In an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs magazine that was posted online on Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz cautioned against starting a new Cold War by breaking the world up into blocs and urged all efforts to be made to forge new alliances.
“We must also resist the temptation to once again divide the world into blocs,” wrote Scholz in the article, “but we must also stand up for democratic values and defend open societies.”
This entails making every attempt to establish new alliances while remaining pragmatic and devoid of ideological prejudice, he continued.
China and Russia were specifically mentioned by Scholz as two nations that present a threat to a multipolar world and must be addressed by stronger European and transatlantic solidarity.
While China’s isolation and approach to Taiwan necessitate new and stronger partnerships with nations around the world, he wrote that the transatlantic partnership remains critical in addressing challenges posed by Russia’s threat of potential attacks on allied territory.
