Germany needs to signal its willingness “to bear the high cost of countering aggression,” he says in an op-ed with Project Syndicate.
According to Hertie School Senior Professor of Sociology Helmut K. Anheier, Germany’s hesitant stance on the Ukraine-Russia crisis will soon become untenable. In an op-ed for Project Syndicate from 8 February he writes that Germany “must let both Russia and its NATO allies know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that while it is no champion of hard power, it is willing to bear the high cost of countering aggression against Ukraine.” Germany is currently dependent on Russian gas imports and fears probable economic losses, he says, and the newly elected government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz must prepare the German public for such an outcome.
Recently, many of Germany’s allies have expressed dismay that Europe’s economic powerhouse has not taken a leadership position in countering Russia, which has amassed troops on the Ukrainian border. The past president of the Hertie School sees three reasons for this: Germany’s deeply ingrained awareness of past atrocities inside and outside of Europe, due to its own Nazi history, its commitment to diplomacy and its dependency on Russian gas and trade.
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Helmut K. Anheier, Senior Professor of Sociology, past President