Ralf Ekrowski
@ralfekrowski.bsky.social
Born in Ahlen, shaped in Münster, now settled on Germany’s coast. Lawyer. Focused on politics, urban development, and democracy.
"Humans built SUVs to feel powerful. They only look smaller inside"
https://ekrowski.net/unasked-unfiltered/
"Humans built SUVs to feel powerful. They only look smaller inside"
https://ekrowski.net/unasked-unfiltered/
January 27 is Holocaust Remembrance Day in Germany.
This essay shows why the Holocaust cannot be separated from the universal validity of human rights. Never again only has meaning if human rights are never optional, even in countries that once called themselves civilized.
www.kas.de/en/web/newyo...
This essay shows why the Holocaust cannot be separated from the universal validity of human rights. Never again only has meaning if human rights are never optional, even in countries that once called themselves civilized.
www.kas.de/en/web/newyo...
The Holocaust and Human Rights
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
www.kas.de
January 27, 2026 at 7:09 AM
January 27 is Holocaust Remembrance Day in Germany.
This essay shows why the Holocaust cannot be separated from the universal validity of human rights. Never again only has meaning if human rights are never optional, even in countries that once called themselves civilized.
www.kas.de/en/web/newyo...
This essay shows why the Holocaust cannot be separated from the universal validity of human rights. Never again only has meaning if human rights are never optional, even in countries that once called themselves civilized.
www.kas.de/en/web/newyo...
Reading today’s news, it is striking how far Ukraine has slipped down the media agenda. Other issues, most recently the Greenland affair, dominate attention. The Kremlin actively works to divert global focus from its crimes in Ukraine.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Ukraine war briefing: Nato chief warns of ‘harshest winter’ in a decade as Russian attacks cut power in Kharkiv
Strikes knock out electricity to 80% of Ukraine’s second-largest city and surrounding region and damage 11th-century Kyiv monastery. What we know on day 1,434
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:36 AM
Reading today’s news, it is striking how far Ukraine has slipped down the media agenda. Other issues, most recently the Greenland affair, dominate attention. The Kremlin actively works to divert global focus from its crimes in Ukraine.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski
If it is fascism now it was fascism then but if you were wrong no need to pause to make a special effort to admit your error -- we don't have that much time now, please act right away, get organized, and then tell your followers what you are doing to stop fascism and what they too can do.
January 25, 2026 at 8:33 PM
If it is fascism now it was fascism then but if you were wrong no need to pause to make a special effort to admit your error -- we don't have that much time now, please act right away, get organized, and then tell your followers what you are doing to stop fascism and what they too can do.
ICE terror is not a breakdown of the system, but its consequence.
A system in which human rights become conditional.
The far right’s ‘remigration’ rhetoric prepares the ground for this logic.
Once accepted, it can unfold anywhere.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
A system in which human rights become conditional.
The far right’s ‘remigration’ rhetoric prepares the ground for this logic.
Once accepted, it can unfold anywhere.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Clinton and Obama call on Americans to ‘stand up’ to ICE, Trump makes plea – latest
The Obamas urged the Trump administration to ‘reconsider’ their approach to immigration enforcement
www.independent.co.uk
January 26, 2026 at 9:59 AM
ICE terror is not a breakdown of the system, but its consequence.
A system in which human rights become conditional.
The far right’s ‘remigration’ rhetoric prepares the ground for this logic.
Once accepted, it can unfold anywhere.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
A system in which human rights become conditional.
The far right’s ‘remigration’ rhetoric prepares the ground for this logic.
Once accepted, it can unfold anywhere.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Historians define fascism top-down.
Germans experienced it bottom-up: fear, arbitrariness, dehumanization in daily life.
Fascism isn’t a theory.
What feels like fascism to people is fascism.
That’s what we’re seeing now.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Germans experienced it bottom-up: fear, arbitrariness, dehumanization in daily life.
Fascism isn’t a theory.
What feels like fascism to people is fascism.
That’s what we’re seeing now.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Yes, It’s Fascism
Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.
www.theatlantic.com
January 25, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Historians define fascism top-down.
Germans experienced it bottom-up: fear, arbitrariness, dehumanization in daily life.
Fascism isn’t a theory.
What feels like fascism to people is fascism.
That’s what we’re seeing now.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Germans experienced it bottom-up: fear, arbitrariness, dehumanization in daily life.
Fascism isn’t a theory.
What feels like fascism to people is fascism.
That’s what we’re seeing now.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
I’m writing this from Germany, a country that once slid exactly this way.
State terror turned inward.
Fear replacing law. Cruelty enforcing conformity.
It never stabilized power.
It only produced immeasurable suffering.
Explore this gift article www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...
State terror turned inward.
