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Articles by Bettina Vestring
Close-Up: Olaf Scholz
The man from Hamburg is trim, self-confident, and highly ambitious—and he’s staying tight-lipped about his plans for the German finance ministry. His record as mayor suggests that he likes spending money on big projects. But Europe shouldn’t expect a complete turn-around of Germany‘s eurozone policy. Artwork © Dominik Herrmann There is no doubt that Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie is a grand success for the city.
Merkel's Red Twin - Berlin Policy Journal - Blog
Olaf Scholz is the SPD’s best—and only—hope for the chancellery. In terms of politics and character, he is a close Merkel look-alike. But neither time nor the numbers are on his side, and his early nomination bodes ill for the stability of Germany’s new European policy. © REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Try to picture what Angela Merkel would be like as a man, slightly younger and of West German origin. But just as solid, rational, and pragmatic as the woman who has governed Germany for the last 15 years.
Pride and Hope: The CureVac Story
Germans are outraged that US President Donald Trump may have tried to poach a German company’s research on a coronavirus vaccine. It’s a perfect narrative for a country deep in crisis. A small biotech company in the German city of Tübingen is one of about 20 companies, institutes, and universities worldwide working on developing a vaccine against COVID-19, the new coronavirus that is causing a worldwide shutdown.
The Führer and the Prince
How much did Wilhelm of Prussia, son of Germany’s last emperor, help Adolf Hitler in his rise to power? Historical truth is at stake. So are millions of euros. © REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch On March 21, 1933, the city of Potsdam was decked out in black-white-red, the colors of the German empire that had ended 15 years earlier. Hundreds of thousands of spectators were lining the street.
Brace for Change in Germany
Angela Merkel’s chosen successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has thrown in the towel. Expect fierce leadership and policy struggles. © REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke Here are three takeaways from the earthquake in German politics: First, the next leader of Germany’s conservatives will be a man—and politically quite different from Chancellor Angela Merkel and her preferred successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who announced her resignation on Monday.
The Berlin Malaise
Germany’s capital is astonishingly short on politicians with a nation-wide appeal. Here’s why. France had Jacques Chirac, who was mayor of Paris for 18 years before becoming president. In the United States, the former mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, is now just behind the leading Democratic presidential contenders. Britain is governed by a former mayor of London, Boris Johnson. In Germany, things are different. Berlin may be the country’s largest and coolest city.
Chronicle of an End Foretold
SPD members have elected a new leadership: two unknown left-wingers. It is hard to see Angela Merkel’s coalition surviving. © REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch On Saturday morning, Chancellor Angela Merkel published her weekly video podcast. This one was about the importance of craftmanship in Germany, and how much it does for the vocational training of young people. Routine, happily boring routine, established over hundreds of Saturdays since Merkel first took office in 2005.
The One Trillion Euro Idea
Austrian economists are proposing a European Silk Road. They also say how the EU could finance such an enormous new infrastructure project: by being unorthodox. © REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch It’s a staggeringly ambitious project: build two ultra-modern highway and railway routes across Europe, suitable for automated vehicles as well as high-speed transport. Call it the “European Silk Road” to give people an idea of the scale intended.
A Big Step Away from German Orthodoxy
Isabel Schnabel, Germany’s nominee to the ECB board, has a pragmatic approach to monetary and fiscal policy. Her appointment may well signal a coming German change of view regarding the wisdom of balanced budgets. © REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Isabel Schnabel is no dove. Germany’s nominee for the European Central Bank’s executive board is eloquent and persuasive; she holds strong opinions, and she knows how to make her views heard in a field still dominated by men.
The Winds of Change
Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall our contributor Bettina Vestring spent two years reporting from the East German city of Dresden. She recalls the sights, the smells, the revelations about Stasi informers, and the neo-Nazis. When, just months after Germany’s reunification, I arrived in Dresden as a young reporter I suddenly landed in a very different world. A far darker one: the streetlights were dim and few and far between. Shop windows were tiny and dark at night.
Höcke or Hitler?
A television experiment reveals how close Germany’s right-wing AfD has moved to Nazi language. Are today’s right-wing populists in Germany using the same language as Adolf Hitler? An interesting journalistic experiment with Björn Höcke, leader of the most radical faction within the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), certainly suggests so. Höcke, 47, was a history teacher before entering politics and turning into the AfD’s far-right star.
Trump’s Not-So-Empty Troops Threat to Germany
The White House is threatening to withdraw US troops from Germany. With Donald Trump, this could actually happen. There must be times when Angela Merkel closes her eyes and wishes that Donald Trump would simply go away. In her brief daydream, she would be dealing with a very different politician in the White House: a rational and enlightened person, amenable to debate and argument, and open to a wider view of the world and its history.
East Germany Goes East
Despite Putin’s crackdown on protestors, politicians in eastern Germany are emphasizing their ties with Russia—and practicing post-communist identity politics. © REUTERS via Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin From the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has been the staunchest defender of EU sanctions.
A German Paradox
For the first time in over 50 years, a German has been nominated as President of the European Commission. Yet Ursula von der Leyen’s loudest critics are back home. © REUTERS/Francois Lenoir Less than 24 hours after being nominated as the new president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, until now Germany’s minister of defense, began her battle for acceptance.
