Welcome to the initiative “Détente NOW”!
In recent years, the relationship between the West and Russia has seriously deteriorated. Mutual trust is at a post -Cold War low point. Thinking in enemy images and zero-sum logic is increasing. A search for a way out of this dead end is necessary.
With this in mind, we need to learn from the experience with Detente that lasted from the 60s to the 80s.It has to be understood that a policy of Détente is not one of friendship. The aim of Detente is to understand ones opponents, their thoughts and actions, to prevent violence, and to find commonly acceptable solutions, irrespective of whether Russia’s leader is Brezhnev or Putin.
In autumn 2016 our initiative distributed an online-statement calling for the establishment of a website to promote Détente NOW. Due to unexpectedly large support from civil society on both sides of the Atlantic, the statement became a transatlantic appeal: “Stop the Spiral of Violence — for a new Policy of Peace and Détente NOW!”, signed by many people from the USA and Europe.
We will continue to gather further supporters of the Détente NOW appeal in English, German and now also in Russian.
With this relaunch of our website, the initiative will, we believe, also contribute to:
- Promoting and increasing participation in the debate on a new approach to peace and détente policy.
- Providing information on initiatives, articles and opinions from Germany, the US and other countries on the topics: Détente / Armaments and Arms Control / Crises and Conflicts / UN and OSCE / News stories, historical narratives.
- Our website would also provide a floor for statements, articles or events sponsored by supporters and advisers.
In our initiative concerned citizens from civil society, from churches, from political organizations, economic groups and trade unions in several countries work together . The initiative is not tied to any political party or philosophy. What unites us nationally as well as internationally is our commitment to work for a peaceful world order.
For the editors of the initiative “Détente NOW”:
Dr. Wolfgang Biermann (political scientist)
Prof. Dr. Peter Brandt (historian and publicist)
Dr. Xanthe Hall (IPPNW Germany)
Dr. Ute Finckh-Krämer (MdB, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation)
Barbara Jentzsch (journalist, contact for the initiative in the USA)
Wiltrud Rösch-Metzler (freelance journalist / chairwoman of the Catholic peace movement pax christi)
Michael Müller (Chairman of the NaturFreunde, Germany)
Jörg Pache (Admin of the Info-Website “Détente NOW!”)
Dr. Christian Wipperfürth (Publicist / Associate Fellow of the German Association for Foreign Affairs / DGAP)
Burkhard Zimmermann (co-initiator of the Berlin Appeal, contact for the initiative in Germany and Europe).
