Secular values are simply not enough to motivate a people to live sacrificially to perpetuate their social order.
Sigmar Gabriel, the left-wing former German foreign minister and still an influential voice in European politics, is talking very tough these days. In a recent interview with Stern, Gabriel said Germany should be willing to escalate the war with Russia over Ukraine.
“I never thought I’d have to say this: However, we’ll need to checkmate Russia again as we did during the Cold War with the Soviet Union,” Gabriel said. “Putin must grasp our resolve.”
“The clear signal should be sent to Putin: Stop this war—or we’ll target you. If that entails deploying German air defense systems, assisted by the Bundeswehr, to establish no-fly zones in Ukraine to shield Ukrainian cities from Russian attacks on the civilian population, I wouldn’t guarantee Mr. Putin that we’d never act this way.”
