Geopolitics is developing into the all-determining factor. Old and new great powers strive for a new world order. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin longs for the greatness of the old Soviet Union, plays powerplay on the Ukrainian border and wants to stop NATO’s eastward expansion. China is constantly upgrading, isolating itself and at the same time pushing its Silk Road imperialism. And the US wants to get the old western allies on board in order to win the new battle of the blocs.
This raises a few key questions. What do these impending upheavals mean for Europe? Can the EU do geopolitics at all or can it only be an extra? What does this mean for Germany, its economy and its energy supply? The answers are anything but simple. Which brings us to my guest today. He trained judo up to the blue belt, even at school he preferred dreaming of the chancellery to smoking weed, was once called Muttis Klugster or George Clooney from the Rhine, knows what it means to have to learn from defeats and he believes that honesty, contrary to the widespread belief of Machiavelli that is the basis of trust in politics. Norbert Röttgen was chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee until a few months ago and is considered the CDU’s chief geopolitical understander.
In the podcast, Röttgen tells me what the Ukraine crisis means for Germany, Europe and the world, what he thinks of Putin and Xi Jinping and how Nord Stream 2 should continue.
