Diffraction at HERA and the confinement problem

Abstract.

We discuss HERA data on the high energy behavior of the total $\gamma^*p$ cross section and on diffraction in deep inelastic scattering. We outline their novelty in comparison with diffraction in high energy hadron-hadron scattering. As a physical picture, we propose an interpretation in terms of QCD radiation at small and large distances: a careful study of the transition between the two extremes represents a new approach to the QCD confinement problem.