Nice article, I'm German and can confirm most things.
However, I think you shouldn't underestimate the American influence on the Greens. The first Green government in the late 1990s send German troops to Kosovo, following the American intervention there. It is now also the Greens that are the loudest in demanding more and more aid and practically direct intervention of German and NATO forces in Ukraine. That's hardly because they work for the Russians.
Let's not forget that someone blew up Nordstream (definetely neither Russians or Ukrainians did this), which led to a very nice business case for American LNG exporters.
Also, with the US now reshoring, the German industry has become a competition for American companies and with the Inflation Reduction Act, the US tries actively to bring companies from expensive Germany to the US.
Russia was a reliable partner for cheap energy and other raw materials for Germany. Without this, we are truly f*cked.
I think that last line is kind of silly. Russia wasn't a reliable partner for cheap energy and raw materials. Thats sort of the point isn't it? That they feigned reliability to get Germany to build up a reliance that could then be exploited.
No, that's simply not true. When did Russia break any contracts with Germany? For decades, we traded with them, they sold us metals and energy, we sold them machinery. We never had a problem with them.
The only problems that arose were the sanction were implemented because the West/NATO ignored Russia's legitimate security interests again and again. This whole story that Russia wanted to make Europe dependent on its energy is just propaganda. When Nord Stream 2 was planned, the Russians were hesitant and the Germans pushed the project. Why? Because of our energy policy, we need more gas. Russia wanted to sell this capacity to China - like they do now.
When NS2 was blown up (neither by Russians nor Ukrainians), the link was cut of to the benefit of the US. This is Heartland theory 101: It must be avoided that German industrial potential and the vast Russian resources unite. This was archieved. But now, Russia has China, so that backfired.
I mean you do you. If you're that anti western and pro Putin IMO your basically gone. Putin has been attempting to politically and economically dominate Ukraine for decades because he's a revaunchist, buying into his narrative that functional democracy is a "legitimate security concern" and just swallowing propaganda hook line and sinker.
At which point had Ukraine a functioning democracy?
Ukraine after 1991 was always a influenced by Russia and the West, but until the coup in 2014, it stayed neutral - and peaceful. The West plays the imperialist game and wants to extend its power in the region, and Russia - after not being accepted into the club as Putin wanted it in the early 2000s - opposes that. That's just an observation and a normal monday in geopolitics.
Ukraine was a (well-communicated) red line and the West ignored that repeatedly - Merkel last year said this clearly in an interview last year. Many others, too.
And when the invasion finally happened in 2022, the Russians let the gas flow. It was the Western sanctions that made it hard to buy the gas and as a result of that, Gazprom reduced the gas flow. The Russians simply did not weaponize the gas. We weaponized it against them to force them into bankruptcy. Didn't work.
I also don't see how Putin is a revanchist. I hear this often but - without wanting you to accuse of anything - I think this either misunderstanding because practically none in the West understands the Russian point of view, their history, what happened there in the 1990s, etc. or is intentionally misrepresented. Russia doesn't want the Baltics, Western Ukraine or Poland. Or attack NATO for God's sake. He said this many many times. Yet all the Western media fails to show that.
"When was Ukraine a functioning democracy?" When was was Russia? The largest source of disruption to political stability in Ukraine has been constant Russian meddling because Putin feels its the rightful place of Russia to dominate the Eastern Slavs.
And you say "I also don't see how Putin is a revanchist"
I dont know if that's an honest question or not, but if it is I will explain.
Revanchism (French: revanchisme, from revanche, "revenge") is the political manifestation of the will to reverse the territorial losses which are incurred by a country, frequently after a war or after a social movement.
Comments by Putin "It was a disintegration of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union... Ukraine is a part of Russia, of Historical Russia"
Putin is a revanchist because he thinks Ukraine belongs to Russia because in the past, it was a part of Russia. And he wants to use military force to reconquer land and people who do not want to be joined with Russia based on historical claims. I hope that clears it up some.
And also, your comment about gas is just incorrect. Russia cut off gas in summer 2022 to prevent Europe from building up supplies of gas while Germany desperately tried to maintain the contract.
Russia never was a functioning democracy, neither was Ukraine. That's the point I wanted to make. Russia - with all its faults and problems - always get presented in the worst way possible whereas Ukraine - just a bit more corrupt - got a completely different coverage. But Russia doesn't present itself as a perfect democracy. Still, Putin got legitimately reelected, Zelensky.. not so much. If you don't do you own research on how Russia really is and study this topic by yourself, you get a very wrong view. Talking from experience here, I had my surprise moments.
