ABS News February 2025

Editorial
Presidential Message
How ABS Started 2025
ABS Events February 2025
5 Years Brexit
ABS Social Media
A New Show: English
ABS Goes Arabia
The Last Page

Dear Members and Friends of the ABS,

In 2025, the Austro-British Society will still be a factory for good news. Why? Because there is an urgent need for it, as our President writes about in the Presidential Message below. Please read it carefully, because the joy of our lives depends to a large extent not on realities or perceived realities, but on our attitude towards them.

For our part, we will do our best to provide you with positive input – whether in ABS Blogs, Policy Papers, on our social media channels or through our many events. We report below on two events that have already taken place and draw your attention to two events planned for February. I hope you enjoy reading this issue of ABS News!

Warm regards,

Yours Jochen Ressel,

ABS Secretary General & ABS News Editor-in-Chief

PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE

Europe's Biggest Problem Is Pessimism

The British historian Peter Frankopan explained why people are so pessimistic nowadays. “I suppose a historian would say it’s because we always focus on history and things that don’t work. We focus on battles, we focus on genocide, we focus on big trauma. … So, I suppose it’s that we are predisposed to looking for drama. It’s a bit like why we watch Netflix… rather than boring documentaries.”

Pessimism is a perception. According to him, good things happen, bad things happen, and we observe them through different glasses. Today, the glasses are definitely a shade darker than 20 or 30 years ago. In Europe, for instance, many people are complaining. We complain about public services becoming sloppy, the economy going down, the United States abandoning us in the face of Russian aggression, unfair Chinese competition, and U.S. companies stealing our data and bullying our governments.

If you point out that Europe has more or less successfully overcome several deep, existential crises in the past two decades - from the currency crisis to Brexit, and from the refugee crisis to the Covid-19 pandemic - people will call you an optimist, as if you are telling fairy tales and blocking out bad news.

Human nature drives us to register negative things better than others. Research from 2023 found that the likelihood people will click on an article with a negative word in the headline is two to three times higher than when they see an article with a positive word in the headline. The more positive words added to a headline, the smaller the chance it gets clicked on.

Although they live in one of the world’s most peaceful and prosperous regions, and have never had it so good, many Europeans are extremerly pessimistic at the moment. They see every crisis as proof that democracy, the rule of law, and other things they had always believed in are under threat. Instead of fighting for it, many become fatalistic.

But suppose Europeans would become more possibilist-rallying behind the recommendations and pushing their leaders to work harder on them to safeguard a good future for millions of people. In that case, many leaders would probably feel more encouraged to move ahead. This, in turn, would almost certainly lift the general mood a little. It would still not be Netflix, but it would suddenly look a lot better than a boring documentary.

Best wishes,

Prof KR Dr Kurt Tiroch
ABS President

HOW ABS STARTED 2025

A Successful Start To The New Year

After a three-week break in the ABS events over the Christmas holidays and the turn of the year, our honourable society kicked off the new event year on 15 January – with verve and joie de vivre!

NEW YEAR'S EVENT at Café Ministerium:

Excellent Music: The "MundArtPädagogen"
Click here for details and photos:

Just a few days later, on 22 January, the ABS offered brain food again. Prof. Dr. Huber inspired all visitors with a highly interesting lecture followed by a discussion on the topic ’Die Gretchenfrage: Christsein in der Jetztzeit - wie es auch für einen Naturwissenschaftler redlich ist, Christ zu bleiben".

LECTURE PROF. DR. HUBER at Curhaus St.Stephan:

"Die Gretchenfrage - Christsein in der Jetztzeit"
Click here for details and photos:

ABS EVENTS FEBRUARY 2025

Be Prepared

A completed, successful year is reason enough for the President and Board members of our esteemed society to aspire to surpass it in the new year. Resting on our laurels is not in the DNA of the ABS! January 2025 will mark the beginning of yet another exceptional chapter, and we look forward to seeing you at as many opportunities as possible throughout the year.

