Book review Geopolitical Upheaval in Eastern Europe, Stefan Korte.

In a world seven years on from Brexit, NATO now confronted with a hot war in Europe and a global English-speaking media adding only confusion with endless, repetitive endorsement for The Current Thing, Stefan Korte’s book is nothing if not timely. The book’s cover art sharply leaps out to the reader by boldly declaring itself to present a German view of European geopolitics, the words themselves ensconced in the national tricolour, will be of especial interest to an otherwise vanilla English audience. With his career background in German politics, having served five years in the Bundestag party administration, Korte’s work represents a personal milestone in having repurposed his insights as a 227-page primer designed to be accessible to the average reader. I was further gladdened to learn from reading the preface that this edition promises itself to be but the first of many, with an evolutionary development implied to the subjects it treats and with future editions forthcoming.
 
The table of contents examine every hot-button issue, from Europe’s troubled twentieth century, to the USA’s malign influence upon an occupied continent, and a 21^stC post-Cold War Russia dangerously negotiating new relationships with European neighbours. It is here where Korte most ably illustrates the absurdities of our necrotic overlords. Showcasing Hillary Clinton’s nonchalant response towards Muammar Gaddafi’s death, through to the virtual celebration of certain state officials towards the sabotage of Nord Stream which ended the export of Russian gas and singlehandedly crippled Germany’s economy.

Having a background in History, I took particular interest whether the author would elaborate upon the legacy and potential resolution of Germany’s “Lost Lands”, particularly as this relates to the Baltic. Poland is notable in its desire to rename (and presumably seek to annex as its own national territory) the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, Królewiec. These elements were broached but this reviewer eagerly awaits future editions for the full scope of this uniquely German theme to be treated. The much-quoted purpose of NATO given by its first Secretary General, Hastings Ismay being “to keep the Americans in, the Russians out and the Germans down” no longer registers. For in 2023 for the first time Germany pledged 2% GDP towards the defensive alliance and whose Leopard tanks Ukraine now desperately demands. The author’s exploration of the Neocons Project for a New American Century and the forever wars such policy-planners produced c.2001-21 in the form of liberal interventionism for the furtherance of American state power is sound. His polemical Pax Americana as the fabled Hegelian End of History poses food for thought, not merely for documenting changes in American policy towards emergent China and Russia – but most profoundly, determining the proper relationship(s) the Old World should have with the New.

In summation this work provides the reader with an in-depth treatment of all the issues a member of parliament, be it the Bundestag or an MEP engages on a daily basis. The difference being of course that Korte is clear, sober and resolute with his analysis, never erring that it is a Europe of Nations which he stands for and wishes to preserve now and into the future. Please purchase this book and discover for yourself its cerebral contents.

By Andros Mirach, BA, MA in Modern History and a future PhD in Western Esotericism. Long time attendee of the Traditional Britain Group