What We Have At Present Is A

In The Past, Germany Could Rely On The French, The British And, Especially, The Americans, To Assert Our Interests In The World. We Have Always Criticized The U.s. For Being The Global Police, And It Was Often Appropriate To Do So. But We Are Now Seeing What Happens When The U.s. Pulls Back. If The U.s. Leaves The Room, Other Powers Immediately Walk In. In Syria, It's Russia And Iran. In Trade Policy, It's China. These Examples Show That, Ultimately, We Are No Longer Achieving Either - Neither The Dissemination Of Our European Values Nor The Advancement Of Our Interests.

It Isn't Easy For Everyone In Germany To Make Ends Meet Through Well-paid Work In Germany. You Have To Have Sufficient Skills And Work Hard. And I Also Know That We Have Much Too Much Poverty And Inequality Here. Still, Our Parents And Grandparents Built An Incredibly Prosperous And Peaceful Country. One Shouldn't, Of Course, Play Down The Degree To Which This Is Dependent On Our Economic Strength. The Truth Is That Moscow, Beijing And Washington Have One Thing In Common: They Don't Value The European Union At All. They Disregard It.

Countries That Work With Europe Should Feel Safer Than They Would If They Worked With Non-democratic Regimes. Why Isn't Europe Building Infrastructure In Africa Instead Of Leaving It To The Chinese? Why Haven't We Succeeded In Promoting The Economic Development Of Our Neighbors In The Balkans, Instead Conceding These Countries To Growing Russian Influence? In An Uncomfortable World, We Europeans Can No Longer Sit Back And Wait For The U.s.a.

Economically And Politically, Germany Is Extremely Stable. There Are Countries With Functioning Governments Whose Institutions Don't Work. My Only Concern Is About Europe. There's A Risk We Will Run Out Of Time. We Have Been Blessed With A Pro-european French President, But We Are Also Approaching The Next Elections For The European Parliament In 2019, And It Will Be Important For Pro-european Parties Present A Credible Answer To The Anti-europeans On The Left And The Right.

Political Scientist Herfried Münkler Is Right: If You Only Take Normative Positions, If Your Focus Is Solely On Values, You Won't Find Success In A World Where Others Are Relentlessly Pursuing Their Interests. In A World Full Of Meat-eaters, Vegetarians Have A Tough Time.