Following the Yugoslav War of the 1990s, war has once again reached Europe. Even though the warring parties in Ukraine are fighting on the eastern periphery of the continent, it strikes at the very heart of Europe. In the political rhetoric of Western countries, Europe as a whole is under attack. Even though the fighting has not (yet) extended beyond Ukrainian territory, the war is very much present in people’s minds and is invoked as a real scenario for the near future. In 2025, Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the Nazi regime. Since then, peace has reigned in this country. However, the fact that this was an exclusively national perspective – one that, as a general statement, would never have withstood critical scrutiny – plays hardly any role in this perception. In the years since 1945, there has scarcely been a time when at least one military conflict has not brought suffering upon the societies involved. In 2025 alone, there were over 50 active military conflicts around the world, some fueled by European weapons (Servicestelle Friedensbildung 2025). Over the last few millennia, war has been a constant companion of history.
