Jörg Himmelreich
Dr. Jörg Himmelreich is a non-resident Senior Transatlantic Fellow of the German Marshall Fund. His special focus is on Russia, CIS, global energy security, South Caucasus, Central Asia, India and transatlantic relations Dr. Himmelreich comes to GMF from the German Foreign Office, where he served as a policy planner in 2004. In the year prior, Dr. Himmelreich worked with the DaimlerChrysler Board of Management, where he focused on political and economic relations in Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe and convened meetings of heads of state from these areas. He previously served as director of investment banking for media and communications for the London office of European commercial bank WestLB, having established and directed the bank's Moscow subsidiary from 1996 to 2000. Dr. Himmelreich has also held appointments as head of privatization of the construction industry at the Federal German Trust Agency, as a junior professor at the Institute for Public Law at the Free University of Berlin. News Articles
India’s Hunger for EnergyOctober 23, 2010Unfortunately, the Russian Georgia war confirmed that, beyond the constitution and even as prime minister, Putin is still the political leader in Russia and will be so for some time. The war indicated more parallels to the expanding Russian empire of the 19th century than of the USSR after the Second World War when the Soviet Union's main interest in Europe was to consolidate the frontiers. Today's revisionistic Russia in contrast to the the static Soviet Union pursuits to newly revise its frontiers in the European Post Sovitic space. This is driven by an increasing Russian Neonationalism. Europe, in particular, is required to readjust its Russia policy to formulate a robust economic response.
Naive MiscalculationsAugust 15, 2008The Russian military overreaction to Georgian occupation of Tskhinvali will change the German and European relationship with Russia. Europe's helplessness and America's inability to pose a military presence in the Caucasus represents a new geopolitical order in which Russia has yet again established the power to redraw the contours of Europe, going far beyond just its energy distribution power. Russia's agression offers an opportunity for Germany to develop a new Russia policy. Instead of Germany's special relationship with Russia, it seems as though closer cooperation with East European EU members and America could have greater success.
Europa muss aufwachenAugust 13, 2008Senior Transatlantic Fellow Joerg Himmelreich discusses the ongoing conflict between Georgia and Russia over breakaway provinces South Ossetia and Abkhazia. This article was written in German.
The rapid escalation of the conflict in South Ossetia shows just how much the crisis suits all parties involved. Georgia wants to integrate itself into the West, and Russia wants to prevent just that. The welfare of the South Ossetians plays no role whatsoever.
Merkel’s Ukraine Visit Signals Crucial ShiftJuly 21, 2008Angela Merkel's arrival in Kyiv marks the first visit to Ukraine by a German chancellor since the 2005 Orange Revolution brought a reformed, pro-Europe government to power. Her predecessor never found his way to Kyiv because he was worried by the grievances from Moscow that such a trip would have provoked. Merkel, though, gives less weight to Russia's concerns, even though they are expressed much more bluntly these days.Merkel in der Moskau-Falle (“Merkel in the Russia trap”)June 05, 2008The cordial meeting between Merkel and the new Russian President Medvedev on his first trip to the West might indicate a change of style of Russia's foreign policy, but not its essence. The slalom course of Merkel and Steinmeier bears the risk for Germany to become isolated in Europe in its Russia and "Ostpolitik," Jörg Himmelreich warns. This article is written in German.
Foreign Fathers: The Idea of the Marshall Plan is still in EffectJuly 08, 2007The Marshall Plan was introduced sixty years ago. On June 5th, 1947, then American Foreign Minister General George Catlett Marshall announced in a speech at Harvard University the plan for an American help program for the reconstruction of the destroyed European economy, a program which from then on would bear his name. This article is available in English and original German.
In Favour of a Selective PartnershipJuly 01, 2007Germany plays a specific role for Russia and vice versa. It is apparently no coincidence that the German chancellor and the Russian President communicate in Russian and German - after all German-Russian relations have always been complex and changeable. Mutual fear and admiration, phobic defensiveness and empathetic fondness have characterized the situation on both sides - not merely in recent times, but always.
No Wishful Thinking helps against Putin’s Power PoliticsMay 19, 2007The EU-Russia summit in Samara came to an end without any tangible results and indicates a low point in Russian-European relations. There is and will not be a new Cold War, but the peace is becoming cooler.Putin shatters the European illusionMay 18, 2007The EU-Russia Summit in Samara came to and end without tangible results. It indicates a continuing low point in Russian-European relations, which are steadily getting worse. Moscow has found itself wrapped up in its present energy power, the primary campaign of the elections in the Duma in December, and the presidential election next March. Russia is once again a presence on the world's stage and wants everyone to know. This article is available in its original German.
