Each month, we feature a column by one of the personalities who give us the pleasure of alternating between the two. Current affairs, history, politics and philosophy: former Federal Councillor Pascal Couchepin's readings.
Everyone dreams of a school free of political influence. But isn't that just wishful thinking? History reminds us that it is through schools that the future of a society is at stake. In Switzerland, it was even through politics that peace was achieved.
Fake news stuns political players and observers alike. But isn't it true that lies, whose definition is often relative, are part of history? Only knowledge, debate and argumentation can break down its damaging potential.
Rarely has a state lie had such dramatic consequences. In 2003, the Bush administration presented false evidence of Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction, before invading the country and getting bogged down in a bloody war.
Chaque mois, retrouvez la chronique d’une des personnalités qui nous font le plaisir de prendre la plume en alternance. Actualité, histoire, politique et philosophie: plongée dans les lectures de Pascal Couchepin. Ce mois-ci, l’ancien conseiller présente «Apocalypses» de Niall Ferguson.
Federalists and anti-federalists clashed violently during the renewal of the American constitution in the second half of the 18th century. Like no other in history, this divide sheds light on the debate between the center and the periphery. It's hard not to see it as a reflection of contemporary issues.
74,000 years ago, mankind was on the brink of extinction. The cause was the explosion of a volcano. Genetic studies confirm that the human population numbered only a few thousand individuals at that time. Today, the threat of mass extinction remains.
DOSSIER «LA FIN DU MONDE» | Hong Xiuquan, un lettré raté qui manqua quatre fois ses examens et qui, après une crise existentielle, rencontra Dieu auprès de missionnaires chrétiens, fut l’élément déclencheur de l’un des conflits armés les plus meurtriers de l’histoire.
In 1962, Phil Knight, a former Mile specialist, dreamed of developing a shoe prototype that would enable him to run faster and better. He discovered two things. The first was that, at the time, the market leaders were all manufactured in Japan. The second was that his former trainer Bill Bowerman - well known in Oregon - shared the same dream. So, when Knight teamed up with Bowerman and managed to convince a major Japanese brand to resell a piece from their collection in the USA, the beginnings of a crazy story were set in motion. At the time, Nike had yet to be born, but the running shoe industry was about to undergo a major upheaval.
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