Moments of Change – Moments of Hope
Agenda
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Panel Presentations
Dr. Warawit Kanithasen, Senior Research Fellow, German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), Faculty of Law, Thammasat University
Prof. Dr. Klaus Larres, Department of Histiory and International Relations, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Felix Pülm, Lecturer, Lecturer for German language, culture and history at Silpakorn University Nakhon Pathom
The Christmas Truce
Panel Presentation
Henning Glaser, Director, German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), Faculty of Law, Thammasat University
Report
On 19 December 2015, CPG hosted the CPG Alumni Christmas Seminar “Moments of Change – Moments of Hope” at Saw Sam Sai Restaurant Bangkok on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the German re-unification. The event brought together a panel of three speakers presenting on different aspects of the Fall of the Berlin. CPG Senior Research Fellow Dr. Warawit Kanithasen discussed the lessons which could be learned by the people in Thailand from the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Prof. Dr. Klaus Larres, an expert on Cold War history from the Department of History of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented on the attitudes towards the German re-unification among the allied powers, highlighting the strong skepticism of British Prime-Minister Margret Thatcher.
Felix Pülm, lecturer for German language, history and culture at Silpakorn University Nakhon Pathom, spoke about the phenomenon of nostalgia for aspects of life in East Germany among the East German population after re-unification. Following the presentation of the panelists CPG Director Henning Glaser rounded up the seminar with remarks on the Christmas Truce of 1914 as a remarkable historical moment of true humanity when hostile soldiers stopped fighting and crossed the trenches for a short moment of peace and friendship on 24 December 1914.
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