The jargon of international politics has incorporated yet another term in 2022: “Zeitenwende”, used by Olaf Scholz to describe the tectonic change of the era, initiated, in his description, with the invasion of Ukraine.
In an essay at the prestigious Foreign Affairs, the German premier scrutinizes the multipolar panorama and rejects the design of a new Cold War in the current scenario, modeled by the intensification of competition between global powers.
Born in 1958, Scholz integrates a generation with rare expertise in changing global scenarios. There were, in about seven decades, three distinct eras.
The 1950s corresponded to the beginnings of the Cold War, born after the end of the tragedy imposed by the Second World War and characterized by the bipolarity between the USA and the USSR. The so-called “balance of terror” prevailed, as the nuclear arsenals of the superpowers exhibited (and still retain) the capacity for mutual annihilation — a threat to prevent the idea of ​​a military confrontation involving, directly, the Americans and the Soviets.
Therefore, Moscow and Washington fought disputes for areas of influence without putting their soldiers face to face on the battlefield. Otherwise, the confrontation would bring catastrophic nuclear consequences.
The Cold War dissolved at a dizzying pace in the 1980s due to the failure of the Soviet model. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the disintegration of the USSR in 1991 symbolize historical change.
Young Scholz, in those turbulent years, was already active in German Social Democracy. He witnessed the reunification of his country and the dawn of the unipolar world and hyperglobalization.
With no strong competitors on the international scene after the debacle of the USSR, the US began to exercise gigantic hegemony in the political, economic, military and cultural fields. Globalization, driven by the technological revolution, has intensified the flow of goods, capital and information.
The period was also shaped by the impressive industrialization of Asian countries, in a process led by China. Economic reforms launched by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 sowed ingredients responsible for the design of the 21st century.
On the eve of the beginning of that historic period, Scholz was elected deputy in 1998, after participating in international organizations of young leftists. He was general secretary of the SPD, a party of German social democracy, from 2002 to 2004. He observed, in those years, the expansion of the European Union.
In 2008-9, a new turning point: the international financial crisis revealed weaknesses and imbalances in the European and US economies, with the impoverishment of sectors of the middle class whose jobs and income had migrated to Asian countries.
In 2010, China became the owner of the second largest economy on the planet, surpassing Japan. The multipolar world began, also driven by India’s economic growth.
In the midst of yet another international move, Scholz was advancing in his political career and, in 2018, became Minister of Finance. More orthodox ideological views of the youth of the Cold War era were left behind.
In power since December 2021 and without the international glow of predecessor Angela Merkel, Scholz dives into the debate on the global scenario, rescues the term “Zeitenwende” and talks about the importance of avoiding the division of the world into antagonistic blocs. May current times learn from the tragic lessons of the 20th century.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
