11. Defensiveness and Violence in the Context of the Project

The project does not teach a pacifist ideology. It advocates for dialogue, mediation, and mutual respect—but it is not naive. An order that seeks to protect freedom, dignity, and justice must be able to defend itself against forces aiming to destroy these foundations.

Violence is not an ideal. However, under certain conditions, it can become necessary: for the defense of life, for resistance against tyranny, and for safeguarding the ability to think and live freely. In the project’s understanding, violence is never an end in itself—it is a last resort when all other paths have failed.

Defensiveness here does not mean repression but protection. The state must not remain indifferent to its own dissolution. It must safeguard the conditions of its openness: freedom of speech, human rights, participation. Those who threaten these values, whether from within or outside, must not expect passivity.

At the same time, even in defense, the state must measure itself by its own ethos. Violence must not dehumanize, instrumentalize, or become normalized. Its legitimacy is determined by its purpose: protection, not dominance. Rescue, not revenge.

Defensiveness, in the project’s sense, is an expression of responsibility. It is the determination not to give up what is valuable—and the readiness to remain humane even in times of crisis.