From the Cold War to Globalization to Reglobalization

In the 80s of the last century, the world order was still draggable, there was the Western – democratic world – and communism, which was geopolitically dominated by the Soviet Union and fortunately did not allow for solidarity with China at that time.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, as well as the opening of China, led to boundless optimism that the Cold Wars were over forever and that borderless trade would also promote the transformation of the previous dictatorships towards democracies.

A fatal fallacy that would have required revision since 2008 in Russia at the latest and in China since 2012.

But it was simply carried on in the spirit of drunken optimism, by companies as well as governments. The dream of a large Chinese market and the supposed superiority led to reckless abandonment of their own markets as well as the reduction of production technology competencies – all against the background of short-term cost optimization and profit maximization.

Not even the annexation of Crimea and eastern parts of Ukraine by Russia in 2014 was perceived as a warning signal, nor the persecution of the Uyghurs in China, nor the Made in China 2025 initiative, nor the policy of the double cycle, nor the New Silk Road project, nor the expansion of mass surveillance and the social credit system.

After the outbreak of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 - and China's support for this - at least the eyes of politicians were opened, but unfortunately not yet of companies: they continue to hope that their dream world will come back.

In fact, their investments in China are lost and they lack the funds to invest in their own country. Out of fear, customs barriers are also rejected, which could provide a last protection.

Reglobalization would be the right answer: only a reduction in economic dependencies on dictatorships creates the necessary leeway for the assertion of freedom – and this means that short-term cost optimization must be subordinated to a geostrategic perspective. Certain strategically relevant products must be produced in the democratic space of this world - whatever the cost.

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