Fear replacing law. Cruelty enforcing conformity.
It never stabilized power.
It only produced immeasurable suffering.
Explore this gift article www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...
Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2026 at 7:17 AM
I’m writing this from Germany, a country that once slid exactly this way.
State terror turned inward.
Fear replacing law. Cruelty enforcing conformity.
It never stabilized power.
It only produced immeasurable suffering.
Explore this gift article www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...
State terror turned inward.
Fear replacing law. Cruelty enforcing conformity.
It never stabilized power.
It only produced immeasurable suffering.
Explore this gift article www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...
For me, a World Cup under Donald Trump is no longer acceptable.
Football derives its legitimacy from openness, international encounter, and mutual respect , not from intimidation, exclusion, or political coercion.
A World Cup must not serve as a stage for a self-made autocrat.
Football derives its legitimacy from openness, international encounter, and mutual respect , not from intimidation, exclusion, or political coercion.
A World Cup must not serve as a stage for a self-made autocrat.
German soccer federation official wants World Cup boycott considered because of Trump
A German soccer federation executive committee member says it’s time to consider a World Cup boycott because of the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump.
apnews.com
January 24, 2026 at 12:13 PM
For me, a World Cup under Donald Trump is no longer acceptable.
Football derives its legitimacy from openness, international encounter, and mutual respect , not from intimidation, exclusion, or political coercion.
A World Cup must not serve as a stage for a self-made autocrat.
Football derives its legitimacy from openness, international encounter, and mutual respect , not from intimidation, exclusion, or political coercion.
A World Cup must not serve as a stage for a self-made autocrat.
The FAZ author Berthold Kohler accurately captures the mood shared by many democrats in Germany: Europeans should not bet on a democratic Jedi knight returning to the White House after this emperor and his Darth Vance. That would be politically about as responsible as playing Russian roulette.
Die zweite Zeitenwende: Trump, der Zerreißer des Westens
Donald Trump hat die Bande Amerikas zu Europa gekappt. Doch die Europäer müssen nicht auf der Speisekarte der rivalisierenden Großmächte landen, wenn sie sich besinnen.
www.faz.net
January 24, 2026 at 11:09 AM
The FAZ author Berthold Kohler accurately captures the mood shared by many democrats in Germany: Europeans should not bet on a democratic Jedi knight returning to the White House after this emperor and his Darth Vance. That would be politically about as responsible as playing Russian roulette.
A historic turning point: Jack Smith’s testimony marks the end of the US Rule of Law. New rules grant the President absolute immunity, shielding him from any accountability. Democracy yields to a new absolutism. A warning for the free world: Law is no longer supreme.
gift article
gift article
In Testimony, Jack Smith Defends Decision to Prosecute Trump
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:49 AM
A historic turning point: Jack Smith’s testimony marks the end of the US Rule of Law. New rules grant the President absolute immunity, shielding him from any accountability. Democracy yields to a new absolutism. A warning for the free world: Law is no longer supreme.
gift article
gift article
Rutte plays chess. Trump wants to buy the board.
One believes in rules. The other turns politics into Fight Club.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
One believes in rules. The other turns politics into Fight Club.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
What the Greenland Crisis Teaches Europe About Trump
European leaders may have averted catastrophe for now, but they still have to settle a crucial debate about how to handle the president.
www.theatlantic.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:15 AM
Rutte plays chess. Trump wants to buy the board.
One believes in rules. The other turns politics into Fight Club.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
One believes in rules. The other turns politics into Fight Club.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
Trump’s Greenland "deal" looks like a face-saving exit. Despite his rhetoric of a "defense gap," the US has had full military access since 1951. The new framework, modeled on UK bases in Cyprus, mainly serves to stop his trade war after markets tanked.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Trump declaration of Greenland framework deal met with scepticism as doubts persist
Nato chief Mark Rutte says there is ‘a lot of work to be done’, as some Danish MPs voice concern at Greenland apparently being sidelined in US president’s talks
www.theguardian.com
January 22, 2026 at 6:27 AM
Trump’s Greenland "deal" looks like a face-saving exit. Despite his rhetoric of a "defense gap," the US has had full military access since 1951. The new framework, modeled on UK bases in Cyprus, mainly serves to stop his trade war after markets tanked.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
German press still tries to find “meaning” in Trump’s Davos speech. Maybe wrong question. Better ask: who benefits from him talking like this. Undermining allies, turning security into a deal, making sovereignty negotiable. Perhaps not chaos, but a business model.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Trump Gives a Stump Speech at Davos
The president’s remarks at the World Economic Forum show that he still doesn’t understand how American greatness functions globally.
www.theatlantic.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:15 PM
German press still tries to find “meaning” in Trump’s Davos speech. Maybe wrong question. Better ask: who benefits from him talking like this. Undermining allies, turning security into a deal, making sovereignty negotiable. Perhaps not chaos, but a business model.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Trump claims the US once “held” Greenland. That’s false.
