Fortress Russia: Completely Lost in (Financial) Sanctions Warfare, A Deep Economic Crisis Is Unavoidable

Russia has been preparing for years for measured Western economic and financial sanctions as part of its so-called Fortress Russia strategy. With the invasion of Ukraine, an unpredicted and extraordinarily broadbased spiral of sanctions has been unleashed by the Western world. Tools of economic warfare - specifically the freezing of substantial public and private funds - were deployed quickly, while "private" voluntary sanctioning (company withdrawals, supply stops in non-sanctioned sectors, etc.) has been unexpectedly comprehensive. The bulk of sanctions and company withdrawals will likely remain in place for a long time. Russia's economic crisis management has so far appeared eclectic and defensive; stronger countermeasures may yet follow. In the West, a clear strategy is needed to use the hundreds of billions of dollars/euros in frozen Russia-related funds as reparations for the reconstruction of Ukraine

Two Economic Crises at the Same Time - Too Much Even for Russia

Russia's economy is currently suffering from two simultaneous, partly interdependent crises. Since 2014, Russia has been prepared for one of them: an oil market shock for which it is partly to blame. However, Russia is only partially prepared for the simultaneous spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Overcoming this crisis is becoming a systemic issue. More cooperation at the international level is desirable in the short term. Domestically, the Kremlin’s economic policy response remains modest. Companies and the middle class will help to overcome the crisis, while the government has yet to take meaningful action. The Russian leadership calculus could change if the Covid-19 fallout on the Russian economy becomes more predictable

Lara Crofts Heilversprechen

Lara Croft, die Heldin des weltweit meistverkauften Computerspiels Tomb Raider, bietet eine positive weibliche Identifikationsfigur. Mädchen und Frauen können gar, so Randi Gunzenhäuser im Magazin LaraCroftism, "Lara als Ermächtigungsfantasie persönlicher nehmen als Männer". Eine Redakteurin von Emma behauptet, dass das Geschenk einer weiblichen Heldin in unserer visuellen Wachstumswelt so groß sei, dass man Laras überdimensionierte weibliche Attribute "als Tribut an die Männerwelt eben in Kauf nehmen" müsse. Nur: Der Tribut ist sehr viel größer als beispielsweise der überdimensionierte Busen der Spielfigur. Denn mit dem Geschenk einer weiblichen Heldin a la Lara Croft geht der Rückgriff auf die alte heterosexuelle Geschlechtermetaphysik einher. Diese etabliert sich auf einer höheren Ebene und sekundiert als stützender Gegenpart einen fortlaufenden Prozess, der als "Entgeschlechtlichung" beziehungsweise "Medialisierung" der Körper beschrieben werden kann. Hier stellt sich die Frage nach der Bedeutungsverschiebung des Begriffs des Geschlechtlichen selbst

Cinematographic Aesthetics as Subversion of Moral Reason in Pasolini’s Medea

As the film theorist Janet L. Borgerson claims, there is something awry in our historical memory of Medea. This is precisely the point of departure for Pasolini’s film: he does not create an opposition between the world of patriarchal reason, embodied by Jason, and the matriarchal, irrational, archaic, and magical world personified by Medea. On the contrary, he shows that this opposition is itself the product of a historical conception.Astrid Deuber-Mankowsky, ‘Cinematographic Aesthetics as Subversion of Moral Reason in Pasolini’s Medea’, in The Scandal of Self-Contradiction: Pasolini’s Multistable Subjectivities, Geographies, Traditions, ed. by Luca Di Blasi, Manuele Gragnolati, and Christoph F. E. Holzhey, Cultural Inquiry, 6 (Vienna: Turia + Kant, 2012), pp. 255–66 <https://doi.org/10.37050/ci-06_14

Ariadna, una estrella danzante en el cielo : sobre el culto de las imágenes en Nietzsche

La autora analiza primeramente la diferencia que Nietzsche establece entre los realistas y los poetas. A partir de ahí, fija su concepto dionisíaco de filosofía como arte de la transfiguración. Ariadna se presenta aquí como abogada de aquella tradición filosófica que Nietzsche intenta superar en nombre de Dioniso. El famoso hilo, que una vez guió a Teseo a través del laberinto, ha perdido su fuerza mágica. Se trata de recuperarlo por medio de la voluntad y de la afirmación del cuerpo.The author analyzes the difference that Nietzsche establishes between realists and poets in order to elaborate his dionysiatic concept of philosophy as art of transfiguration. Ariadne appears here as the incarnation of that philosophical tradition that Nietzsche tries to surpass in the name of Dionysius. The famous thread, that once guided Theseus through the labyrinth, has lost its magic power. We have to retriev it again through will and the affirmation of body

Efficient dye adsorption by highly porous nanofiber aerogels

Electrospun nanofiber membranes are frequently used in adsorption processes thanks to their high specific surface area, tailored surface functionality, and fiber uniformity. However, they are still facing challenges such as low mechanical stability and unfavorable mass transport properties. In this study, an ultra-light and robust 3D nanofiber aerogel (NFA) or nanofiber sponge with tunable porosity and flexibility was synthesized from short pullulan/polyvinyl alcohol/polyacrylic acid nanofibers using a freeze casting process followed by thermal crosslinking. We demonstrate time the application of such NFAs in batch and continuous adsorption systems and compare their performance with flat nanofiber membranes (NFM). The NFAs proved to be promising adsorbents for cationic dyes due to their high adsorption capacity (383 mg/g) and their reusability. Langmuir isotherm was a suitable model for describing the adsorption process. The endothermic system followed a pseudo second order kinetic model and intra-fiber adsorption is found to be involved in the adsorption process. Dye adsorption by 3D NFAs was four times faster than for the respective flat NFMs and when used in a continuous process as a deep-bed filter, the pressure drop through the NFA was reduced by a factor of 40 while maintaining equal adsorption performance as for the NFM

Polen nach dem globalen Abschwung: ein fiskalpolitischer Balanceakt

Auch dieses Jahr wird Polen zu den wachstumsstärksten Volkswirtschaften Europas gehören, die Banken sind stabil und der Ausblick auf die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung ist besser als fast überall in West- und Ostmitteleuropa. In den westeuropäischen Medien wird Polen daher (noch) als "Wirtschaftswunderland" gefeiert. Die bislang günstige Entwicklung verleitet indes zu wirtschaftspolitischer Trägheit, vor allem bei der Budgetkonsolidierung. Die aktuelle fiskalpolitische Gratwanderung ist gefährlich, da die Erwartungen an Polen angesichts des relativ guten Abschneidens in der globalen Krise hoch sind