Essay

The idea of multipolarity is provoking heated debate. In fact, the term is more of a general concept and a guiding principle than a direct description of how things are.

Squeezed between the United States and China when it comes to innovation, the EU has been pointing to the “Brussels Effect.” Producing rules, though, does not compensate for not producing things. Europe needs more inclusive structures that reach beyond its borders rather than closing them down.

Germany’s new National Security Strategy is not a strategy but a list of good intentions. It lacks priorities, adequate funding, and a real sense of change.

The West has maintained many of its old illusions, but it no longer serves as a shining example. To create new alliances, it needs more openness and humility, less half-heartedness, and a revised understanding of the center and periphery.

The EU is justifying its adoption of power politics with the accusation that the outside world started it. In fact, the EU—and Germany—has been practicing retrograde power politics for some time and is purposefully blocking out the option of returning to its own, better past.

Traditional center-right conservatism dominated Western politics for much of the post-war period. However, increasingly divided, it now faces new rivals on the hard right.