On March 25, 2026, Stefan Kroll visited the Heinrich-von-Kleist-Schule in Eschborn to discuss the state of democracy with students against the backdrop of global trends toward autocracy. On the occasion of the school’s internal theme day under the motto “Courage,” the advanced Politics & Economics class in the upper secondary school had developed several key topics, which were further elaborated on by classmates from other advanced courses and brought into the lively discussion. The topics included militarization, international law, and authoritarian state restructuring—particularly in the U.S.
Following a brief introduction to global conflicts and the rise of autocratic states, two students moderated the one-and-a-half-hour discussion with Stefan Kroll, to which they had given the title “The Struggle for Democracy – More Important Than Ever in the Age of Autocratization?” Driven by the latest developments in the Iran conflict, the discussion also increasingly focused on the role of international law. The topics included the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the dynamics of militarization. Furthermore, the students were interested in the threat posed by authoritarian actors to rules-based orders at both the national and international levels. In doing so, they kept their eyes on current military conflicts and, not least, discussed conflict dynamics and anti-democratic tendencies in Germany.
The discussion benefited from the students’ in-depth preparation and committed participation. During the subsequent follow-up session, the students in turn expressed their appreciation for a political science perspective on the troubled world situation.
