Germany has become overly reliant on the goodwill of the United States and other nations, according to Wolfgang Ischinger, a former high-ranking diplomat and long-time head of the Munich Security Conference. In an interview with the Hamburg weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” Ischinger acknowledged a degree of naiveté, not only in dealings with Washington, but more broadly.
Ischinger’s remarks are a response to recent developments in the United States, characterized by increased pressure from President Donald Trump on media outlets, the judiciary, prosecutors and the Federal Reserve. He suggests that the shifting geopolitical landscape is significantly impacting Germany.
“No other European country has been compelled to fundamentally revise its foreign policy tenets as much as we have” Ischinger stated. This revision extends to Germany’s relationship with Russia. He explained that Germany’s energy policy had prioritized inexpensive gas and oil from Russia, based on the assumption that Russia would never weaponize these energy supplies.
Previously, Ischinger maintained a distinction between the internal political affairs of the United States and its external relations. He considered US domestic policy primarily a matter for Americans, not Germans. However, he now concedes that he is re-evaluating whether these two spheres can continue to be viewed as strictly separate in light of unfolding events. The interview highlights a period of reassessment within German foreign policy circles, prompted by changes within the United States and broader shifts in the global order.