Treaties from 1814, 1941 and 1951 all explicitly recognize Danish sovereignty.
The US has base rights via NATO, not ownership. History and law are clear.
www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...
Treaties from 1814, 1941 and 1951 all explicitly recognize Danish sovereignty.
The US has base rights via NATO, not ownership. History and law are clear.
www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...
Anders als Trump behauptet: Die USA sahen Grönland immer als dänisch an
Donald Trump behauptet in Davos, Grönland habe den Amerikanern schon einmal gehört. Was wurde im Zweiten Weltkrieg wirklich vereinbart?
www.faz.net
January 21, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Trump claims the US once “held” Greenland. That’s false.
Treaties from 1814, 1941 and 1951 all explicitly recognize Danish sovereignty.
The US has base rights via NATO, not ownership. History and law are clear.
www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...
Treaties from 1814, 1941 and 1951 all explicitly recognize Danish sovereignty.
The US has base rights via NATO, not ownership. History and law are clear.
www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...
Trump’s worldview is simple and dangerous. Protection comes with a bill. If you do not pay or comply, you lose it. NATO, Ukraine, Greenland become entries on a balance sheet. Rules matter only if they pay off. Sovereignty becomes negotiable. Dissent turns partners into debtors.
Davos live: Trump rules out taking Greenland by force but calls for ‘immediate negotiations’
Rolling coverage of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the US president delivered a speech to world leaders
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Trump’s worldview is simple and dangerous. Protection comes with a bill. If you do not pay or comply, you lose it. NATO, Ukraine, Greenland become entries on a balance sheet. Rules matter only if they pay off. Sovereignty becomes negotiable. Dissent turns partners into debtors.
The NYT reads like a quiet appeal:
Europe is asked to do what US democracy no longer reliably can.
Set limits. Impose costs. If needed, against its own president.
Europe’s “trade bazooka” is a test. Not of Trump. Of Europe.
Explore this gift article
Europe is asked to do what US democracy no longer reliably can.
Set limits. Impose costs. If needed, against its own president.
Europe’s “trade bazooka” is a test. Not of Trump. Of Europe.
Explore this gift article
Opinion | Europe Has a Bazooka. Time to Use It.
www.nytimes.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:04 AM
The NYT reads like a quiet appeal:
Europe is asked to do what US democracy no longer reliably can.
Set limits. Impose costs. If needed, against its own president.
Europe’s “trade bazooka” is a test. Not of Trump. Of Europe.
Explore this gift article
Europe is asked to do what US democracy no longer reliably can.
Set limits. Impose costs. If needed, against its own president.
Europe’s “trade bazooka” is a test. Not of Trump. Of Europe.
Explore this gift article
Northern lights dancing above Bremerhaven, Germany.A rare glow over the North Sea.
The Sun clearly had a busy day.
The Sun clearly had a busy day.
January 20, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Northern lights dancing above Bremerhaven, Germany.A rare glow over the North Sea.
The Sun clearly had a busy day.
The Sun clearly had a busy day.
“Inside the Kremlin, the latest season of Breaking NATO has just dropped.
(Photo: SZ illustration by Teresa Habild — own translation)”
www.sueddeutsche.de/meinung/habi...
(Photo: SZ illustration by Teresa Habild — own translation)”
www.sueddeutsche.de/meinung/habi...
Breaking Nato
www.sueddeutsche.de
January 20, 2026 at 8:32 AM
“Inside the Kremlin, the latest season of Breaking NATO has just dropped.
(Photo: SZ illustration by Teresa Habild — own translation)”
www.sueddeutsche.de/meinung/habi...
(Photo: SZ illustration by Teresa Habild — own translation)”
www.sueddeutsche.de/meinung/habi...
German history carries a quiet warning.
Responsibility does not begin with violence, but with the moment people sense that an order violates human dignity or international law.
The hardest line is not between obedience and refusal.
It’s the moment when doubt is felt—and pushed aside.
Responsibility does not begin with violence, but with the moment people sense that an order violates human dignity or international law.
The hardest line is not between obedience and refusal.
It’s the moment when doubt is felt—and pushed aside.
The Military Is Being Forced to Plan for an Unthinkable Betrayal
Attacking an ally would be a perversion of everything the armed forces have been trained to do.
www.theatlantic.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:01 AM
German history carries a quiet warning.
Responsibility does not begin with violence, but with the moment people sense that an order violates human dignity or international law.
The hardest line is not between obedience and refusal.
It’s the moment when doubt is felt—and pushed aside.
