Geopolitical turning point: The Russian Invasion is a Caesura on All Political Levels
The previous German foreign policy collapsed with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This invasion is nevertheless, or unfortunately still, received in Germany under outdated ideological images from the Cold War. But is a change now beginning? An assessment by Schoresch Davoodi.
It is a conflict between generations
Many people in Germany want Germany to stay out of armed conflicts because of the experience of the Cold War and World War II. Others are aware of the historical reminder, but at the same time see a changing world security situation – in which Germany must redefine its role. It is therefore up to German society as a whole to find answers here. Blind appeasement policies toward Russia, as many left-wing parties in Germany are calling for[1], are out of the question for us – the Pirate Party of Germany took a stand accordingly at its recent party conference.
For us as the Pirate Party of Germany, it is more important than ever to accompany the debate about the future of German foreign policy constructively and critically. However, this includes many more political fields than just foreign policy itself.
A reappraisal of Germany’s energy transition, for example, is becoming necessary. At the latest since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the role of fossil fuels, or rather the role of locally-produced renewable energies, in the geopolitical field can no longer be overlooked. The energy transition must be considered a failure. No matter what the demands for “clean energy” looked like on paper, from a foreign policy perspective, the German energy turnaround is de facto cementing Germany’s dependence on Russian natural gas.
Issues need to be thought together across policy fields
In Lithuania, too, there is great fear of becoming a victim of Russian aggression – Photo: Chuko Cribb
How other policy areas, such as digitization, should and can affect German foreign policy and peace in Europe is something we must discuss constructively with our European partners and tackle together on a European scale. The Pirate Party of Germany with its European sister parties is in an excellent position here. With PPEU (European Pirate Party) and PPI (Pirate Parties International), we already have the international forum to bring together the different national needs into a consistent concept. Already in our joint European Election Program of 2019 (CCEP), we aimed at integrating the different EU-wide decision-making levels. Digital connectivity is crucial to this process. The CEEP program states:
“The EU must live up to the principle of subsidiarity that applies to it. Decisions should not be taken at EU level when they can be better taken at national, regional or local level. Fundamental prerequisites for truly democratic decisions are equal and easy access to all information and well-informed citizens. Political decisions at the European level must be preceded by Europe-wide public debates that allow everyone to participate properly.”
In order to take account of the changing geopolitical world situation, we must also hold a broad debate on the issue of “resilience”. The dependence on Russian gas supplies has catastrophically demonstrated how much pressure Germany and Europe can be put under in their foreign policy actions by a war actor. The Pirate Party of Germany addressed how we can mitigate this danger early on by focusing on resilience of critical infrastructures. In our election program for the 2021 Bundestag elections, we wrote accordingly in the foreign policy chapter:
“The Pirate Party of Germany advocates improved resilience at various levels. Critical infrastructures as well as production capacities must be adequately secured and redundantly maintained. In addition, an individual and societal sense of responsibility (for) security must be created and improved.”
It is becoming more important than ever to conduct a reappraisal and correction in various policy areas. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a turning point. We PIRATES have already taken the first important steps here – it is all the more important for us to consistently continue these and to develop a viable political model for the future. Together with our European and international sister parties, we offer a forum for joint discussions to develop political concepts. They should serve our societies and be able to be presented, in particular, in the upcoming European elections.
For a policy free of ideological blinkers
Destroyed Russian tanks near Kiev – Photo: Mikhail Volkov
Scientific accompaniment is also becoming of great importance in order to grasp the geopolitical implications of European policies in their entirety. With our Pirate Security Conference (PSC), we manage to include competent voices from science and the media year after year. As a scientifically oriented party, we PIRATES promote critical, neutral and ideology-free monitoring of politics. We state this unequivocally in our basic program:
“Scientific findings in themselves are not subject to ethical evaluation; influencing scientific development, especially in the form of restrictions and prohibitions for political, religious or other ideological reasons, must therefore be rejected. Concrete procedures as well as practical applications of newly gained knowledge, on the other hand, must be reviewed for their compatibility with ethical and social norms and, if necessary, restricted. Such a review must not focus one-sidedly on the possible dangers and risks, but must give priority to considering the benefits both for science and for society as a whole.”
The world has fallen into disorder. The order we have known for so long is shifting. We must respond to this by developing political concepts and testing them scientifically – also and especially in the discipline of “international relations”; national decisions usually have an international consequence.
We need a comprehensive correction of the status quo, which will encompass many policy fields. The Pirate Party of Germany, together with its sister parties, has already developed many proposals, and more will follow. We will continue to consistently campaign for Germany and its partners to develop resilience, as well as a foreign and security policy strategy that serves peace and opposes belligerent aggression.