Latest news with #militarism
New York Times
26-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Germany Wants Recruits. But ‘No One Wants Their Children in the Army.'
On a rain-soaked morning in late May, dozens of parents gathered on the outskirts of Rüthen, a small town in western Germany, to watch their children race go-karts around a slalom track. Behind them, flanked by two olive-drab supply trucks, stood a contingent of recruiters from the German Army. In between races, the children climbed around the vehicles, followed by recruiters eagerly gauging their interest in one day joining their ranks. The children smiled. Many parents did not. 'I think it's terrible that they advertise to kids,' said Manuel Fleigner, a civil servant. 'No one wants their children in the army.' Germany has long sought to extinguish the militarism that fueled its calamitous history during World War II. But now, facing a growing threat from Russia and the prospect of reduced American support, the government is desperate to change that. It is finding the challenge formidable. In a survey in June by the Forsa Institute, only 17 percent of Germans said they would defend their country if attacked. 'Younger people don't really see the purpose of why they should put their lives at risk for Germany,' said Aylin Matlé, a fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Guardian
24-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Europe's pledge to spend more on military will hurt climate and social programmes
Europe risks choosing militarism over social and environmental security, economists have warned, as the head of Nato said all 32 members had agreed to increase weapons spending. Analyses drafted in anticipation of a Nato summit beginning on Tuesday warned of the opportunity cost that higher military spending would pose to the continent's climate mitigation and social programmes, which are consistently underfunded. The alliance's leading member, the US, and its Dutch secretary general, Mark Rutte, expect members to agree to proposals to dramatically raise defence spending targets from 2% to 5% of GDP. But critics say the focus on military spending, which comes on top of big hikes by European countries over the past few years, overlooks the risks to security posed by environmental breakdown and social decay. 'Europe's public finance debate has never been about what we can afford, but what governments choose to prioritise,' said Sebastian Mang, senior policy officer at the New Economics Foundation (NEF). 'Having already committed to higher defence budgets, plans to raise spending even further expose the double standard applied to investment in climate, housing and care. 'If extraordinary sums can be mobilised for the military, with far lower economic returns and much lower social benefits, then the refusal to fund a just transition and stronger public services is clearly political, not economic.' According to the Nato proposals, members would increase spending to 3.5% of GDP for 'hard defence' such as tanks, bombs and other military hardware, while devoting a further 1.5% to broader security, including cyber threats and military mobility. An analysis by NEF found the 5% GDP target would require Nato's EU members alone to increase spending by €613bn a year – a sum considerably higher than the annual shortfall in meeting the bloc's green and social goals, estimated at €375bn to €526bn. Even to meet just the 3.5% target, EU Nato members would collectively need to find an additional €360bn each year for military spending. Justifying the increase, Donald Trump and other voices in the US have complained repeatedly that European allies rely too heavily on US military support, while Rutte warned of a 'significant and direct threat' from Russia. But NEF said it made little sense, either in terms of economics or security. 'Increasing military budgets at the same time as cutting green and social spending, risks fuelling a public backlash, widening inequality and eroding trust in democratic institutions,' NEF said in its analysis. 'Asking citizens to tighten their belts while defence budgets and arms investors' profits surge undermines the very social resilience that security depends on.' The UK on Monday committed to raising its target from 3% of GDP spent on defence to 5% by 2035 after weeks of diplomatic pressure. The Common Wealth thinktank found that an increase in military spending to 3.5% of GDP would cost the UK an extra £32bn annually. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion That is enough in one year to fund the entire life cycle of 620 terawatt-hours of onshore windfarms, equivalent to 88% of the power Britain is projected to consume annually by 2050. 'Demands for further increases to military spending have a stark opportunity cost – prioritising clean energy would deliver the energy security whose absence was so painfully exposed in 2022,' said Chris Hayes, chief economist at Common Wealth. Not only is there an opportunity cost, increases in military spending imply vast increases in CO2 emissions, with fossil fuel-hungry tanks, warships and aircraft built and operated at scale. Earlier this month the Guardian reported that the military buildup planned by Nato members excluding the US could increase greenhouse gas emissions by almost 200m tonnes a year. Nato was contacted for comment.
