Geopolitics of Germany

as a nation in the center of the European continent Germany and its immediate surrounding halt the densest concentration of wealth in the world its extensive navigable waterways and arable land give the country an edge in trade and commercial activities yet for all its advantages of the country is utterly exposed to neighbouring powers for the past two centuries these conditions have determined the geopolitics of Germany I'm your host Shivan and welcome to Caspian report located in Central Europe the Federal Republic of Germany enjoys some of the best and worst of geography the south of the country is defined by its mountainous terrain that is partially dominated by the Alps while the north exists of flat terrain and borders the Baltic and North Sea's in addition spread interchangeably throughout Germany are vast fields of arable plateaus and rich forests yet perhaps the most distinguishable geographic feature is the dense concentration of navigable waterways Germany hosts at least seven major rivers that are commercially navigable and they play an enormous role in the geo economic prospects of the country for instance of the Rhine which empties into the north she is north europe's longest navigable river and the world's busiest internal waterway of the rhine allows for the cost-effective transportation of goods into the german inlet along the river and its smaller tributaries are a host of major cities and commercial hubs like : Dusseldorf Essen Dortmund Frankfurt Stuttgart and many more other examples of navigable rivers include the weather and the Elbe these waterways and their tributaries link major population hubs like Bremen Hannover and Hamburg to the North Sea while the other River in the East allows the Germans to reach the Baltic Sea then there is the Danube in the south which connects the industries city of Munich to the Black Sea there are dozens more navigable rivers and canals but the large demographic clusters along the Rhine Elbe vesser and Danube formed Germany's heartland however much like the rivers the Heartland does not form a single unified compartment there are instead multiple seats of power for most of their history the German heartland territories developed separately until the country unified in 1871 even then national unity remained a fragile concept following the disastrous fallout of World War two the Germans were once again divided this time however along the parameters of the Cold War the situation lasted until 1990 when modern Germany finally reunified today Berlin is the most populous city and wheels of the most political power however in addition to the capital there are political and economic seeds of power in Frankfurt : Munich and Hamburg to maintain unity Germany as a whole is a federal entity the result is that political power is widely decentralized and distributed across the country this brings forth Berlin's first NGO political objective which is to ensure its territorial integrity by maintaining a complex political balance between the federal states within the country more often than not political unity is easier when there is an abundance of wealth and Germany's extensive navigable waterways combined with its access to seaports and the country's central location in Europe supported by a sophisticated infrastructure network practically guarantees that German industrial and agricultural surpluses enjoy much lower transportation costs ultimately this gives the government in Berlin a competitive edge in trade which is why Germany is the third largest exporter in the world and as a result a prosperous nation taken together Germany's geography grants and impeccable advantage in terms of trade technology and communication as well as the accumulation of massive amounts of capital from those activities as such germ and the North European plane is home to the densest concentration of wealth in the world this is why the Germans have always been able to swiftly recover from military conflicts yet as remarkable as this sounds wealth is not evenly distributed across the country according to Germany central bank the wealthiest 10% of the nation owns 63 percent of the assets while the bottom 50% have less than 3 percent of the total wealth the stark economic disparity is especially noticeable between the west and east of the country for instance in 2015 the state of Hamburg enjoyed a GDP per capita of nearly 73 thousand dollars while that of Saxony was only $31,000 the disparity is most notable in East Germany in fact the 16 million Germans in the East including the capital contribute to 15% of the country's total GDP while the western province of North rhine-westphalia on its own accounts for 21% of the economy the stark contrast between West and East Germany is partially due to the communist past and partially due to the layout of the rivers more specifically waterways in the West have better access to other capital rich ports and hubs in Western Europe whereas the rivers in East Germany mostly have access to the underdeveloped Eastern European region so the layout of the rivers makes the development of East Germany slightly more complicated than that of West Germany this complex situation is Berlin's next objective it must mitigate the regional inequalities to prevent social unrest the government fulfills this task by distributing economic resources through a wide selection of social safety nets as a result the public doesn't necessarily feel the financial disparities however since nearly half of Germany's GDP derives from exports Berlin's generous social policy is only sustainable as long as it can maintain access to those markets and this is where the European you comes into play roughly a third of Germany's exports head for member states within the eurozone shut des market collapse it would trigger a massive internal crisis within Germany because its economic and social well-being is inherently linked to the existence of the European Union this unique predicament brings forth another geopolitical objective regardless of the banking and fiscal disputes the bailouts the austerity measures the flow of refugees and the erosion of the free movement Schengen zone the Berlin government has to do whatever it takes to maintain the euro zone as a market for German goods and services for the sake of domestic stability it must ensure the survival of the European Union in this context the European bloc also fulfils another geopolitical objective which is Germany's relationship with regional