World and Press October 1 2022

8 World

8 World October 1 2022 | World and Press Global nuclear arsenal expected to grow for first time since Cold War NUCLEAR WEAPONS The war in Ukraine has played a role in the heightened risk, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. mit Audiodatei By Brittany Shammas and Sammy Westfall 1 THE WORLD’S nuclear arsenal is set to increase over the next decade as states modernize weapons stockpiles and sharpen the role nuclear weapons play in their military strategies, an arms research group said in a report this week. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released on Monday its annual overview of international security and global arms production, warning that the post-Cold War decline in nuclear arsenals appeared to be ending. 2 “The risk of nuclear weapons being used seems higher now than at any time since the height of the Cold War,” director Dan Smith said in a statement, despite what he described as “significant gains” in nuclear arms control and disarmament over the past year. 3 All of the world’s nucleararmed states are “increasing or upgrading their arsenals and most are sharpening nuclear rhetoric and the role nuclear weapons play in their military strategies,” said Wilfred Wan, director of the institute’s weapons of mass destruction program. “This is a very worrying trend.” 4 The report pointed to the conflict in Ukraine as a driving factor, noting that Russia “has even made open threats about possible nuclear weapon use” in the context of the war. Soon after invading Ukraine in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear forces on alert – marking the first time such a directive was made since the Russian Federation was established in 1991. 5 Other nations are watching Russia’s actions and listening to its rhetoric and could respond by boosting existing stockpiles or pursuing new arsenals, said Philipp Bleek, an associate professor of nonproliferation and terrorism studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. “When we look back historically ... this might end up being an inflection point,” he said. “One where we can point to a shift that’s happening now around the Ukraine conflict that led to more nuclear weapons and a bigger role for the weapons in international conflict.” 6 The war has already stalled nuclear arms control talks between Russia and the United States, which together possess more than 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons. Russia has an estimated 5,977 nuclear warheads, roughly 550 more than the United States, according to the Federation of American Scientists. | Infographic: Statista 7 As of January, the total number of nuclear warheads worldwide had dropped slightly from last year, from 13,080 to 12,705, the report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. Stockpiles in Russia and the United States declined in 2021, it said, “due to the dismantling of warheads that had been retired from military service several years ago.” According to the report, none of the other seven nuclear-armed states are pursuing arms control negotiations. 8 In January, the five nucleararmed permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States – issued a joint statement committing to disarmament and affirming that nuclear war “must never be fought.” Yet all five “continue to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals and appear to be increasing the salience of nuclear weapons in their military strategies,” the report said. … © 2022 The Washington Post 0 – 4 HEIGHTENED“"haIt´nd‘ erhöht; s.w.u. height Höhepunkt — weapons stockpile Waffenarsenal — arms Rüstungs- — gains Fortschritte — disarmament “dI"sA…m´m´nt‘ Abrüstung — nuclear-armed in Besitz von Atomwaffen — weapons of mass destruction Massenvernichtungswaffen — to order on alert anordnen, in Alarmbereitschaft zu versetzen — directive Anordnung 5 – 6 to boost aufstocken — to pursue s.th. etw. verfolgen — associate professor “´"s´USi´t‘ (AE) Privatdozent(in) — nonproliferation “ÆnÅnpr´ÆlIf´"reIS´n‘ Nichtweiterverbreitung von Atomwaffen — inflection point Wendepunkt — to stall “stO…l‘ zum Stillstand bringen — warhead Sprengkopf — federation Bund 7 – 8 to dismantle “dI"smœnt´l‘ abbauen — to retire from military service außer Dienst stellen — arms control negotiations “nIÆg´USi"eIS´nz‘ Rüstungskontrollverhandlungen — to issue herausgeben — joint gemeinsam — to affirm bekräftigen — salience “"seIli´ns‘ Bedeutung Historian attempts to kill off the Vikings People dressed as Vikings march during the 2022 Up Helly Aa festival in Shetland, Scotland. | Photo: Picture Alliance/empics HISTORY The catch-all term for various Scandinavian and Norse cultures from the 8th to 11th centuries is rebuked as a dangerous fantasy. mit Audiodatei und By Jack Blackburn Übungsmaterial 1 IT IS “outmoded and dangerous”, an “insidious” word that “distorts our understanding of European history”. Of all the historical terms being reappraised, few might have expected the word “Viking” to be causing so much bother. 2 A senior lecturer in history at the University of St Andrews has called for the term, a catch-all for various Scandinavian and Norse cultures from the 8th to 11th centuries, to be cancelled. He says that there was no such thing as “a Viking” and that the term is a 19th-century mistake that borders on racist. 3 “It is high time that historians, both academic and popular, ditched the Vikings as an outmoded and dangerous way of thinking,” Alex Woolf writes in the lead article in this month’s ‘History Today’. “The Vikings never existed; it is time to put this unhealthy fantasy to bed.” “Wicing” and “vikingr” were Old English and Old Icelandic terms for pirate, but were rarely used to describe the peoples we now call Vikings, Woolf argues. “Calling such people ‘Vikings’ would be like calling 18th-century British, French, or Dutch naval officers ‘pirates’ simply because they wore vaguely similar hats and sailed vaguely similar ships to Blackbeard,” he writes. 4 The “ethnicisation” of the term has also had an “insidious” effect, creating the idea of a physically strong race who imposed themselves on others. “By linking military prowess and savagery to an entire ethnic group, it encourages its appropriation by racial supremacists,” Woolf argues. 5 Historians are divided. On the podcast ‘The Rest is History’, Dominic Sandbrook described any effort at cancellation as “madness” and a “waste of 0 – 2 HISTORIANHistoriker(in) — Viking “"vaIkIN‘ — catchall term Sammelbegriff — Norse nordisch — to rebuke “rI"bju…k‘ rügen — outmoded veraltet — insidious “In"sIdi´s‘ heimtückisch — to distort verzerren — to reappraise “Æri…´"preIz‘ neu bewerten — to cause bother für Ärger sorgen — lecturer “"lektS´r´‘ Dozent(in) — to border on s.th. an etw. grenzen 3 – 4 to ditch s.th. (coll) etw. aufgeben — to put s.th. to bed etw. ein Ende machen — naval officer Marine offizier(in) — to be vaguely similar s. entfernt ähneln — ethnicisation “ÆeTnIs´"zeIS´n‘ Ethnisierung — to impose o.s. on s.o. s. jdm. aufdrängen — prowess “"praUIs‘ Können — savagery “"sœvIdZri‘ Brutalität — appropriation “´Æpr´Upri"eIS´n‘ Aneignung — racial

World and Press | October 1 2022 Ireland 9 Irish whiskey roaring back after decades of decline BUSINESS Irish distillers are closing the market gap on their hitherto dominant Scottish rivals. By Rory Carroll 1 KAREN GREGORY, a tourist from Oklahoma, visited Dublin this week, inhaled an aroma of malted barley at Teeling Whiskey Distillery, and picked a side in a centuries-old contest. “Definitely Irish. It’s lighter and brighter. Scotch is too heavy.” The crowd of visitors merrily sipping neat whiskeys, whiskey cocktails, and whiskeyinfused coffees suggested more converts to the Irish side of a rivalry that has pitted two venerable traditions in a battle for market domination. 