Ms. Strack-Zimmermann, will you send the Federal Chancellor a copy of your new book?

I haven’t even thought about that. But I like the idea. Possibly a nice personal Christmas present – and easy to read too.

Do you think this might help?

Nobody should have to struggle through a book. In any case, it only takes a few hours to read. Perfect for a holiday.

I asked because the book reads like an open letter to the Chancellor. The subtitle is “What Germany must learn now” – and then you name exactly what the Chancellor has not wanted to learn so far: that Germany must lead internationally instead of just participating.

To be honest, I wasn’t thinking of the chancellor while I was writing. But also to the statement of colleague Ralf Stegner, SPD. This prompted me to write the final appeal of my book right at the beginning. Stegner had said that Germany should not lead, but rather act as a mediator in crises. That irritated me. Seeing yourself only as a mediator borders on self-satisfaction. Germany must take on more responsibility in Europe and have the courage to take the initiative.

That brings us back to the chancellor. He says that anyone who wants leadership from him can have it – but you don’t seem satisfied.

Those who lead should also know where they want to go. For example, I still cannot understand why the Chancellor does not want to supply battle tanks or armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. I could immediately refute any argument that is put forward in this regard. I just had a conversation with a colleague who told me that the Americans would never, ever deliver tanks. I explained to her that it wasn’t necessary either. The Ukraine is in front of our door. We have around 3,000 Leopard 2s in Europe. There is absolutely no reason to move US tanks across the Atlantic. The Americans support Ukraine on many levels and they don’t mind if we decide that for ourselves.

Chancellor Schmidt recently said that Germany’s international security policy was still in its teens. You have a lot of hormones and sometimes overshoot the mark, for example when it comes to tanks. Do you feel addressed?

The chancellor’s office has also referred to me as a girl – and now as a teenager. That’s where the heart of the Rhinelander jumps. After all, Olaf Scholz and I are born. Passing it off as a girl is a real compliment. But joking aside: The Chancellor’s Office Minister took the opportunity to compare the expectations attached to the delivery of tanks with those of the V2 rocket, which the Nazis developed in the Third Reich as a miracle weapon and propagated as a weapon of revenge, for civilian targets attack in England. That’s strong stuff and, with all due respect, quite oblivious to history.

The main thesis of your book is that Germany needs to redefine its role in the world. It should take more responsibility. How do you intend to convince the citizens of this when your own government is already lacking?

MPs are citizens of the country, as are their voters. We have all been brutally caught up in Russia’s attack on Ukraine. In this reality we now have to reorient ourselves. Some succeed faster, others more slowly.

They demand that something has to change fundamentally, politically, economically, militarily. But even before that, intellectual resilience is needed. What do you mean by that?

The turning point belongs in the head. An example: I was recently in Heidelberg, where I gave a lecture on security policy to students. The hall was packed. My relatives were there too, around my age, who had studied in Heidelberg and were curious. When the event was over, they said to me that they could never have imagined that war and the military would be discussed at the university and that it was dead quiet in the hall. No protests, no resistance and then the desire for a photo together. Absolutely unthinkable when we were students in the seventies, eighties and nineties. The cruel war in Ukraine, the attack on freedom has reached us. And many young people share the opinion that we must support Ukraine unreservedly.

Source