Lecture by Reiner Schwalb at the Society for Security Policy in the Dionysianum
For the first lecture in 2022n, the Society for Security Policy, Rheine Section, invites you to a lecture by Brigadier General (ret.) Reiner Schwalb, military attaché in Moscow for many years, on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at 7 pm.
In 1989, not only did the Wall erected in 1961 and the Iron Curtain that had separated Berlin and all of Germany fall, but a window for understanding between East and West opened. It was in this window that German unity came about in 1990. The Soviet Union dissolved into several successor states The Warsaw Pact imploded. Some of these states are now members of NATO and the EU or are seeking to join the West.
Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000 after partially chaotic birth pangs of a quasi-democratic Russia. The Russian Federation, as the internationally recognized legal successor to the Soviet Union, joined the Council of Europe, sought closer ties to the West, but at the same time felt threatened by a NATO that was gaining more and more members.
Recent days have shown that Russia is increasingly distancing itself from the West, questioning commonly agreed values and pursuing an offensive-aggressive foreign policy. The annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and the current developments in and around Ukraine are examples of the new antagonisms.
How aggressive is Russia, what is the internal situation in this state and what significance does this have for German-Russian relations?
What historical, political, economic and geostrategic reasons determine Russia’s considerations?
Can there be a return to a trusting partnership in the relationship between Germany and the European Union with our large eastern neighbor?
Will we be spared a new “Cold War”?
Reiner Schwalb will address these questions on March 8, as well as his activities as defense attaché in Moscow.
Schwalb joined the Bundeswehr after graduating from high school in 1973. He studied civil engineering there and later political science in Washington D.C., USA. Brigadier General (ret.) Schwalb served in numerous command assignments in the armed forces, staff assignments in NATO and national staffs as well as the German Ministry of Defense. Among others, he had assignments in the British Ministry of Defense, the U.S. European Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, and the NATO Staff in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
From 2011 to 2018, he served as defense attaché at the German Embassy in Moscow, which gave him deep insights into the Russian soul, into the diversity of this giant empire, but also into Russian-German relations.
Even after his more than 45 years of active service, Reiner Schwalb is still committed to improving German-Russian relations in expert groups and in civil society activities.
The holding of this lecture event at the Gymnasium Dionysianum will take place under 3G conditions. Participants should have their vaccination card or proof of recovery handy at the access control.
Date: Tuesday, March 08, 2022, 7:00 p.m.
Gymnasium Dionysianum, Anton Führer-Strasse 2,
48431 Rheine