By Alexis Papachelas for Kathimerini
Those who want a powerful Europe on par with the other powerful players at the geopolitical table face a serious dilemma. The only way to achieve this is for Germany to take the lead. It’s the only country with the economic and industrial might to pull the rest of Europe up. But is this something we want as Europeans? Are we ready to accept Berlin in that role, with a powerful German army and serious war industry behind it?
That’s where the questions and dilemmas begin. First and foremost for Germany itself, which built the postwar political system and culture it did as a safeguard against descending into the dark paths it had followed in the past. Germany deliberately chose not to develop powerful armed forces and established a strict framework requiring parliamentary approval even for the deployment of a single company to Afghanistan. No matter how much it felt that it was the top economic power, no matter how much influence it wielded over the European Union, Germany has always been Europe’s “reluctant leader.”
As the world becomes more unpredictable and dangerous, however, it will increasingly feel the need to break free of the constraints imposed by its historical guilt, to fully rearm and assume a central role in creating a Europe “with teeth.” This is especially true at a time when the assumption long taken for granted by Europeans – Germans foremost among them – that, come what may, the Americans would ultimately save the day has been decisively shattered. US President Donald Trump has made sure of that, forcing Europe to grow up, abruptly and rapidly.
We often complain and rehash the old cliche that Europe doesn’t have any real leaders anymore. The question is, what do we mean by that, and what does this have to do with Germany? Sure, neither Angela Merkel nor Olaf Scholz nor Friedrich Merz live up to our imagined expectations of a “powerful” leader. They all wait for the next state election somewhere in Germany to make a decision and they are all beholden to the strict limitations of government alliances. But, do we really want a German chancellor similar to Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or Donald Trump? And what would it mean for Europe and its future if Germany were to get a powerful far-right leader? That likelihood just became less far-fetched following the elections in Saxony-Anhalt.