Responsibility does not begin with violence, but with the moment people sense that an order violates human dignity or international law.
The hardest line is not between obedience and refusal.
It’s the moment when doubt is felt—and pushed aside.
The Greenland dispute is not a side issue.
It is a building block if Vladimir Putin wants to test the NATO.
It ties up attention, creates internal friction, and weakens credibility.
The attack would not start there.
The real fault line runs through Poland and Estonia.
www.politico.eu/article/denm...
It is a building block if Vladimir Putin wants to test the NATO.
It ties up attention, creates internal friction, and weakens credibility.
The attack would not start there.
The real fault line runs through Poland and Estonia.
www.politico.eu/article/denm...
Denmark sends more troops to Greenland
Denmark says its troops could stay in Greenland for one to two years.
www.politico.eu
January 19, 2026 at 5:59 PM
The Greenland dispute is not a side issue.
It is a building block if Vladimir Putin wants to test the NATO.
It ties up attention, creates internal friction, and weakens credibility.
The attack would not start there.
The real fault line runs through Poland and Estonia.
www.politico.eu/article/denm...
It is a building block if Vladimir Putin wants to test the NATO.
It ties up attention, creates internal friction, and weakens credibility.
The attack would not start there.
The real fault line runs through Poland and Estonia.
www.politico.eu/article/denm...
Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski
"Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him. Also, he really is maniacally, unhealthily obsessive about the Nobel Prize."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:21 PM
"Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him. Also, he really is maniacally, unhealthily obsessive about the Nobel Prize."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
We look for explanations because we are used to thinking of politics as rational, interest-driven, or at least strategic.
But with Donald Trump, that logic is increasingly failing.
Perhaps there is no explanation at all!
Except this: politics has become the stage for a permanent ego trip.
But with Donald Trump, that logic is increasingly failing.
Perhaps there is no explanation at all!
Except this: politics has become the stage for a permanent ego trip.
Trump ties failure to win Nobel Peace Prize to efforts to acquire Greenland | CNN
US President Donald Trump told Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that he no longer feels bound “to think purely of Peace” because the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not award him the Nobel Peace...
edition.cnn.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:44 PM
We look for explanations because we are used to thinking of politics as rational, interest-driven, or at least strategic.
But with Donald Trump, that logic is increasingly failing.
Perhaps there is no explanation at all!
Except this: politics has become the stage for a permanent ego trip.
But with Donald Trump, that logic is increasingly failing.
Perhaps there is no explanation at all!
Except this: politics has become the stage for a permanent ego trip.
If this weren’t real, it would be comedy.
Trump wants Greenland.
The US doesn’t have enough icebreakers.
Science is sidelined.
But of course – Trump is a master of all.
Trump wants Greenland.
The US doesn’t have enough icebreakers.
Science is sidelined.
But of course – Trump is a master of all.
'The finest in the world': Why the US is buying icebreakers from Finland www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Why the US is buying icebreakers from Finland
The Nordic nation leads the way when it comes to both the design and construction of the vessels.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 19, 2026 at 7:59 AM
If this weren’t real, it would be comedy.
Trump wants Greenland.
The US doesn’t have enough icebreakers.
Science is sidelined.
But of course – Trump is a master of all.
Trump wants Greenland.
The US doesn’t have enough icebreakers.
Science is sidelined.
But of course – Trump is a master of all.
Trump is ending the liberal world order. To flip Clausewitz: politics has become a mere continuation of business by other means. It’s no longer about nations.
Trump doesn't want to fight battles; he wants to occupy the world's toll booths." We are sliding back into a world from before 1648.
Trump doesn't want to fight battles; he wants to occupy the world's toll booths." We are sliding back into a world from before 1648.
America vs. the World
President Trump wants to return to the 19th century’s international order. He will leave America less prosperous—and the whole world less secure.
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:59 AM
Trump is ending the liberal world order. To flip Clausewitz: politics has become a mere continuation of business by other means. It’s no longer about nations.
Trump doesn't want to fight battles; he wants to occupy the world's toll booths." We are sliding back into a world from before 1648.
Trump doesn't want to fight battles; he wants to occupy the world's toll booths." We are sliding back into a world from before 1648.
Misunderstood as a pop song, intended as a pattern description. It describes with striking precision why we live in a world full of self-appointed kings.
youtu.be/aGCdLKXNF3w?...
youtu.be/aGCdLKXNF3w?...
Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by TearsForFearsVEVO
youtu.be
January 18, 2026 at 10:03 AM
Misunderstood as a pop song, intended as a pattern description. It describes with striking precision why we live in a world full of self-appointed kings.
youtu.be/aGCdLKXNF3w?...
youtu.be/aGCdLKXNF3w?...