The EU-Commission's "Strategic Energy Report" contains many feasible suggestions for improving competition conditions within the European energy market, promoting environmental protection, as well as developing renewable energy. These objectives provide, without a doubt, indispensable elements of a common European energy policy considered essential in order to protect the survival of the human race on our planet.
The Weimar Triangle – Improvements in the German-Polish RelationshipDecember 07, 2006The meeting of President Chirac, Chancellor Merkel and President Kaczynski in western Germany was a success particularly for the German-Polish relationship. This article, written in German and translated to English here, appeared in the Polish Dzennik.Germany’s Russia Policy Following the Murder of Anna PolitkovskayaOctober 16, 2006President Putin's recent visit to Germany was overshadowed by the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya of just a few days before. In the subsequent press conference, after only a few opening remarks, Chancellor Merkel demanded an explanation for the killing. Putin's cynical assertion that the murderous act damaged Russia more than the supposedly unimportant work of the journalist horrified the German media. At state visits in Dresden and Munich, German protesters waved banners depicting President Putin as a murderer.
India is more than BollywoodSeptember 29, 2006The Indian elephant is rising - slowly, but determined. In the public sphere and the foreign political arena, India is still in the shadow of China. At the same time, there is no doubt that in the newly emerging global order at the beginning of the 21st century India is becoming a new actor with crucial global significance.A Question of Destiny in the 21st CenturyJuly 14, 2006The main topic of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg will be the question of energy security. How can the peaceful worldwide distribution of nonrenewable energy resources, such as oil and natural gas, be secured? The answer to this question will decisively shape the global order of the 21st century. (In original German and English translation)Looking for a Stability Pact for the Southern CaucususFebruary 09, 2006Germany is heavily engaged in Georgia. At the same time, Germany does not have a comprehensive foreign policy in the Southern Caucasus.Becoming sober again; To Romanticize or Destruct: Germany has yet to find a realistic relationship with RussiaJanuary 15, 2006During centuries of a shared past with a large variety of ties, Germans have sometimes had romanticized notions of Russia as a mythical place spared from modernity’s troubles. Instead of this misplaced German sentimentality, Germany should act upon sobriety, common sense, and rationality when dealing with Russia.Energy by all meansDecember 28, 2005Gerhard Schröder takes a job on Gazprom's Baltic pipeline — this news raises an ethics question for retired politicians. It also raises another, more important, question: does this pipeline really serve Germany’s geopolitical interests?
External Views: Stabilizing Instead of Isolating ArmeniaMay 03, 2005Publications
Focus on Ukraine: Energy Security for Ukraine and EuropeJanuary 11, 2010Reforming Ukraine's energy sector is vital for the future of Ukraine's economy and security. Ukraine's economic recovery depends on reforming the energy sector, which has suffered severe politicization since the 1990s leading to non-transparent business operations and mega-corruption. European concerns about secure gas supplies from Russia, via Ukraine, have become the overarching policy matter on the current EU-Ukraine agenda. To strengthen Ukraine's energy sector, the new Ukrainian president should start abandoning domestic subsidies for oil and gas prices and let the price reach global market levels.
European Gas Policy in TroubleFebruary 26, 2009The Ukranian-Russian gas stand-off caused a two-week interruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe that left countries like Greece, Bulgaria, and Slovakia in the cold during a strong winter and revealed again how vulnerable the European Union is in its gas supplies from Russia. Jörg Himmelreich suggests four hard decisions that must be made by the EU. Europe needs to address the varying dependencies on Russian gas within member states, the lack of interconnectivity within the market, discuss the need for a European common external energy policy, and establish of a European energy agency.
The EU is in urgent need of a foreign energy policyNovember 11, 2008The EU is in urgent need of a Foreign Energy Policy. Without closer coordination within the EU, Moscow has more pull. Most of the European nations are dependent on energy from Russia. Nonetheless, they do not coordinate their foreign energy policy, from which Russia profits. In the EU the individual member states had to transfer national energy competences to the EU, in order to pursuit a common approach toward Moscow.