powerhouses for all its advantages Germany finds itself in between present and historical powers including the Dutch French British Italians Austrians Danish Swedes poles and Russians basically Germany sits in the worst geopolitical area in the world South Germany is relatively secure but in the north the country is exposed to multiple fronts in the flat terrain of the European Plain although Berlin's tactics to deal with the dilemma have changed over the course of the 20th century the modern objective to keep Paris and Moscow at bay has remained the same modern Germany and France have dealt with their mutual problem by interlocking themselves in European institutions just six years after World War two ended the European Coal and Steel community formed a bond between the industries of France and Germany the succeeding institution the European Economic Community improved upon those ties by adding a diplomatic layer and when Germany reunified in the 1990s policymakers from both nations rolled out a common European monetary policy headed by the German central bank when the euro zone came out in full force in 2000 it quickly became an indispensable market for German industries this dependency reassures France and Germany of their security concerns in the European Plain and this understanding is a geopolitical objective that must be maintained because it allows Berlin to secure its western side while Paris secures its eastern flank however if the dysfunctional state of the European bloc brings forth new challenges for Berlin and Paris and while German politicians act as a voice of unity and reason behind the scenes Berlin is working on a contingency plan for the collapse of the European Union in November 2017 a leaked defense policy paper called the strategic perspective 2040 revealed that the German government is working on measures to deal with the collapse of the European bloc and a resurgent Russia the document is the first German defense policy since the end of World War two the fact that it even exists sends a chilling message it indicates that Berlin considers the collapse of the European bloc and it's disastrous consequences as a likely event regardless of the fate of the EU for now the western flank of Germany's borders are secure the east side however which faces Russia is a more complicated matter here NATO has proven to be of great value for Germany while the EU has allowed for Germany to deal with France NATO has allowed the German leadership to reduce hazards from the Russian side this distinct situation explains why Berlin has traditionally operated as a strong advocate of the expansion of the EU and NATO into the former Warsaw Pact nations and the Baltic States the more the EU and NATO expand the more secure Germany gets because by encouraging European integration Berlin gains political legal and economic leverage across much of the European plain this in turn creates an effective buffer zone between Germany and Russia having said that the EU and NATO expansion have amidst relations with the Kremlin because the Russian objective is to push West the result of this collision of interests is a prolonged crisis in Ukraine mutual sanctions and an overall breakdown of diplomatic relations between Berlin and Moscow this stalemate is unlikely to change anytime soon Russia and Germany may not border one another but the fact that both of their heartlands occupied the same lowland plains means that they must seek to extend their buffer zones west and east respectively an ideal situation for Germany would be a relationship with Russia that benefits both sides much like the German French pact but how such an understanding would be formulated at this stage is uncertain the final objective of Germany is to secure its maritime access in the north and Baltic seas in this regard the Kiel Canal in North Germany by the Atlanta Peninsula is particularly important because it links the Baltic Sea to the North Sea through German territory thereby bypassing the Danish Straits however guaranteeing the security of its strength in the north and Baltic seas is beyond the ability of Berlin since it requires a capable blue water Navy which is one of the costliest endeavors a nation can undertake in the West the solution usually comes down to an alliance with the global maritime power the United States however German American relations are complex as a nation that was partially defeated occupied and rebuilt by the Americans Berlin has mixed feelings for Washington this is visible in the current friction between Merkel and Trump which concerns Germany's large trade surplus while the Trump administration has toned down its criticism politicians in Berlin remain anxious because their expert driven economy has a lot to lose in a trade dispute in the past maritime rivals managed to shift the balance of power in the European plain by siding with coalition's against Germany to avoid a repeat of history Berlin has to remain on friend terms with Washington so it can continue to dominate its environment through economic and diplomatic means such an alliance however will not be without costs as such Berlin will have to find ways to remain relevant to the United States in essence the geopolitics of Germany stems from its immediate surroundings the extensive waterways form the backbone of the country and give German industries a competitive edge over their rivals but for all its strengths Germany has substantial vulnerabilities to fully secure its interests Germany must maintain unity among its seats of economic and political power it must ensure domestic stability by reducing financial inequalities through its social safety programs and it can only sustain such social policies by maintaining the eurozone as a market for German goods and services at the same time Germany must secure its western and eastern flanks along the European plain by encouraging EU integration to deal with France and NATO integration to bolster its buffer zone against Russia furthermore Berlin must also work closely with Washington to secure its maritime access to the Baltic and North Sea's ultimately the tactics may have changed over the course of history but these objectives form the geopolitics of Germany I've been your host Shivan from Caspian report credit goes to our contributors on patreon who suggested this topic and gave us the means to produce it for more information on our crowdfunding platform visit patreon.com slash Caspian report in any case thank you for your time and Sahu [Music]

