Category: Politics

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Orientation without Certainty: On the Capacity to Act in our Unclear World

This essay develops the argument of my keynote “Die neue Unübersichtlichkeit” at the CARS 2.0 Transformations-Gipfel on 8 October 2026.

Stuttgart’s industrial future depends on whether the region can put its accumulated capabilities to work under conditions that no longer resemble those in which they developed. Automotive and mechanical engineering remain substantial assets. But the markets, technologies and political relationships that made them successful are changing together. The task is to preserve the capacity to develop and produce complex systems while changing the applications, organisational arrangements and dependencies through which that capacity becomes economically useful.… Read more

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Deciding the Undecidable: Why Strategy Needs “Urteilskraft”

tl;dr: Under deep uncertainty, strategy confronts questions no method can settle. Urteilskraft is that capacity: it frames what can be calculated and judges what can be justified.

This essay expands on a talk I gave at the Wissenschaftsfestival Stuttgart 2026, held at ISM Campus Stuttgart under the title “Zukunft, Zweifel, Zuversicht – Future Skills in Zeiten des Umbruchs.”

If there is one place in Europe where nobody needs “times of upheaval” explained to them, it is the Stuttgart region.… Read more

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From Growth to Freedom: Ecological Ordoliberalism and the Renewal of the Social Market Economy

tl;dr: To survive in the twenty-first century, the Social Market Economy must move beyond growth as its organising principle. Its future lies not in abandoning markets, but in reordering them around freedom, social reproduction, and ecological limits.

The Social Market Economy remains one of the few political-economic ideas in Germany and, more broadly, in Europe that still carries real normative weight. It evokes a promise that many other formulas no longer can: economic freedom without social cruelty, markets without social disintegration, prosperity without authoritarianism.… Read more

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Electric Avenue: Systems, Sufficiency, and European Sovereignty

tl;dr:  Europe’s agency hinges on becoming an Electrostate—electrified value chains, robust grids, high domestic electrification. Not more tech, but system design & sufficiency.

What an Electrostate Is

An Electrostate is not simply a country with many wind turbines and solar parks. It is a polity whose power rests on electrified value chains—from critical minerals and battery chemistry to power electronics, grids, software, and open standards—combined with high domestic electrification in mobility, heat, and industry.… Read more

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Sustainability, Security, and Strategic Autonomy

tl;dr: Sustainability is vital for Europe’s strategic autonomy, resilience, and geopolitical leadership, addressing climate change as a core security issue.

Climate change is no longer only an environmental issue—it is increasingly recognized as a central factor influencing international security. As global temperatures rise, competition over critical resources such as water, food, and land intensifies, leading to heightened risks of conflict and political instability. Natural disasters, exacerbated by climate change, have triggered mass migrations, creating social tensions that can threaten regional and global stability.… Read more