Foreign policy at Illner
“US sees geopolitical significance of war”
By Marko Schlichting
11/11/2022 3:51 am
How will foreign policy relations develop after the midterms in the USA? Maybrit Illner’s guests agree: Not much is likely to change under the Biden government. In the next few years, however, the development is difficult to predict, says Finance Minister Lindner.
The midterms in the USA are over. Although not all the votes have been counted, it is already clear that ex-President Donald Trump has suffered a setback. Many of the candidates he supported failed. However, Trump’s biggest rival among the Republicans has achieved a clear success: California Governor Ron DeSantis. According to Republican political adviser Peter Rough, he gave his Democratic challenger the worst result since the Revolutionary War.
Rough is one of the guests on Thursday evening on the ZDF talk show Maybrit Illner. In his view, Trump’s defeat does not mean much, because there is still a long way to go before the presidential elections in 2024. Trump had promised an important announcement for next Tuesday. Observers in the US assume that he will then announce his presidential candidacy for 2024. But DeSantis also seems to have ambitions for this office, and he is something like a second Trump, only smarter and younger.
No signs of policy change
The USA will be difficult to calculate in the next few years, says Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner bei Illner. But one could learn a lot for Germany from the situation in the United States: “You can have different opinions between the government and the opposition, and the competition of ideas is right and important, but the hostility to the point of fantasies of annihilation that exists in the USA , should be a chilling example for us.”
According to Lindner, there are no signs of a change in US policy in connection with Ukraine. “The USA sees the special significance of the war in geopolitical terms. It’s about humanity, but not only that. It’s also about the European security architecture, and it’s about the values of liberal democracy: that each country determines its own path.”
Peter Rough also does not believe in a change in US foreign policy. According to the US Constitution, this is determined by the President. “I’m pretty confident that US politics will be consistent,” he says.
Economic Cooperation
Finance Minister Lindner knows that Germany has a problem: high energy prices and inflation could be a locational advantage for companies in the USA. The US is currently supporting domestic products financially, he explains. At the same time, they had started to decarbonize their economy, i.e. they had reduced CO2 emissions in the long term. For Europe, this means: “On the one hand, we have to improve our own competitiveness.” At the same time, it must be clear: “If the USA offers good location conditions, you cannot forbid a private investor to go there. For us, that means better planning and approval processes, improved infrastructure, digital public administration, an immigration law and affordable energy.” In addition, Lindner calls for talks about what opportunities Europe opens up for the United States, especially with regard to China. “We have common values, now let’s also work systematically on prosperity in retail,” said Lindner.
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil also points to Europe’s achievements: “If we manage to consistently expand renewable energies, if we manage to turn them into business models, and if we are aware that we have to position Europe strongly, then we can that will be a wonderful location in five to ten years, even for first-time investors.”
“China plus one”
Another important trading partner for Germany besides the United States could be the People’s Republic of China. But Germany must learn from the mistakes of the last few years and must not become dependent on one country again, economic wise Ulrike Malmendier demands. That’s why she’s proposing a regulation that already exists in Japan, which she calls “China plus one.” She would like to review trade opportunities with China: “Let’s make sure there is another country that has these resources or markets.”