Putin doesn't feel it's rightful to dominate Eastern Slavs, he thinks it's rightful to protect the millions of Russians in Ukraine which were repressed since the coup in 2014. The coup organised by the MI6 and CIA. After that date, it was the West meddling in Ukraines affairs. Before that, both Russia and the West tried to gain influence.
On his standpoint that Urkainians are actually Russian... I got my reservations here, too.
Well, some parts (not all) are historically Russia. That's just obvious history. Odessa was founded after the area was conquered by Catharina the Great from the Ottomans, for example, and settled by Russians. But a different story is true for the area around Lwow/Lviv for example. And this brings me to the Russian support: Ukraine had a civil war in the Donbass from 2014-22 exactly because people there are Russian and want to be Russian. But in Western Ukraine, people want to be Western. In the middle, it's more mixed. I've talked to enough people from these areas to be pretty sure about that. Just look how many people fromt he DPRs are voluntarily fighting for Russia.
The annexing of the areas is more a consequence of the fact that the Russians can't trust the West as it failed to implement Minsk I and II and undermined the peace negotiations in 2022 (Western leaders say this, just watch Merkels interview from last year). Hence, Russia now takes a buffer zone. Previously, they just demanded autonomy for the area. Crimea is Russian and has been since 1783.
About the gas: Yes, they cut the gas off. Why? Because the West sanctioned Russia like no other country before and kicked it out of Swift. This cutting off was not an offensive move, that was a defensive one. And by the way, Russia still sells gas to Europe, just in less obvious ways - and for a higher price. Russia's dependency of the gas export revenue was actually used by the West against Russia. They cut the gas because the payment was very unclear at this time, same goes for the transport route through Ukraine and Poland (Druzhba pipeline).
I leave it at this point, feel free to respond on this comment (to avoid endless discussions), but I think our standpoints are both clear and the reader might decide which opinion he likes more. Thanks for the discussion!
Thank you, K.T. for your acknowledgment of Californians for Green Nuclear Power's (CGNP's) vigorous and persistent pro-Diablo Canyon advocacy. Additional details beyond your excellent analysis and sources are found in CGNP's May 13 2024 article at its GreenNUKE substack, "CGNP's Opposition to the WWGPI." https://greennuke.substack.com/p/cgnps-opposition-to-the-wwgpi
About half of CGNP's 31-page-long May 8, 2024 filing before WIEB-CREPC is focused on the environmental and economic harms of the German "Energiewende." Readers will also learn about how German taxpayers are helping to disseminate this anti-nuclear power ideology via the Heinrich Böll Foundation (hbs - The Green Political Foundation.) Among other locations, the hbs has offices in Moscow, Beijing, Hong Kong, Ramallah (West Bank), Beirut, and Washington, DC.
I'm always interested in reading about German energy and their closing of their nuclear plants.
My FIL spent years in Germany doing rhe design/build on those German and many of the French and some if the other European plants.
I used to pick his brain about many things concerning nuclear. He was brilliant and KNEW the industry. He was quite amazed that Germany would actually close working plants that had no issues. He found it sad.
It would appear that knee-jerk reactions seldom work out as we'd like.
Thanks for your comment -- that's so interesting about your FIL. Those plants were really well designed -- I hope the Germans come to their senses and re-open them.
I'm sorry for your loss. Yes, depending on the decommissioning process it is probably difficult, if not impossible to bring them back online. Really unfortunate.
I will look into the NS Savannah - sounds interesting!
Very sad that people aware of the harm that emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere have not been active in advocating taxation of those net emissions. The errors reported here follow from that fundamental failure.
Good writing. Put the phrase "What if Germany had invested in nuclear power A comparison between the German energy policy the last 20 years and an alternative policy of investing" in your internet search engine of choice and give this peer-reviewed piece a read. Decisions done in early 2000s benefited putins terrorist regime and did cost Germans hundreds of GigaEuros. Self inflicted damage that now is more apparent (if it wasn't for someone before). Emissions reduction seen now in Germany are really not impressive comparing to what these could have been.
Nice article, I'm German and can confirm most things.
However, I think you shouldn't underestimate the American influence on the Greens. The first Green government in the late 1990s send German troops to Kosovo, following the American intervention there. It is now also the Greens that are the loudest in demanding more and more aid and practically direct intervention of German and NATO forces in Ukraine. That's hardly because they work for the Russians.
Let's not forget that someone blew up Nordstream (definetely neither Russians or Ukrainians did this), which led to a very nice business case for American LNG exporters.