All You Need Is Love

Prof. Dr. Gerti Senger, practising psychologist and psychotherapist, university lecturer, known from print media (including weekly columns in the Kronen Zeitung for 40 years) and television (currently in Guten Morgen Österreich), as well as book author (17 books published) is our speaker.
Monday, February 10, 2025 - 6pm
Café Ministerium
Georg Coch-Platz 4/Stubenring 6 - 1010 Vienna
Invitiation already in your email inbox!

Anti-Ageing

Assoc.Prof. Johannes Grillari, Director Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Traumatology, will discuss with us whether ageing is a genetic issue and what the current state of science is on this topic.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
6pm
Invitation to follow soon!

An Event Triggers An ABS Service

Incredible as it may seem, it is now five years since the UK left the European Union. This followed a period of shock after the referendum on 23 June 2016, an evaluation of what this largely unexpected step would mean and how to implement it, and tough negotiations that took several Prime Ministers. On 31 January 2020, Brexit became legally effective.

The Austro-British Society seized the opportunity immediately after the referendum. The political experts in the ABS provided their knowledge for the ABS Policy Papers, which presented the current state of affairs with first hand background information and what the current situation means for UK citizens in Austria and for Austrians in the UK.

Even after Brexit, the ABS Policy Papers remain an integral part of the ABS service portfolio for its members. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to political scientist Prof Melanie Sully, Vice President former Ambassador Dr Alexander Christiani and former Ambassador Colin A. Munro for the excellent ABS Policy Papers, of which 37 issues have already been published.

READ ABS POLICY PAPER BY CLICKING HERE!

A Success Story

More than 4,100 followers on Instragram with more than 1,260 posts published to date (active for four years), almost 10,000 views per month, at least four posts per week and daily stories. On Facebook at least two posts per day with a significant increase of reach by +20% in the last months to more than 8,600 views:

These are just a few of the key facts that show how active the ABS is in increasing awareness in social media. This is made possible by the outstanding voluntary work of ABS Board members and members – namely Ekaterina Yaneva (Instagram, LinkedIn, X) as well as Michael Raschowsky and Jochen Ressel (Facebook).

Do you already follow us and get a wide range of content related to the UK? Click here – we welcome more followers!

A NEW SHOW: ENGLISH

Click to enlarge

Vienna Theatre Project's New Show!

Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Obie Award for Best New American Play, the vienna theatre project presents another superb, award-winning comedy. Set in 2008, the play follows four Iranians who gather three times a week for a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) class in Karaj, Iran. Led by Marjan, who bans the use of Farsi in the classroom, the students translate Ricky Martin songs and struggle with prepositions, discovering how to be funny in English. As the class gradually descends into a linguistic mess, some students cling tightly to their mother tongue, while others embrace the opportunities a new language offers. This quietly powerful play illustrates how learning a foreign language can reflect deeper struggles, alter identities and open doors to new lives.”

ENGLISH by Sanaz Toossi

Starring: Sara Zanganeh, Ino Matsou, Tamalynne Grant, Anillo Sürün & Tahzara Wurawa
Directed by: Joanna Godwin-Seidl & David Rodriguez-Yanez
Show dates: February 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22, 25, 26 & 27 2025, at 8pm
Running time 1 hr 30 minutes, no intermission
Theater Drachengasse, Drachengasse 2, 1010 Vienna
Tickets: https://tickets.drachengasse.at or Tel. +43 1 5131444
For news updates visit www.viennatheatreproject.com

Visiting The World's Biggest Oil Company

Which one is the biggest oil company worldwide? Royal Dutch Shell? Exxon? BP? Believe it or not: If you add the revenues of all three, the biggest oil company of the world is still bigger. We are talking about Aramco in Saudi Arabia. The Austro-British Society is organising a travel to visit Aramco in October 2025. Hence, you can already start to prepare yourself - details will follow in the not too distant future!