The president of the Institute for World Economy in Kiel (IfW), Moritz Schularick, has called for greater coordination of Germany’s economic, defence and foreign policy within the chancellery.
He told “Welt am Sonntag”: “We need a German ‘armaments czar’-someone who coordinates, sets priorities, and plans capacities. That belongs in the chancellery”.
Schularick pointed to historical precedent, noting that Walther Rathenau filled a similar role during the First World War and Lord Beaverbrook did so for Britain in the Second World War. “Nothing would impress Putin more than the knowledge that Germany is taking seriously its role as the economic‑industrial backbone of European defence” he added.
At the same time he criticised Germany’s current defence policy. “We’re doing the same thing as before, just with more money” he said, “buying equipment as we did in the 1980s, while strategic planning is missing. No one in Berlin currently plans which production capacities we’ll need in a conflict”.
Schularick is a member of Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU)’s advisory circle on accelerating the arms industry.
He argues that enhanced coordination should accompany a fundamental shift in both German and European foreign policy. “It’s a new world order-no gradual transition, but a rupture” he explained. He claims the post‑1945 rule‑based system is “broken” and that interests will once again be enforced through power means. “Europe will only matter if it stands together-closed, fast, decisive”.
