“The world is facing a Zeitenwende: an epochal tectonic shift,” writes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. New powers are emerging—and “in this new multipolar world, different countries and models of government are competing for power and influence.” But the world is not “doomed to once again separate into competing blocs.”
In a new essay, Scholz outlines what he sees as Germany’s vital role in defending an international order rooted in democracy, security, and prosperity—and the reasoning behind this year’s profound changes in German foreign policy. Berlin has the capacity to be a “bridge builder” and an “advocate for multilateral solutions to global problems,” Scholz writes. And Germany’s history “gives it a special responsibility to fight the forces of fascism, authoritarianism, and imperialism,” he argues. “Although we cannot turn back the clock, we can still turn back the tide of aggression.
Read more from Foreign Affairs on managing a changing world order:
“How to Build a Better Order” by Dani Rodrik and Stephen M. Walt
“How Fear of China Is Forging a New World Order” by Michael Beckley
“Great-Power Competition Is Bad for Democracy” by Michael Brenes and Van Jackson
“The West’s Final Chance to Build a Better World Order” by Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay
“How All the Major Powers Became Revisionists” by Shivshankar Menon
“The New Spheres of Influence” by Graham Allison
