UN General Assembly
2021

What lessons can we learn and what tasks do we feel able to perform having had to acknowledge that we wanted too much? I am convinced that resignation would be the wrong lesson to draw. To my mind, this moment of geopolitical disenchantment contains three messages for our foreign policy: we need to become more honest, smarter and stronger. First, we need to be honest with regard to both our options and our limits. We need to be more realistic in defining and prioritizing our aims and interests. We can often achieve more when we want less. Secondly, we need to be smarter in choosing our instruments and setting our priorities. German and European foreign policy must not restrict itself to being right and condemning others. We need to extend our diplomatic, military, civilian, humanitarian toolboxes. For me, being smart also means less a sense of mission and more openness in our endeavour to find potential solutions and common ground, including with those who are different from us.