Channel: CaspianReport

Views: 640,363

Rating: 4.8076005 out of 5

Keywords: Germany, Deutschland, Geopolitics, Europe, France, Russia, Geography, European Plain, Analysis, Rivers, Rhine, Weser, Oder, Elbe, Danube, Network, Canals, Kiel, Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Essen, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, North Sea, Baltic Sea, History, 1871, 1990, Unification, Berlin Wall, Wealth, Trade, EU, Eurozone, Parity, Gap, GDP, NATO, Buffer zone, United States, Maritime

Id: NNUriy9bq-E

Length: 15min 5sec (905 seconds)

Published: Mon May 07 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/InfinityArch]

In this episode of Caspian Report, Shirvan gives an overview of the geopolitics of Germany. While Germany has numerous economic advantages from its abundance of navigable internal waterways, the country has a serious disadvantage in terms of defense owing to the flat terrain comprising the bulk of the country. The country also has numerous viable seats of political and economic power, necessitating a decentralized federal system to maintain political stability.

Through the European Union and NATO membership, Germany has been able to minimize their defensive shortcomings via diplomacy rather than the direct shifting of borders sought by Germany historically, but this arrangement depends on the continued existence of the European bloc and particularly the Eurozone, which is the single most important market for Germany's export driven economy.

[u/Jigglerbutts]

...it indicates that Berlin considers the collapse of the European block and its disastrous consequences as a likely event..

I'd strongly disagree on this point. Berlin clearly deems it a necessary contingency, but just because they have a strategic plan in place for when it should happen does not indicate anything else than smart planning on their behalf, certainly not the likeliness of it happening.

[u/IjonTichy85]

I'm a little confused about the focus on waterways. Trucks account for roughly six times as many tkm as ships in Germany.

The video made it seem like the layout of the rivers could explain a lot more than it does.

The fear of Russia seems to be a projection by the author. He completely misrepresented the "strategic perspective 2040" part. It was a report where 6 different scenarios which could happen before 2040 were played out. The collapse of the European Union was one of those scenarios.

In the video he states that Berlin considers the collapse of the EU a "likely event", which is just ridiculous.

[u/high_Stalin]

Is the Caspian report a reliable news outlet?

[u/[deleted]]

Germany's dependence on imported oil and gas and the role Russia plays in this isn't mentioned at all - I'd say this is a major oversight.

Also, the authors don't talk enough about the EU and the role of Germany and France in it.

[u/iuris_peritus]

As a German myself I am always unpleasantly surprised by these analysis.

I seriously doubt the importance of a lot of the observations made in this video.

I fail to understand the immense importance the author seems to see in Germany's riverways. It might have been an important factor century's ago but in today's economy goods are overwhelmingly transported through highways and railways (apart from container ships ofcourse). Navigable rivers maybe play a bigger part in the reason why Germany enjoyed an early advantage in industrialisation but how important is this advantage even historically compared to the enormous coal deposits in the Ruhr area? Why give such an odd focus to such a comparably minor detail ?

Also the claim that Germany sees the breakup of the European Union as a likely scenario is a better indicator of the authors bias against multinational organisations.

To believe Germany would not do everything in its power to prevent such a breakup is ridiculous. As was pointed out by others here the breakup scenario was only one of the scenarios and was certainly not seen as the most likely development in the paper.

Also the fact that the author makes the connection that the US blue water navy is the reason why US relations are so important to Germany seems odd to me. The US used to be of utmost importance to Germany due to the fact that Germany was a front state in the cold war and the US guaranteed the survival of German democracy with boots on the ground and nuclear deterrence. A memory still fresh in the heads of many German politicians especially in the ranks of the conservatives.