Russia Today
03-06-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
UK PM ‘crazed and devilish'
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called Keir Starmer 'crazed and devilish,' after the UK prime minister unveiled a radical defense overhaul to make Britain 'a battle-ready, armor-clad nation.' Earlier this week, Starmer revealed his cabinet's Strategic Defense Review, which includes an expansive armaments program mirroring similar efforts across NATO. He said the reforms are expected to make the British military 'ten times more lethal' within the next decade. During his TV program 'Con Maduro +' on Monday, the Venezuelan president spoke out against 'the war being pushed by this reckless, crazed, and devilish prime minister named Starmer.' He questioned the ethical and moral implications of Starmer's statement, adding that humanity does not need more wars. 'I make a call to the British people – to the people of London, Liverpool, and all parts of Great Britain – to respond to this desperate and deranged call from their prime minister, who is calling for war,' Maduro said, urging people to stand against warmongering and militarism. The president added that, by making these statements, Starmer 'speaks on behalf of a totally decadent, worn-out elite – one that profits from arms deals and weapons manufacturing.' Prior to Starmer's remarks, UK Defense Secretary John Healey stated that London is sending 'a message to Moscow' by allocating billions of pounds for new munitions plants, long-range missile systems, and other military capabilities. Commenting on this, Maduro said the 'people who lived through the First and Second World Wars are now talking about a new great war and claiming they are preparing for it.' Russia has said Western nations are increasingly using alarmist rhetoric to justify the diversion of public funds toward military spending. The Kremlin has long considered the Ukraine conflict to be a Western proxy war against Russia and has condemned the weapons supplies to Kiev, arguing that they only serve to fuel further bloodshed and hinder efforts toward a peaceful resolution.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Russian novels brainwashing teens into enlisting
A new sinister genre of nationalistic fantasy fiction is on the rise in Russia, targeting the country's most impressionable demographic. Teenagers and young men are being pulled into patriotic fervour by 'Z literature', which delivers a simple message: Enlist, fight, and glorify the Russian state. The books, a reference to the 'Z' symbol used to promote the invasion of Ukraine, have echoes of the heavy-handed propaganda of the Soviet Union. 'What the state is trying to do to create a culture in which everyday life is militarised,' Dr Colin Alexander, senior lecturer in political communications at Nottingham Trent University, told The Telegraph. 'It is normalising the idea that to be a good citizen, a good patriot, a good man, you go and fight in the war, because Russia is surrounded by enemies.' 'Z literature' books have illustrated covers showing soldiers mid-charge, framed by firestorms, tanks and Russian flags. They purport a world where Russia is surrounded by enemies, its soldiers the only hope in the face of Nazis, with tales of brotherhood and glory in death as plot lines. The books are stocked in mainstream bookstores, discussed in Russian media, appear in schools, and have even been shared by the deceased Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. 'The environment, the culture, is just suffused with this material,' said Ian Garner, Assistant Professor of Totalitarian Studies at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw. 'Militarism becomes normalised. And for some young Russians, it becomes pretty much all they ever see.' In the Soviet era, posters and busts of figures like Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and heroic workers or soldiers were part of everyday life. Children were targeted with toys and figurines depicting Red Army soldiers or cosmonauts. Today, the focus is on shaping teenagers and young people with media, be it in paperback or online. According to Dr Alexander, 'Z literature' is targeted specifically at young men and teenagers who will soon be the focus of enlistment drives to boost Russia's presence in Ukraine. He added that the content especially appeals to those who might be disenfranchised and vulnerable to ideologies that promise strength, belonging and a sense of purpose. In the novel Colonel Nobody, by Alexei Sukonkin, a down-and-out young man changes his life for the better by joining the Wagner Group upon his release from prison, where he follows a redemption arc, finding a new sense of brotherhood and ultimately sacrificing his life for the cause. 