Constanze Stelzenmüller - Mentions and Appearances

I do think it is fair to say that there is great concern in Europe, and in my own country [Germany], about the challenge to democracy in America. It’s becoming clear to everyone that Jan. 6 wasn’t just an isolated episode. It was part of something larger, more deeply rooted, and more pernicious.

I think the unfortunate side effect of American economic sanctions [against Nord Stream 2], in the context of the Trump administration, was to make Germans feel defensive and mulish. I think there was a sense of being hammered over the head by an American president using a double standard.

[Relations between Europe and Russia are] worsening [but Europe has] limited options. There is a great deal of concern across Europe about the mistreatment of Russian civil society by the Kremlin. You can read the [awarding of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Alexei Navalny] as a signaling from the European Parliament that they take the plight of civil society in Russia very seriously.

[The AfD's] sheer existence makes two-way coalitions on the national level almost impossible. We are looking at the possibility of protracted coalition negotiations and an inward-looking German capital at a time when I would argue German responsibility in Europe is urgently needed. That is one significant impact the AfD has, whether it is in the opposition or not.

[Merkel's] careful incrementalism [...has seen Germany through several crises, but it increasingly appears inadequate to the current challenges... Her] exquisitely tempered balancing style was fantastic for brokering results at European conferences. It’s clearly not the best approach when you are dealing with aggressive authoritarian powers, and she has clearly not given enough thought to preparing Germany for a much more disruptive future. [...] The absence of a leader as experienced, resourceful and well-networked as Angela Merkel will make itself felt in times of disruption and insecurity.

We’re not islands. The decisions of our allies have consequences for their allies. You get this impression that people are making policy into a void when there should be coordination. [...] What people will overlook is that an entire generation of western practitioners [including military officers, diplomats, intelligence officials and journalists] went through Afghanistan. This is NATO’s most legitimate mission, the one that was most central to our understanding of ourselves.

[Public broadcasting in Germany] started off as a means of democratic reeducation and rerooting political pluralism in Germany, and then morphed into a means of preventing new forms of disinformation or propaganda, particularly from the East.

Managing China’s rise will require using our considerable trade, technological and regulatory leverage to delineate clearer red lines. That is where Merkel has been overtaken by shifts in expert and also public opinion.

I believe there is no going back to the world before Trump – because too much has changed. And yet we need good bilateral relations because we need one another when it comes to all major issues.

It’s important to talk to [authoritarian leaders] with a straight face, to not succumb to their tricks, not give them more airspace than is absolutely necessary, but allow them to put their positions out there and refute them calmly one by one. I think that’s what grown-up democracies do.