2 Ireland’s distilleries prevailed in the 19th century, accounting for more than 60% of sales in the US, before disaster struck. The Irish ignored new technologies, curbed exports during US Prohibition in the 1920s, and got caught in a trade war with the UK. Scotland seized its chance and ramped up global exports, establishing Scotch as a synonym for all types of whiskey. “We fell from 60% to 2% in the US, that’s some trick,” said John Teeling, a doyen of Irish whiskey producers. Then he smiled: “But I think we’ll overtake the Scots by the end of the decade. There’ll be a huge party when that happens.” 3 After decades of quiet woe, Irish whiskey is roaring back. From just four operational distilleries in 2010, there are now 42 on the island of Ireland. Annual global sales have surged from The Jameson Whiskey Distillery in Midleton, Ireland. | Photo: Jackson Shaw/Unsplash 5m cases (60m bottles) in 2010 to 14m cases (168m bottles) last year, fuelled by new offerings and younger drinkers. Growth in the US has been especially strong, rising 16% last year to a record .3bn, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. If the trend continues, Irish whiskey sales in the US – currently 5.9m cases – will overtake Scotch, which has plateaued at about 8m cases, by 2030. 4 Globally, however, sales of Scotch, at 1.3bn bottles, still dwarf its Irish rival, which sells 190m bottles. “We’re still only playing catch-up after decades of underperformance when Scotch basically stole our breakfast,” said Jack Teeling, John’s son and the managing director of Teeling Whiskey. 5 It’s a bigger game now – the worldwide whiskey market has hovered at bn over the past decade but is projected to jump to more than 0bn by 2024, according to the consumer data company Statista. Japanese brands, too, have exploded in popularity, earning 0m in sales last year. 6 Last month, the Irish government launched a ¤750,000 “Spirit of Ireland” campaign to promote Irish products in US bars and liquor stores. For Ireland’s distillers, overtaking Scotch in the US would be a psychological boost and rectify a century-old fiasco in the world’s biggest market. It would also underscore an ambition to challenge Scotch’s enduring dominance elsewhere, including Britain. “The UK used to be a graveyard for Irish whiskey,” said John Teeling. “Not any more.” 7 Celebrities have launched their own Irish whiskey brands, with the stars of the US sitcom ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ this week debuting a 15-yearold single malt to celebrate the show’s 15th season. The former mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor launched a brand in 2018. Popular culture flagged Irish whiskey’s revival a decade ago when the Jameson brand appeared in songs by Rihanna and Lady Gaga and in the TV shows ‘Mad Men’ and ‘South Park’. 8 “There wasn’t a light-switch moment and suddenly Irish whiskey became in vogue again,” said William Lavelle, the director of the Irish Whiskey Association. “It has taken 30 years. The ambition and strategy came together.” Exports to Russia, the second biggest market, have halted, and the UK’s dispute with the EU over Northern Ireland could cause disruption, but the future is bright, said Lavelle. “It’s a renaissance.” 9 Ireland claims – as do other countries – to be the home of whiskey. There is a reference to the drink in the ‘Red Book of Ossory’, a medieval manuscript produced in County Kilkenny in the 14th century. 10 At one point, Ireland had more than 1,000 distilleries. By the 19th century, a cluster of producers in Dublin’s Liberties district supplied much of the world. However, they shunned innovation – such as a new type of pot still – and shrivelled during US Prohibition, and Ireland’s trade war with Britain in the 1930s. Scottish whisky – which omits the “e” – filled the gap with peatier, darker offerings. Ireland’s traditionally smoother fare acquired a reputation for blandness. 11 By the 1980s, Ireland had only two distilleries producing a tiny fraction of Scotland’s output. The turnaround began after the French drinks giant Pernod Ricard bought Irish Distillers, giving multinational heft to its Jameson brand, and the Teeling family opened a new distillery, emboldening other newcomers. 