Moritz Schularick, president of the Institute for World Economics in Kiel, has called for greater coordination of Germany’s economic, defence and foreign policy within the chancellor’s office. “We need a German ‘armament czar’: someone who coordinates, sets priorities and plans capacities” he told the newspaper “Welt am Sonntag”. He believes this role should be housed in the chancellor’s office.
Schularick cited historical precedents, noting that during the First World War Walther Rathenau filled a similar position and in Britain Lord Beaverbrook did so in the Second World War. “Nothing would impress Putin more than the knowledge that Germany is serious and is becoming the economic‑industrial backbone of European defence” he added.
At the same time, he criticized Germany’s current defence policy. “We do the same as before, just with more money” the economist remarked, comparing it to procurement practices of the 1980s. He warned that strategic planning is missing: “Right now, Berlin isn’t planning which production capacities we’ll need in a conflict situation”. Schularick is part of the advisory circle that Minister of Economy Katherina Reiche, a CDU politician, has assembled to accelerate the growth of the defence industry.
He argues that stronger coordination should bring about a fundamental shift in both German and European foreign policy. “This is a new world order, not a gradual transition but a rupture” he said, referring to transatlantic relations. The post‑1945 rule‑based system, he said, is “dead”; interests will once again be enforced by means of power. Europe, according to Schularick, only counts when it stands together-closed, fast, decisive.