In the theory of wars of the present age, as formulated by the Berlin political scientist Herfried Münkler, the inequality of weapons is a central figure of thought. Inferiority in material resources can be compensated for by the party fighting on its own territory and assured of the support of its people – or by the party that need not show undue consideration to the people at home because no democratic conditions prevail there. Structural power means networking: Talking about chains of command and supply is actually overly simplistic, because these chains derive their efficiency precisely from overlaps and ramifications. In war, such routines of coordination can turn into a disadvantage; a primitively organized opponent may suddenly benefit from the fact that he is fighting alone anyway. The paradox of asymmetric wars is that they open up opportunities for the weaker, especially when they don’t have to follow the rules in the same way as their counterparts.
This dialectic of asymmetrical disputes also exists in propaganda wars. You can see that in the communicative actions of Andriy Melnyk, the Ambassador of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany. In the German public he fights alone for the cause of his country. Until recently, Russian President Putin was able to rely on the fact that a number of German politicians, business leaders and opinion leaders had made it a hobby or even a profession to make the Russian view of the world understandable to the German public, Melnyk is the only one who lives in Germany Well-known lawyer of Ukraine.
Resonance through provocations
This prominence of a diplomatic representative is something quite unusual. Melnyk creates resonance through provocation – and this is where asymmetry comes into play. He calculates that the representatives of the German state or German social authorities, whom he attacks personally, cannot repay him in the same coin. He may spark a debate when he hits a professor with a vulgar expletive. But when a parliamentary state secretary responds to such methodical rudeness by naming Melnyk an ambassador in quotation marks on Twitter, he can be lucky if he doesn’t have to resign. And this abnormality was rightly scandalized by Sören Bartol, the parliamentary assistant to the social democratic building minister Klara Geywitz. The federal government must be mindful of the utmost formal correctness – especially when dealing with the representatives of a country that is fighting for its survival. In this way, Melnyk can continue his game and get the most out of his role as the powerless troublemaker.