'There is often a sense of brotherhood, that you can turn into a good citizen, a good patriot, a strong man, a man who can provide for his family, a man who defends the country and the community,' said Dr Garner. The books often carry the message that Russia is the only country fighting for a better world, and that it is completely alone in doing so. 'The message is very clear in these books: Russia is fated to be attacked by outside powers,' explained Dr Garner. Mikhail Mikheev's White Z on the Front Armour follows this theme, with a brutal Russian agent, posing as a liberal journalist, infiltrating Ukraine after the full-scale invasion. He travels across the country, killing evil characters and delivering one-liners like, 'You wanted Crimea, pigface?' 'The underlying narrative is always that Russia as a state, as a country, has been wrong in the past, and through these heroes, we can rectify Russia's greatness and its destiny,' said Jaroslava Barbieri, a doctoral researcher into Russian foreign policy and post-Soviet affairs at the University of Birmingham. The characters in 'Z literature' are often a mirror image of iconic heroes in Western action films. Crimean Cauldron by Nikolai Marchuk reads like a fever-dream rewrite of the 1985 film Commando, where a lone Russian hero, in true Arnold Schwarzenegger style, kills the enemy by the dozen to emerge in glory. It depicts a world where everyone, including North Korea, has turned against Russia, who is fighting against Nazis in Crimea and ultimately ends the war by seizing the Capitol Building in Washington DC. In PMC Chersonesus, by Andrei Belyanin, a group of heroes join together to undertake a mission to return artefacts and museum treasures to Crimea. During the mission the trio - modelled upon the Greek gods Aphrodite, Heracles, and Dionysus - encounter evil figures and even zombie Nazis. The final mission involves stealing Scythian gold from the Netherlands, referencing real treasures awarded to Ukraine by Dutch courts and never returned to Russian-occupied Crimea. 'The most extraordinary aspect of this sub-genre of science fiction is that we have these characters that travel back in time intending to rewrite history,' said Ms Barbieri, commenting on PMC Chersonesus. 'Imagine you've read about these artefacts, and then it will pop up somewhere in the news about cultural items that they claim are Russian. 'In this is a very subversive way, the sub-genre reinforces broader propaganda, disinformation narratives that will then be amplified through the media landscape.' The books are part of a larger propaganda ecosystem that includes patriotic education, youth military clubs, and pro-war digital content, all aimed at fostering support for the war in Ukraine. Experts warned that the long-term outcome could be detrimental to ever achieving peace with Russia, as the youth is trained to see violence as the answer to conflict. 'It means that Russia can't be liberalised. It can't be democratised overnight,' said Dr Garner. Ms Barbieri added: 'Five years from now, these readers will be soldiers. The Kremlin isn't trying to appease aggression - it's cultivating it.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The Russian novels brainwashing teens into enlisting
A new sinister genre of nationalistic fantasy fiction is on the rise in Russia, targeting the country's most impressionable demographic. Teenagers and young men are being pulled into patriotic fervour by 'Z literature', which delivers a simple message: enlist, fight, and glorify the Russian state. The books, a reference to the 'Z' symbol used to promote the invasion of Ukraine, have echoes of the heavy handed propaganda of the Soviet Union. 'What the state is trying to do to create a culture in which everyday life is militarised,' Dr Colin Alexander, senior lecturer in political communications at Nottingham Trent University, told The Telegraph. 'It is normalising the idea that to be a good citizen, a good patriot, a good man, you go and fight in the war, because Russia is surrounded by enemies.' Z literature books have illustrated covers showing soldiers mid-charge, framed by firestorms, tanks and Russian flags. They purport a world where Russia is surrounded by enemies, its soldiers the only hope in the face of Nazis, with tales of brotherhood and glory in death as plot lines. The books are stocked in mainstream bookstores, discussed in Russian media, appear in schools and have even been shared by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the deceased Wagner leader. 