12 The Irish experimented with new tastes, methods, and cocktails – a level of freedom denied Scottish producers, who operate under stricter rules – and won over drinkers in the US. Some, however, remain confused about terminology, causing John Teeling to shudder. “I’ve had people come up to me and say ‘your Scotch is lovely’.” © 2022 Guardian News and Media Ltd time”. “Everyone knows what a Viking is,” he said. “There is no point in fighting it.” 6 Professor Judith Jesch, a Viking expert at the University of Nottingham, pointed to her longstanding position that the word has “usefully expanded and developed” to include the broader cultures, rather than simply pillaging. “That is how we should use it,” she wrote on The Conversation, a website. 7 At the Norwegian University of Oslo, Anders Winroth, a professor of medieval history, admits the word makes his job easier. “You get many more students interested if you put the word ‘Viking’ into a course title,” he said. “But Viking is a job description, not an ethnic label.” He agreed with Woolf that Viking imagery has inspired white supremacists, such as the so-called QAnon Shaman who stormed the US Capitol last year. The question is what term could replace it. “It’s hard to change ingrained habits,” Winroth said. © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. supremacist; s.w.u. white s. “su…"prem´sIst‘ Rechtsextreme(r) 5 – 7 to be divided geteilter Meinung sein — pillaging “"pIlIdZIN‘ Brandschatzung — medieval “Æmed"i…v´l‘ mittelalterlich — imagery Symbolik — ingrained tief verankert 0 TO ROAR back (fig) wieder im Aufschwung sein — distiller; s.w.u. distillery Brennerei — hitherto “ÆhID´"tu…‘ bisher 1 to inhale einatmen — malted barley Gerstenmalz — merrily fröhlich — to sip nippen an — neat whiskey purer W. — …-infused mit … versetzt — convert “"kÅnv‰…t‘ Übergetretene(r) — rivalry “"raIv´lri‘ Rivalität — to pit zu Gegnern werden lassen — venerable “"ven´r´b´l‘ ehrwürdig 2 to prevail führend sein — to account for ausmachen — before disaster struck bevor das Unheil seinen Lauf nahm — to curb “k‰…b‘ drosseln — Prohibition “Æpr´UI"bIS´n‘ — to get caught in geraten in — to ramp up steigern — that’s some trick (fig) das ist schon ein Kunststück — doyen “"dOIen‘ Doyen (auf ihrem Gebiet führende Persönlichkeit) 3 woe Kummer — (to be) operational in Betrieb (sein); s.w.u. to operate “"Åp´reIt‘ arbeiten — annual global sales weltweiter Jahresabsatz; s.w.u. sales Umsatz — to surge “s‰…dZ‘ ansteigen — case Kiste — to fuel (fig) verstärken — offering Angebot — bn = billion Milliarde — Distilled Spirits Council US-Handelsverband der Spirituosenhersteller — to plateau “"plœt´U‘ stagnieren 4 – 5 to dwarf s.th. “dwO…f‘ (fig) etw. in den Schatten stellen — to play catch-up (fig) versuchen aufzuholen — underperformance schlechte Leistung — to steal s.o.’s breakfast (fig) jdm. die Schau stehlen — managing director Geschäftsführer(in) — to hover at “"hÅv´‘ stehen bei — to project “-"-‘ prognostizieren 6 – 7 spirit Seele; Spirituose — liquor store “"lIk´‘ Spirituosengeschäft — psychological “ÆsaIk´l"ÅdZIk´l‘ — to rectify “"rektIfaI‘ korrigieren — to underscore unterstreichen — enduring “In"djU´rIN‘ anhaltend — graveyard (fig) Friedhof — to debut “"deIbju…‘ vorstellen — mixed martial arts “"mA…S´l‘ gemischte Kampfkünste — to flag aufmerksam machen auf 8 – 9 there wasn’t a light-switch moment (fig) der Schalter wurde nicht plötzlich umgelegt — in vogue “v´Ug‘ in Mode — association “´Æs´USi"eIS´n‘ Verband — disruption Störung — reference “"ref´r´ns‘ Verweis — medieval “med"i…v´l‘ mittelalterlich — county Grafschaft 10 cluster Gruppe — Liberties district historisches Arbeiterviertel Dublins — to shun scheuen — pot still Brennblase — to shrivel “"SrIv´l‘ schrumpfen — to omit “´"mIt‘ weglassen — peaty torfig — smooth mild — fare Erzeugnis — blandness Fadheit 11 – 12 fraction Bruchteil — turnaround Trendwende — multinational international — heft Gewicht — to embolden ermutigen — to win s.o. over jdn. von s. überzeugen — to shudder erschaudern