Daniel Cohn-Bendit: “Today’s Pacifists Are the Sovereigns. Against War You Need Courage”
Paris, France – August 30, 2025 – In a provocative statement amid escalating global tensions, veteran activist and former European Parliament leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit has declared that “today’s pacifists are the sovereigns,” emphasizing that opposing war demands profound courage in an era where nationalism and military escalation dominate political discourse. The 80-year-old Franco-German icon, known as “Dany the Red” for his role in the 1968 student revolts, made the remarks during a recent interview marking his upcoming birthday and reflecting on the legacy of May ’68 in the context of current conflicts, including Russia’s war in Ukraine and Middle East instability. Cohn-Bendit’s words, delivered with his signature blend of libertarian fire and pragmatic realism, challenge modern pacifists to reclaim sovereignty from warmongers and assert moral authority against aggression.
Cohn-Bendit, who turned 80 on April 4, 2025, has long evolved from the fiery revolutionary of 1968 into a prominent green politician and pro-European advocate. In a Libération profile published in April, he discussed the enduring spirit of ’68, criticizing contemporary leaders for abandoning the era’s ideals of freedom and solidarity. “Vœux de bon anniversaire au provocateur de Mai 68, à l’écolo européen et au fan déçu de Macron,” the article noted, highlighting his disappointment with French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist policies while praising his unyielding “bagout” (garrulousness). Extending this critique to international affairs, Cohn-Bendit argued that true sovereignty in 2025 lies not with nation-states arming for conflict but with individuals and movements daring to prioritize peace.
A Call for Courageous Pacifism in a Divided World
The quote—”Today’s pacifists are the sovereigns. Against war you need courage”—emerged from Cohn-Bendit’s reflections on how the anti-war movements of the 1960s have been overshadowed by today’s geopolitical realpolitik. In the interview, he lamented the “frozen” state of the European left, echoing his 2005 Independent comments where he said, “No one has dared tell the French left that we live in a world of market forces.” Now, amid debates over arming Ukraine and NATO expansion, Cohn-Bendit positions pacifists as the true holders of power: sovereign in their moral stance, unbound by the “fool’s trap” of electoral politics he once decried.
Born in 1945 to German-Jewish parents who fled Nazism, Cohn-Bendit’s life has been defined by rebellion and adaptation. Expelled from France after leading the May ’68 uprising—which paralyzed the country with strikes and nearly toppled President Charles de Gaulle—he returned to Germany, co-founding radical groups and later joining the Greens. As co-president of the European Greens–European Free Alliance from 2004 to 2014, he championed federalism through the Spinelli Group, earning the European Parliament’s Initiative Prize in 2016. His 2012 manifesto “For Europe,” co-authored with Guy Verhofstadt, advocated a strong EU to counter powers like China and the U.S., but warned against purely economic visions that ignore human rights.
Cohn-Bendit’s pacifism is no naive idealism. In a 2016 POLITICO interview, he critiqued nationalism as the “defining political question,” arguing that sharing sovereignty in Europe protects against meaningless national isolationism. He has supported interventions like those in Libya under the UN’s “responsibility to protect” doctrine but consistently opposed unchecked militarism, as seen in his defense of Joschka Fischer during the 1999 Kosovo war while pushing for Green Party pacifist reforms. Today, he views pacifists as “sovereigns” because they embody the courage to resist the “hatred” of figures like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, whom he confronted in Parliament in 2011.
Relevance to Current Crises
Cohn-Bendit’s statement resonates amid 2025’s flashpoints. With Ukraine’s war entering its fourth year and tensions rising in the Taiwan Strait, he urges a revival of ’68’s “power to the imagination,” as explored in his 2018 New York Review of Books essay co-authored with Claus Leggewie. There, he recalled the “exalted feeling” of making history at 23, contrasting it with today’s “achievement-oriented society” that stifles revolt. In a BU Today interview from 2008, he linked 1968’s global protests to anti-Vietnam sentiment, suggesting modern pacifism must address ecological destruction and injustice, much like the G8 demonstrations he praised.
Critics, including those from the World Socialist Web Site, have accused Cohn-Bendit of imperialist leanings for supporting EU federalism as a tool against emerging powers. Yet, his defenders see him as a bridge-builder, advocating for a Europe that solves societal problems through shared sovereignty rather than isolation. As he told Cornell in 2005, “If you have only two possibilities, always choose the third”—a call for innovative paths beyond binary choices like war or submission.
At 80, Cohn-Bendit remains active, hosting the radio show L’humeur de Dany and critiquing Macron’s “stumbling” government. His message to pacifists: In a world of “market forces” and rising authoritarianism, courage is the ultimate sovereignty. As social media on X buzzes with shares of his quote, it revives debates on whether ’68’s spirit can combat 2025’s wars.
Sources: Libération, POLITICO, The Independent, New York Review of Books, World Socialist Web Site, BU Today, Cornell Chronicle