The End of the German Miracle: The Traps of Energy Dependence

The article analyzes the collapse of the German economic model based on neo-mercantilism and cheap Russian gas. The author indicates that energy dependence was not merely a technical error, but a conscious systemic choice that created an illusion of stability and allowed for the postponement of necessary industrial modernization. The text exposes the naivety of Ostpolitik, which wrongly assumed that economic interdependence civilizes autocracies. Examples such as Nord Stream or the figure of Gerhard Schröder serve as evidence of prioritizing short-sighted commercial gains over strategic security. Consequently, Germany ignored warnings from Central and Eastern Europe, confusing trade rationality with political control, which led to a loss of systemic resilience in the face of Russian aggression.