Commentary
Last month, German chancellor Olaf Scholz admitted to something every German knew but was afraid to say: the country’s business model is broken.
Germany’s strategic national business model, predicated on globalization and interdependency, is backfiring. It’s the nation-building equivalent of putting all of your eggs in one basket. In this case, two baskets: Russia and China. Germany depends on Russia for most of its energy needs, and it depends on China for most of its export-driven economy.
Scholz said Germany’s “one-sided dependence” on China and Russia must end.
The chancellor is shifting Germany’s longstanding policy. The country is committing 2 percent of its GDP to defense and bolstering NATO’s eastern defenses, accelerating the move away from Russian energy, building more liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals, and committing to becoming a nuclear nation….