The Aggression of the Fanatics

Old maps are experiencing a boom. Dedicated dealers are selling them on the international market for a lot of money, and enthusiastic buyers – including some from the younger generation – are snapping them up. They're not using them in everyday life, like the old days when people used to practice origami with huge, folded maps while driving or cycling. They're hanging them on the wall. Is this a new retro wave, a nostalgic fetish?

Hardly. Maps depict defined territories, geographical spaces, hoping to document the distribution of political power, ideally for all eternity. Perhaps it's no wonder that printed maps are making a comeback in day and age in which nearly 95% of all cars in the world's big cities use GPS to find their way. In an era that experienced a sea change last year. At 3 a.m. on 24 February, when a US military expert observed that numerous roads on the border between Russia and Ukraine were suddenly highlighted in red. On Google Maps it looked like a traffic jam, but it was in fact the Russian military attacking Ukraine. GPS systems document live what previously had to be drawn into maps and printed out: the shifting of borders – geographical, political and moral borders.

Maps are therefore political documents and an attempt to cement power once it has been acquired. Countries and organizations use geographic information, such as borders, to express their political views on a particular issue – in other words, to create facts. For example, if two countries are fighting over a certain territory, they may create different versions of the same map, with conflicting claims about who owns what territory. These maps are then used by governments as propaganda tools to influence public opinion.

This is exactly what we have been seeing since the armed annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea by the Russian military in spring 2014 – a permanent trespassing of borders. The peace negotiations between Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany subsequently achieved a cease-fire and autonomy for the Donbas region of Ukraine. Russia refused to negotiate over Crimea. You don't have to be a cynic to see the Ukraine war as the nearly logical conclusion. A border crossing rarely comes alone.

Upon receiving the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1962, German-American theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich gave a remarkable acceptance speech. He spoke about the existence and nature of "frontiers," saying, "If crossing and recrossing the frontier is the way to peace, then the fear of what lies beyond and the will to eliminate that is born of that fear is the root of discord and wars." Tillich further maintained, "The aggression of the fanatic is the result of his weakness, his fear of crossing his own boundary, and his inability to see realized in the other what he has suppressed in himself.” 

Tank deliveries: unfathomable just a few months ago

Nothing against the frontiers – borders – between differing positions per se. All forms of human existence grow out of a certain demarcation between alternatives. Who would I be without you; what would day be without night, light without dark, or happiness without adversity? Without differences that make a difference, as British-American anthropologist Gregory Bateson once put it, we wouldn't be capable of perceiving and interpreting our world. Identity also arises from difference. Where it becomes difficult, however, is when differences are elevated to ideologies, as Tillich described. Democracy is just as threatening to authoritarian fanatics as freedom of speech is to the obedient propagandist. The extremists' transgressions must be stopped. Otherwise, they blur the borders between differentiation and discrimination to the point of annihilation.

The German government did this together with the U.S. government last week. The delivery of Leopard 2 and M1 Abram tanks to Ukraine is an important step toward drawing a line following Vladimir Putin's numerous transgressions: We will not allow a European neighboring state to be attacked and annexed by force of arms today.

For German defense policy, this is also a new frontier. Such a step would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. It is right that it is being discussed in detail. And certainly the German government could have communicated more wisely in some places.

Life defines new boundaries every day

But all the amateur generals in the editorial offices of German-language newspapers, who would have decided so much more decisively, quickly, confidently and efficiently, are making things very easy for themselves. Their bellicose drivel is dangerous. What would their reactions look like if Putin, in his authoritarian mania for self-preservation, were to deploy strategic nuclear weapons without a close German-American alliance clearly showing that he cannot drive a wedge between the NATO states?

For all those who like to make things easy for themselves when it comes to difficult issues like these, Polish-American philosopher Alfred Korzybski has something to say: “A map is not the territory.” No map can depict that it means to enter the desolate landscape of war, and one would do well to think about this extensively in advance. One wrong move doesn't matter on the map, but may be fatal in the field. 

You can't hold on to the past by collecting old maps. Life is drawing new boundaries every day – on Google Maps and in the real world.

Cover Image: Unsplash