'The environment, the culture, is just suffused with this material,' said Ian Garner, assistant professor of totalitarian studies at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw. 'Militarism becomes normalised. And for some young Russians it becomes pretty much all they ever see.' In the Soviet era, posters and busts of figures such as Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and heroic workers or soldiers were part of everyday life. Children were targeted with toys and figurines depicting Red Army soldiers or cosmonauts. Today, the focus is on shaping teenagers and young people with media, be it in paperback or online. According to Dr Alexander, Z literature is targeted specifically at young men and teenagers who will soon be the focus of enlistment drives to boost Russia's presence in Ukraine. He added that the content especially appeals to those who might be disenfranchised and vulnerable to ideologies that promise strength, belonging and a sense of purpose. In the novel Colonel Nobody, by Alexei Sukonkin, a down-and-out young man changes his life for the better by joining the Wagner Group upon his release from prison where he follows a redemption arc, finding a new sense of brotherhood and ultimately sacrificing his life for the cause. 'There is often a sense of brotherhood, that you can turn into a good citizen, a good patriot, a strong man, a man who can provide for his family, a man who defends the country and the community,' said Dr Garner. The books often carry the message that Russia is the only country fighting for a better world and that it is completely alone in doing so. 'The message is very clear in these books: Russia is fated to be attacked by outside powers,' said Dr Garner. Mikhail Mikheev's White Z on the Front Armour follows this theme, with a brutal Russian agent, posing as a liberal journalist, infiltrating Ukraine after the full-scale invasion. He travels across the country, killing evil characters and delivering one-liners including: 'You wanted Crimea, pigface?' 'The underlying narrative is always that Russia as a state, as a country, has been wrong in the past, and through these heroes, we can rectify Russia's greatness and its destiny,' said Jaroslava Barbieri, a doctoral researcher into Russian foreign policy and post-Soviet affairs at the University of Birmingham. The characters in are often a mirror image of iconic heroes in Western action films. Crimean Cauldron by Nikolai Marchuk reads like a fever-dream rewrite of the 1985 film Commando, where a lone Russian hero, in true Arnold Schwarzenegger style, kills the enemy by the dozen to emerge in glory. It depicts a world where everyone, including North Korea, has turned against Russia, which is fighting against Nazis in Crimea and ultimately ends the war by seizing the Capitol Building in Washington DC. In PMC Chersonesus by Andrei Belyanin, a group of heroes undertake a mission to return artefacts and museum treasures to Crimea. The trio, modelled upon Greek gods Aphrodite, Heracles, and Dionysus, encounter evil figures and even zombie Nazis. The final mission involves stealing Scythian gold from the Netherlands, referencing real treasures awarded to Ukraine by Dutch courts and never returned to Russian-occupied Crimea. 'The most extraordinary aspect of this sub-genre of science fiction is that we have these characters that travel back in time intending to rewrite history,' said Ms Barbieri, commenting on PMC Chersonesus. 'Imagine you've read about these artefacts, and then it will pop up somewhere in the news about cultural items that they claim are Russian. 'In this very subversive way, the sub-genre reinforces broader propaganda, disinformation narratives that will then be amplified through the media landscape.' The books are part of a larger propaganda ecosystem that includes patriotic education, youth military clubs and pro-war digital content, all aimed at fostering support for the war in Ukraine. Experts warned that the long-term outcome could be detrimental to ever achieving peace with Russia, as young people are trained to see violence as the answer to conflict. 'It means that Russia can't be liberalised. It can't be democratised overnight,' said Dr Garner. Ms Barbieri added: 'Five years from now, these readers will be soldiers. The Kremlin isn't trying to appease aggression – it's cultivating it.'
