Dr Stefan Mair, the Director of the German Institute for International Affairs, is a man who doesn’t mince his words. In this interview with StratNewsGlobal on the sidelines of the 9th Edition of the Raisina Dialogue, the annual flagship event organized by the Observer Research Foundation and the Ministry of External Affairs, Dr Mair discusses contentious issues like the war in Ukraine, migration, and why India needs to distance itself from Russia.
Asked to respond to India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar’s remarks in June 2022 that “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that its problems are the world’s problems but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems,” Dr Mair said that he was wrong about the first part, and right about the second. “Europe’s problem, if you look at the Russian war in Ukraine, is the world’s problem. Because what we see here now is a war that is pursued based on an imperial and also colonial understanding which is a clear break of the rules-based order as we know it. Territorial integrity, national sovereignty are really the cornerstones of our world system, he said. “ here’s a nuclear power, a permanent member of the security Council which totally ignored this and invaded another country. This is the World’s problem.” However, Dr Jaishankar “is right in the second part, because for too long Europe has ignored the World’s problems.”
Dr Mair, whose areas of interest and expertise include Foreign and security policy challenges of Germany and the EU; Geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics; Trade and foreign economic policy, also believes that the war in Ukraine could draw on for five years, but in the end, Russia would lose.
Watch the full interview to understand Dr Mair’s views on Europe’s problems with migration, why raising the defence budget for European states is critical, the growing resentment of the Global South against the current international system, and why Germany, despite various concerns, still needs China.
