Potsdam, 24 October 2022. The results of Strategic Working Group II “The Role of Europe in a New World Order” were presented by Dr Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Political Scientist, American Council on Germany & American University of Beirut. The working group was introduced by impulses from Dr Julia De Clerck-Sachsse, EU diplomat and researcher, visiting scholar GMF, and LTG (Ret) Ben Hodges, Senior Advisor, Human Rights First. The discussion emphasised that Europe is falling short of the role of the army and the military in becoming a fully-fledged world power. The question is how a new world order could be defined. What is a post-unitary world order with decentralised economic gravity that shifts from the Atlantic to the Pacific and does not translate into geopolitical power shifts?
Key points:
• When it came to Berlin’s support for Ukraine, there was a lot of disappointment not only by the Ukrainian participants but also by other participants.
• Germany could barely become a European leader because of the trust deficit that exists in other parts of Europe, especially in East-Europe, regarding Germany.
• The lack of a robust military backbone, also in terms of disappointment of other parts of Europe, but also in terms of public perceptions. The eupinion poll which was presented at the beginning of the Colloquium, has showed a large willingness to have a more robust European policy.
• Lack of a unifying European foreign policy, the wish for reforms in terms of decision making. All this should be done before embarking a new enlargement.
• If Europe wants to stay globally an important actor, it would need to keep its economic potency. The question is: How to keep it? Does Europe have to engage with dictatorships to keep this economic power base?
• Are European values universal? Are they very much supported in other areas of the world? In some parts of the world – in Middle East for instance, but also in Ukraine there is a lot of belief in those European values. But those values have a lot of problems in Western societies themselves.
• Participants from Ukraine pointed out the absurd situation occurring because of lack of German leadership. Other countries, be it Poland, be it Baltic countries and even a country like Turkey are seen as more vigorous leaders and better fighters for liberty and democracy than Germany. It is time for Germany for stepping up, because otherwise others would fill the void.
• This conflict situation could change the tectonics in the European Union. For example, the Baltic States become a stronger voice in the EU.
• In the Baltic states, which are confronted with multiple dictatorships and autocracies like Belarus, Russia, China, is a strong feeling, that they require greater solidarity from like-minded countries, militarily, politically, economically.
• The EU has not learned its lessons from recent history. How can we avoid more of spoiling governments like Hungary in the future? Will Europe learn from its mistakes?
• Europe should start to engage in a paradigm shift in foreign policy and proactively manage those transitions that are ongoing in its immediate neighbourhood, which also include regions and countries like Northern Africa (Arab Spring countries), Iran and other areas.
• Concerns were expressed that due to the misguided Russian policy and the war in Ukraine with all its repercussions, the EU could break apart.
