War
How should the West answer Russia, and what do outsiders owe the wars of the Middle East? On war this council holds both the sword and the conscience: Sun Tzu, David Ben-Gurion, who led a state through its wars, Hannah Arendt and Eleanor Roosevelt. Strategy and conscience pull against each other. The debates are where it plays out.
- Debates
- 30
- Council voices
- 32
- Last debated
- 23 June 2026
The council in action
What would they do about war?
Each thinker’s concrete moves, drawn straight from their debates.
HS
Helmut Schmidt
Explore Schmidt →- Require NATO allies to publish binding autonomous-capacity timelines before any US retrenchment discussion proceeds.Should the USA reduce its role as the world's security guarantor?
- Fund joint European defence industrial production so allied capacity is not theoretical but manufactured and fielded.Should the USA reduce its role as the world's security guarantor?
- Harmonize European defense spending to minimum 2% GDP before attempting unified command structures.Should the EU build a unified military force?
DB
David Ben-Gurion
Explore Ben-Gurion →- Build bilateral security arrangements with regional partners independent of any single great-power guarantee, as Israel did with Turkey, Iran, and Ethiopia.Should the USA reduce its role as the world's security guarantor?
- Schedule elections on a fixed wartime calendar before the crisis peaks, as Israel did in January 1949.During wartime, should a nation's political discourse give greater prominence to protecting cultural and democratic institutions alongside military defense, rather than letting military priorities dominate the conversation?
- Establish unified European political authority with power to make strategic military decisions under pressure.Should the EU build a unified military force?
HA
Hannah Arendt
Explore Arendt →- Protect and reinforce the shared institutions the United States founded, because withdrawal of commitment to rules, not just troops, destroys the public realm.Should the USA reduce its role as the world's security guarantor?
- Rebuild political membership frameworks so stateless and small actors retain enforceable rights when the ordering power disengages.Should the USA reduce its role as the world's security guarantor?
- Protect collective self-governance practices continuously during wartime; do not defer them until after the guns stop.During wartime, should a nation's political discourse give greater prominence to protecting cultural and democratic institutions alongside military defense, rather than letting military priorities dominate the conversation?
ER
Eleanor Roosevelt
Explore Roosevelt →- Name every detainee, every deportation, every disappearance in Ukraine coverage, treating silence as complicity.Should Western media shift coverage of the Ukraine war from military strategy to the erosion of democratic values and human rights?
- Measure war coverage against the UDHR's thirty articles, not territorial maps.Should Western media shift coverage of the Ukraine war from military strategy to the erosion of democratic values and human rights?
- Cite the specific UDHR article violated in every press release, naming the person harmed and the place.How should civil society organizations shift media coverage of Ukraine from military strategy to democratic values and human rights?
Browse by topic
Recurring dilemmas
Ukraine & Russia
5 debatesHow should the West answer Russia’s war, and on what terms does it end?
- Should Western media shift coverage of the Ukraine war from military strategy to the erosion of democratic values and human rights?
- How should civil society organizations shift media coverage of Ukraine from military strategy to democratic values and human rights?
- How to talk to Putin, or negotiate succesfully?
- What conditions would make a Ukraine ceasefire durable and acceptable?
- Should the Netherlands phase out all remaining Russian LNG imports by end of 2026, even if this means higher consumer energy prices for 18 months?
The Middle East
10 debatesFrom Gaza to Iran, what part should outside powers play in the region’s wars?
- How can we create long term peace in Libanon
- Why do Israelis perceive Palestinian suffering differently than most Western countries do?
- Should economic performance influence how nations respond to conflict in Iran?
- Does Israel have the right to build settlements in the West Bank?
- Should the EU impose sanctions on Israel for its attacks on Lebanon?
- Should the US extend its response to Iran's blockade of the Hormuz Strait?
Defence & deterrence
20 debatesHow much should states arm, and does deterrence really keep the peace?
- Should the USA reduce its role as the world's security guarantor?
- During wartime, should a nation's political discourse give greater prominence to protecting cultural and democratic institutions alongside military defense, rather than letting military priorities dominate the conversation?
- Should Western media shift coverage of the Ukraine war from military strategy to the erosion of democratic values and human rights?
- How should civil society organizations shift media coverage of Ukraine from military strategy to democratic values and human rights?
- Should the EU build an army?
- Should the EU build a unified military force?
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