Also, with the US now reshoring, the German industry has become a competition for American companies and with the Inflation Reduction Act, the US tries actively to bring companies from expensive Germany to the US.
Russia was a reliable partner for cheap energy and other raw materials for Germany. Without this, we are truly f*cked.
Thanks for this perspective!
I think that last line is kind of silly. Russia wasn't a reliable partner for cheap energy and raw materials. Thats sort of the point isn't it? That they feigned reliability to get Germany to build up a reliance that could then be exploited.
No, that's simply not true. When did Russia break any contracts with Germany? For decades, we traded with them, they sold us metals and energy, we sold them machinery. We never had a problem with them.
The only problems that arose were the sanction were implemented because the West/NATO ignored Russia's legitimate security interests again and again. This whole story that Russia wanted to make Europe dependent on its energy is just propaganda. When Nord Stream 2 was planned, the Russians were hesitant and the Germans pushed the project. Why? Because of our energy policy, we need more gas. Russia wanted to sell this capacity to China - like they do now.
When NS2 was blown up (neither by Russians nor Ukrainians), the link was cut of to the benefit of the US. This is Heartland theory 101: It must be avoided that German industrial potential and the vast Russian resources unite. This was archieved. But now, Russia has China, so that backfired.
I mean you do you. If you're that anti western and pro Putin IMO your basically gone. Putin has been attempting to politically and economically dominate Ukraine for decades because he's a revaunchist, buying into his narrative that functional democracy is a "legitimate security concern" and just swallowing propaganda hook line and sinker.
At which point had Ukraine a functioning democracy?
Ukraine after 1991 was always a influenced by Russia and the West, but until the coup in 2014, it stayed neutral - and peaceful. The West plays the imperialist game and wants to extend its power in the region, and Russia - after not being accepted into the club as Putin wanted it in the early 2000s - opposes that. That's just an observation and a normal monday in geopolitics.
Ukraine was a (well-communicated) red line and the West ignored that repeatedly - Merkel last year said this clearly in an interview last year. Many others, too.
And when the invasion finally happened in 2022, the Russians let the gas flow. It was the Western sanctions that made it hard to buy the gas and as a result of that, Gazprom reduced the gas flow. The Russians simply did not weaponize the gas. We weaponized it against them to force them into bankruptcy. Didn't work.
I also don't see how Putin is a revanchist. I hear this often but - without wanting you to accuse of anything - I think this either misunderstanding because practically none in the West understands the Russian point of view, their history, what happened there in the 1990s, etc. or is intentionally misrepresented. Russia doesn't want the Baltics, Western Ukraine or Poland. Or attack NATO for God's sake. He said this many many times. Yet all the Western media fails to show that.
"When was Ukraine a functioning democracy?" When was was Russia? The largest source of disruption to political stability in Ukraine has been constant Russian meddling because Putin feels its the rightful place of Russia to dominate the Eastern Slavs.
And you say "I also don't see how Putin is a revanchist"
I dont know if that's an honest question or not, but if it is I will explain.
Revanchism (French: revanchisme, from revanche, "revenge") is the political manifestation of the will to reverse the territorial losses which are incurred by a country, frequently after a war or after a social movement.
Comments by Putin "It was a disintegration of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union... Ukraine is a part of Russia, of Historical Russia"
Putin is a revanchist because he thinks Ukraine belongs to Russia because in the past, it was a part of Russia. And he wants to use military force to reconquer land and people who do not want to be joined with Russia based on historical claims. I hope that clears it up some.
And also, your comment about gas is just incorrect. Russia cut off gas in summer 2022 to prevent Europe from building up supplies of gas while Germany desperately tried to maintain the contract.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/russia-pressures-europe-slashing-natural-gas-supply-rcna34122
Russia never was a functioning democracy, neither was Ukraine. That's the point I wanted to make. Russia - with all its faults and problems - always get presented in the worst way possible whereas Ukraine - just a bit more corrupt - got a completely different coverage. But Russia doesn't present itself as a perfect democracy. Still, Putin got legitimately reelected, Zelensky.. not so much. If you don't do you own research on how Russia really is and study this topic by yourself, you get a very wrong view. Talking from experience here, I had my surprise moments.
Putin doesn't feel it's rightful to dominate Eastern Slavs, he thinks it's rightful to protect the millions of Russians in Ukraine which were repressed since the coup in 2014. The coup organised by the MI6 and CIA. After that date, it was the West meddling in Ukraines affairs. Before that, both Russia and the West tried to gain influence.