Watch Out for a Green Chancellor
With the parties in Angela Merkel’s coalition government in deep disarray, change is afoot in Germany. © REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschnke Angela Merkel’s government is stumbling toward its end. Her junior coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), is in turmoil after party leader Andrea Nahles threw in the towel on June 2. Merkel’s own conservative bloc is suffering from the inexperience and gaffes of her chosen successor, the new CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
Germany's New Fault Line: Young vs. Old
Germany’s Greens came to be the big winners of the European elections—by cornering the young vote. For Germany, the European elections on May 26 offer three particular insights: First, in this rapidly ageing country, politics are becoming generational, pitting the young against the old. Second, the rise of the Greens and the decline of the Social Democrats, the country’s oldest democratic party, appear to be accelerating.
The EU’s Game of Thrones
Why Germany might end up getting the presidency of the ECB instead of the European Commission. At best, Angela Merkel sounds lukewarm when she praises her party’s Spitzenkandidat, or lead candidate, for the European Parliament elections.
A Desperately Dull Campaign
Europe’s leaders have missed their chance to reform the European Union after the Brexit vote—and no one is more to blame than Angela Merkel. It’s no surprise that in Germany, the election campaign for the European Parliament has been particularly uninspiring. © REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Back in the summer of 2016, the winds of change were sweeping across Europe.
Europe’s Black Hole
Germany refuses to think strategically about itself, Europe, or the world. This carries a high price. © REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch When NATO celebrated its 70th anniversary in early April, feelings in Germany were mixed. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government dutifully praised NATO’s achievements but could not hide its embarrassment when US President Donald Trump once again criticized Germany for failing to keep its promises on military spending.
The Big Gamble
Italy ushered in a new era this week after its two anti-European camps overcame their differences. But with a novice tasked with cobbling together the country’s first populist government, questions are already being raised over its durability. Giuseppe Conte, a 53-year-old lawyer and professor, was an unknown on Italy’s political scene—until Monday, that is.
Waiting for Merkel
As Italy’s new government is renouncing fiscal discipline, the euro is once again coming under pressure. This is adding to French President Emmanuel Macron’s sense of urgency about EU and eurozone reform. Yet Angela Merkel is keeping her cards close to her chest. Emmanuel Macron’s frustration is mounting as Angela Merkel, his indispensable partner in Europe, continues to delay negotiations over EU reform.
Fed Up
The murders of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová set off a wave of protests throughout the country. Having already forced the resignation of a long-term Slovak Prime Minister there’s no telling how far they could go from here. At the end of February, the murder of Slovak investigative reporter Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová shocked the country.
The AI Revolution
At the Aspen Institute’s “Humanity Disrupted: Artificial Intelligence and Changing Societies” conference, there’s a lot of talk about AI’s potential—and a lot of worry about responsibility. Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers exciting potential but also requires policy oversight—the kind of policy oversight that, unfortunately, no government can realistically provide on its own.
Mr. Franco-German
Heiko Maas is a newcomer to foreign policy, and while he is eloquent, polite, and well-dressed enough to satisfy any diplomat, he is also very outspoken. With his Saarland background he will likely bring a much-needed Franco-German and pro-European instinct to the table. Heiko Maas, Germany’s new foreign minister, grew up in the Saarland, a coal-and-steel region in the very west of West Germany.
All Eyes on Rome
Italy is barreling toward a crucial national election where everything appears possible. One familiar face in particular stands to gain—Silvio Berlusconi. The only thing observers of Italy’s national election campaign can agree on is that whatever the outcome of Sunday’s vote, Silvio Berlusconi, the country’s scandal-tainted four-time former prime minister, will likely play a pivotal role in the next government.
A Perfect Opportunity
German-Polish relations have been rocky of late, but now Warsaw seems willing to change tack. The incoming German government should rise to the occasion and test how far the new Polish prime minister allowed to go. On Friday, February 16, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host new Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
We Mourn Sylke Tempel
German Council on Foreign Relations and the BERLIN POLICY JOURNAL team mourn the death of Dr Sylke Tempel. It is with great sadness that the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and the German Foreign Office report the death of Dr Sylke Tempel, Editor-in-Chief of the DGAP journals INTERNATIONALE POLITIK and BERLIN POLICY JOURNAL. She died in an accident on October 5, 2017. Dr Sylke Tempel was an extraordinary person who influenced the debate on foreign policy in Germany and far beyond.
The End of the Roth Republic
The success of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on September 24 marks the end of a broad German consensus that tended to delegitimize conservative views, and about time, too. The country needs controversial debates within the limits of the democratic mainstream. As the mist lifts, the road on from Germany’s federal election is slowly becoming clear.
Lost in Translation
Germany’s chancellor is a committed Atlanticist, but not a linguist. Combine that with the short attention span of the modern media and you have a problem. As Germany marks 500 years of the Reformation, Martin Luther’s vernacular translation of the bible is still celebrated in his homeland as a linguistic marvel of clarity. East German pastor’s daughter Angela Merkel is a latter day linguistic marvel all of her own – for very different reasons.
The September/October 2016 Issue
Our Septemer/October issue on the new ideological front line in domestic and international politics is out now – available at Google Play and the Apple App Store The post-1945 international system is under pressure, not least by forces in the West. With the right steps taken, however, it can endure. How to deal with those political forces insufficiently described as populist. Right-wing populism in France, the Netherlands, and Northern Europe. Come spring, who will become France’s next president?
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