The world situation doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Everything seems even bleaker when you look at it from the Middle East.
The Israeli star philosopher Yuval Noah Harari is an exceptional conversation partner.
One who refuses to give up hope.
In stoic defiance, he even defends the two-state solution, which the vast majority of Israelis, even leftists and intellectuals, have long since declared dead.
»All previous attempts have failed.
But we have to keep fighting for it.
And we need help from outside,” says Harari in an interview.
Because, he diagnoses, all trust between Israelis and Palestinians has been destroyed.
And for a good reason.
Harari's new book "Sapiens: The Game of Worlds" was published by CH Beck on March 14, 2024.
Enlarge image
Star philosopher Yuval Noah Harari in his office in Tel Aviv in March 2023
Photo: Oded Balilty / AP
Harai is relying on the global community and hopes that it can inject something like trust into the Middle East conflict from the outside, through international guarantees and even through interventions.
But this requires a functioning international order.
But this was attacked and undermined, on the one hand by Russia, which never really accepted it.
»But also from within, for example through the election of Trump or the Brexit decision.
So even the countries that were once their architects have turned against them.”
If you destroy an order without having an alternative, then disorder and chaos arise.
Harari says: »The ultimate threat does not come from autocracies like Russia or Iran, but rather arises from our own internal divisions.
The good news: Whether our systems survive is in our hands, not Putin’s or Xi’s.”
Liberal democracies can correct and adapt, that's what makes them strong.
And that's why, says the philosopher, we have the resources to overcome humanity's most pressing challenges.
»We can mitigate climate change, it is not a God-made Armageddon.
Artificial intelligence is still our creation.
The same applies to the chaos that threatens the world. Liberal democracies are still the most powerful bloc in the world.
And yes, Harari believes she can still be saved.
I met him in London.
You can read the whole conversation here.
What else was good this week – for the world:
Child mortality falls to historic low
According to United Nations estimates, child mortality worldwide has fallen by 51 percent since 2000.
The number of children who died before the age of five was still 4.9 million in 2022, reaching a historic low.
This success can be attributed primarily to improved health care.
How super mosquitoes are supposed to fight dengue fever
Dengue viruses are transmitted by mosquitoes and are spreading rapidly in many countries around the world.
In Brazil, soldiers are now helping to contain an epidemic.
Now, of all things, a species of mosquito from the laboratory is supposed to solve the problem - and is already being used successfully.
What can the world learn from the natural paradise of Belize?
Belize is a small, relatively unknown country in the Caribbean;
It was a British colony until 1981.
Largely unnoticed by the world public, it has been transformed into an eco-wonderland.
In Belize you can marvel at what has been extensively deforested and concreted over in most countries in the world: a completely intact nature - including jaguars, howler monkeys and 600 species of birds.
There you can learn how an entire country is committed to protecting its nature.
And my colleague Rafaela von Bredow writes that it's worth it.
You can read her report here.
Berlin techno is now UNESCO cultural heritage
Six German traditions have been added to the nationwide list of intangible UNESCO cultural heritage.
Berlin techno is on the list, alongside mountaineering in Saxony and Schwalm whitework.
RTL is planning a dating show for people over 60.
The dating show for the older generation already exists in the USA, and now it is coming to Germany: The private broadcaster RTL wants to launch the “Golden Bachelor” soon – and is now looking for “lonely hearts” Male or female, it doesn’t matter – over 60”.
What’s good – for you:
Exhausted from caring? This is how you get rehab
Caring for a relative takes a lot of energy - and often your own health too.
Many people put their personal needs aside.
Paid rehab can help.
Here you can find out what options are available to caring relatives.
What you should consider when buying gold
Gold is currently more in demand than ever before.
The prospect of falling interest rates and the central banks' hunger for gold has driven the price to a record high.
Gold fans also see the precious metal as a kind of insurance in the event that conventional means of payment become worthless.
Is an investment also worthwhile for private investors?
How to learn to cuddle
Unintentional touch is considered a superfood for the body and soul.
But how do you cuddle when you're single?
My colleague Benjamin Maack tried it out – at cuddle parties, with a therapist and with friends.
Here he reports on his experiences.
How to resolve arguments and reconcile with your partner
Some conflicts are so deep that lovers cannot find their way out of the ongoing argument.
The US couples therapists Julie and John Gottman explain which method can be used to get to the core of the problem.
And they suggest six questions to really get closer to each other.
The special story
HIV – the abbreviation stands for the human immunodeficiency virus – and also for “Happy Indian Village”, a small village somewhat remote in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Around 110 people live here, almost all of them are HIV positive.
The village's story begins 18 years ago when journalist Ravi Bapatle founded it to help infected children.
They were marginalized in society and were often not even allowed to attend school.
In the village of the journalist Bapatle they can lead a dignified life, children can grow into happy adults and start their own families.
And yet Bapatle wants nothing more than for his village to be closed in the next ten years: "HIV should disappear, so I hope that villages like this one are no longer needed." India, with 1.4 billion inhabitants, is that Country with the second largest population in the world.
2.4 million people live with HIV there.
Society is slowly changing and HIV-positive people are being less discriminated against and better integrated.
You can see the video report from my colleagues here.
And otherwise?
Mr. König sent us a touching message this week.
Last October, he wrote, when he looked at his account balance he realized that he was broke, a "hard landing": his small reserves weren't enough for his pension.
So he had to completely redesign his life: He gave up his car, landline telephone and PC with an Internet connection.
Since then he has felt a bit like he was in the 1970s.
He reads more, writes letters and somehow feels better about how he is actually doing.
“It doesn’t look particularly tempting from above, to the well-to-do everyday,” he writes.
And yet he won more than he lost.
»I see again how nature unfolds in spring and hear woodpeckers hammering.
Together with my dog, we spend the days like we used to as children: outside in wind and weather. Mr. König has mastered his difficult situation - and the involuntary digital detox has apparently even been good for him.
Did you experience something motivating or entertaining?
Feel free to send us your personal good news from the week by email to GuteNachrichten.Newsletter@spiegel.de - what good things happened to you, what nice things did you experience, see or hear?
It can be something small or something life-changing.
We will present another submission here in the next few weeks.*
Have a nice long weekend!
And if you haven't signed up for this new weekly newsletter yet, you can order it for free here.
Yours, Nicola Abé, team and project leader of the “Global Society” project in SPIEGEL’s foreign department
(*By submitting a submission, you agree to publication - anonymously if desired - on SPIEGEL.de and all other SPIEGEL Group media.)
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