On his standpoint that Urkainians are actually Russian... I got my reservations here, too.
Well, some parts (not all) are historically Russia. That's just obvious history. Odessa was founded after the area was conquered by Catharina the Great from the Ottomans, for example, and settled by Russians. But a different story is true for the area around Lwow/Lviv for example. And this brings me to the Russian support: Ukraine had a civil war in the Donbass from 2014-22 exactly because people there are Russian and want to be Russian. But in Western Ukraine, people want to be Western. In the middle, it's more mixed. I've talked to enough people from these areas to be pretty sure about that. Just look how many people fromt he DPRs are voluntarily fighting for Russia.
The annexing of the areas is more a consequence of the fact that the Russians can't trust the West as it failed to implement Minsk I and II and undermined the peace negotiations in 2022 (Western leaders say this, just watch Merkels interview from last year). Hence, Russia now takes a buffer zone. Previously, they just demanded autonomy for the area. Crimea is Russian and has been since 1783.
About the gas: Yes, they cut the gas off. Why? Because the West sanctioned Russia like no other country before and kicked it out of Swift. This cutting off was not an offensive move, that was a defensive one. And by the way, Russia still sells gas to Europe, just in less obvious ways - and for a higher price. Russia's dependency of the gas export revenue was actually used by the West against Russia. They cut the gas because the payment was very unclear at this time, same goes for the transport route through Ukraine and Poland (Druzhba pipeline).
I leave it at this point, feel free to respond on this comment (to avoid endless discussions), but I think our standpoints are both clear and the reader might decide which opinion he likes more. Thanks for the discussion!
Thank you, K.T. for your acknowledgment of Californians for Green Nuclear Power's (CGNP's) vigorous and persistent pro-Diablo Canyon advocacy. Additional details beyond your excellent analysis and sources are found in CGNP's May 13 2024 article at its GreenNUKE substack, "CGNP's Opposition to the WWGPI." https://greennuke.substack.com/p/cgnps-opposition-to-the-wwgpi
About half of CGNP's 31-page-long May 8, 2024 filing before WIEB-CREPC is focused on the environmental and economic harms of the German "Energiewende." Readers will also learn about how German taxpayers are helping to disseminate this anti-nuclear power ideology via the Heinrich Böll Foundation (hbs - The Green Political Foundation.) Among other locations, the hbs has offices in Moscow, Beijing, Hong Kong, Ramallah (West Bank), Beirut, and Washington, DC.
Great info, Gene! Thanks!
Dieter's Trauma continues! Thank you for the excellent 👍 article
All self inflicted, and so opposite Germanic and Prussian traditional values.
Putin's KGB masterstroke, a true evil genius, ultimately eating the West's lunch.
https://tucoschild.substack.com/p/putins-kgb-masterstroke-fracking
Thanks for the link, TC! Schroeder is indeed in deep with the Gazprom pay-to-play. So much going on over there.
Basically the demolition of a once great post-war country on every level.
Why buy German products if actually made in the coal burning PRC?
100%
I'm always interested in reading about German energy and their closing of their nuclear plants.
My FIL spent years in Germany doing rhe design/build on those German and many of the French and some if the other European plants.
I used to pick his brain about many things concerning nuclear. He was brilliant and KNEW the industry. He was quite amazed that Germany would actually close working plants that had no issues. He found it sad.
It would appear that knee-jerk reactions seldom work out as we'd like.
Thanks for your comment -- that's so interesting about your FIL. Those plants were really well designed -- I hope the Germans come to their senses and re-open them.
He was a brilliant man. Unfortunately, it depends on how far they went in closing them. Most cannot be reopened. Very sad for the country.
If you want to read about my FILs favorite project, look up the NS Savannah. He was proudest of it.
I'm sorry for your loss. Yes, depending on the decommissioning process it is probably difficult, if not impossible to bring them back online. Really unfortunate.
I will look into the NS Savannah - sounds interesting!
Very sad that people aware of the harm that emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere have not been active in advocating taxation of those net emissions. The errors reported here follow from that fundamental failure.
Good writing. Put the phrase "What if Germany had invested in nuclear power A comparison between the German energy policy the last 20 years and an alternative policy of investing" in your internet search engine of choice and give this peer-reviewed piece a read. Decisions done in early 2000s benefited putins terrorist regime and did cost Germans hundreds of GigaEuros. Self inflicted damage that now is more apparent (if it wasn't for someone before). Emissions reduction seen now in Germany are really not impressive comparing to what these could have been.