Alexander von Bismarck in Conversation with Patrik Baab
“We have lost sight of our national interests.”
In this wide-ranging conversation, Alexander von Bismarck discusses the decline of German sovereignty, the shift from interest-based policy to moral posturing, and the strategic consequences of that shift.
As the great-great-grandson of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, he calls for a renewed German realism — grounded in diplomacy, dialogue, and a pragmatic approach to relations with Russia.
He criticizes the “firewall” doctrine in domestic politics, the moral rigidity of Germany’s current coalition government, and what he sees as a growing detachment from economic rationality.
This is a conversation about history, responsibility, and the lessons that contemporary Germany might draw from Bismarck’s statecraft.
Topics discussed:
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The erosion of Germany’s interest-based foreign policy
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Realism versus moralized politics
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Otto von Bismarck’s strategy of peace through balance
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German–Russian relations
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Entrepreneurs under economic pressure
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Media, censorship, and the question of corrective institutions
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Political exclusion and social fragmentation
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Europe between escalation and diplomacy