With: Tariq Ali, Naika Foroutan, Srećko Horvat, Sebastian Kaiser, Luise Meier

The event will be hold in English.

„I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones“.
Albert Einstein

War is raging. In Europe. In the Middle East. In several countries across Africa. War has become a global condition. International law appears all but dead. What prevails is the power of the stronger weapon.

Whether in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or in the United States’ attack on the mullah regime in Iran since February 28, 2026—in both cases there seems to be no strategy for translating war back into politics. No pause to think beyond bombs and mass death.

Instead, societies—including Germany’s—are adapting to a new reality of militarization: mobilizing resources and spending billions on armaments. Preparing to accept war as a permanent condition, or even to anticipate the scenario of a Third World War.

Seemingly rational arguments are invoked to justify irrational destruction—accelerated by technological upheavals, artificial intelligence, and the emergence of autonomous warfare. Yet the language of war conceals what often remains unspoken: the political and economic systems that shaped the twentieth century appear no longer capable of offering a viable vision of the future.

Are we entering an age of permanent war—perhaps also because we lack a compelling idea of tomorrow?

In the discussion series Die Erde ist rot, so oder so, we examine the current global war scenario. Is it a symptom of a deeper crisis within liberal capitalism?

What political models might offer a way out of this condition? And what could a progressive internationalism oppose to the alliances of blood-and-soil nationalisms and societies shaped by clerical fundamentalism?

The Volksbühne invites journalists, philosophers, and activists to reflect on war, geopolitical power, and possible alternatives.

Tariq Ali is one of the most prominent left-wing intellectuals since the 1960s – an activist against the Vietnam War and, to this day, a sharp critic of Western interventionist wars and imperialism. Ali is the author of numerous books on politics, history, and empire, and was one of the founders of the New Left Review. He also inspired The Rolling Stones to write the song Street Fighting Man and influenced the spirit of John Lennon’s Power to the People.

Naika Foroutan is one of the most prominent voices on migration, integration, and identity in contemporary Germany. She is a professor of social sciences and has led major research instituions and projects on post-migrant society and diversity. In 2019 she published the widely discussed research about the analogy of post-migrant communities and the children of east german parents. Foroutan frequently contributes to public debates and is known for bridging academic research with political and societal discussions.

Luise Meier is an interdisciplinary thinker and artist from Berlin, author of MRX Maschine and Hyphen.

Srećko Horvat is a philosopher and author of books such as After the Apocalypse and Poetry from the Future. He co-founded DiEM25 and the Progressive International, and is currently mainly active in building ISSA – The Island School of Social Autonomy – in the midst of the Adriatic Sea.

Sebastian Kaiser is organizing and curating since 2010 in Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz large political and artistic events, like Africa Conference and others. He initiated the debates about the future of Europe, a.o. with Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.