from the statistical point of view is also largely different from a country to another and, in case of federal systems, from a region to another. Therefore, when political decisions are based on those data, there may be slight issues. 

- What about civil liberties? The decisions to introduce the lockdown were mostly imposed by political decision makers, without democratic debate, on the argument of high security. Some countries even used in this respect tracking systems in order to secure the full implementation of those measures. The respective personal data were shared by intelligence agencies creating high suspicions about how easily those information can be politically instrumented. The freedoms of movement were limited and controlled by agents of the state authority - mostly police. Security was considered prevalent for freedom, on the base of the emergency. For non-democratic systems it was automatically possible based on their authoritarian reflexes. In democracies, it created a big debate and the state actors aimed to protect the rule of law and human freedoms started to impose different decisions on political rulings - particularly in Germany. The question is also: Will this create a precedent of retraining political liberties? What are the democratic antibody that should activated in this case? 

- Responsibility and solidarity: Angela Merkel´s discourses related to the Covid 19 often mentioned the need of solidarity and responsibility towards each other. The decision of wearing a mask and respecting the social distance, as well as the minimal sanitary measures is an expression of responsible free will. We are more than isolated individuals, but we are part of a human network and social context that involves a minimal solidarity. What are the daily rituals that build this solidarity? How do we become responsible for one another? On the other hand, there are cases when people do request the intervention against fellow citizens as purposely not implementing the lockdown requirements. Such situations reveal a mistrust in people belonging to different cultural and religious groups therefore expressions of a deep mistrust and discrimination tendencies. 

I am looking forward to follow many of those ideas, hopefully from the comfort of a location safe from the health point of view and while enjoying at least a minimal social contact with my beloved ones.