It is not often that a globally respected economist and adviser to governments, the UN, and world leaders raises his voice in a way that cuts straight through the noise of press releases, diplomatic phrasing, and political correctness. But when Jeffrey Sachs recently spoke about Europe’s political leadership, that is exactly what happened.
He said out loud what many only whisper.
That Europe today is being led by people who lack the intellectual weight and historical understanding carried by earlier generations of statesmen.
And that the continent — through this vacuum of strategic thinking — is moving toward a future marked by instability, energy poverty, dangerous security policies, and an increasing risk of major war.
This was not a polemical tweet.
It was not a populist pamphlet.
It was a sober conclusion from someone who has seen the world from the inside for fifty years.
From Statesmen to Administrators
When Sachs compares today’s leaders with figures such as Helmut Schmidt, Helmut Kohl, and François Mitterrand, it is not nostalgia. It is not romantic longing for “the good old days.” It is a reminder of what political leadership once meant.
Schmidt — economist, strategist, soldier, thinker.
Kohl — the architect of German reunification.
Mitterrand — perhaps cynical, but deeply educated and geopolitically grounded.
They were not saints.
But they understood the consequences of power.
They understood history.
They understood the price of war.
Today’s Europe, Sachs argues, is instead led by a new type of ruler:
not statesmen — but system administrators.
not strategists — but managers of ideology.
not leaders — but messengers.
Ursula von der Leyen.
Kaja Kallas.
Friedrich Merz.
Emmanuel Macron.
All technically competent.
All articulate.
All fluent in the language of institutions.
But — Sachs asks — where is the strategic depth?
Where is the courage to say: “We must talk to our enemies.”
Where is the ability to think beyond the next press conference?
Diplomacy — the Forgotten Art
One of Sachs’ most striking questions is also the simplest:
If you are afraid of your neighbor — why don’t you pick up the phone and talk?
It sounds almost naïve.
But in international politics, it is the core of everything.
Over the past years, Europe has chosen a path where diplomacy has been replaced by moral declarations. Where dialogue is suspected of being “appeasement.” Where every attempt at negotiation is treated as weakness.
Instead, Europe has chosen:
• Sanctions over diplomacy
• Escalation over de-escalation
• Ideology over stability
The result?
A Europe that has cut off its most important energy lifelines.
That has isolated itself from large parts of the global economy.
That has voluntarily made itself more vulnerable — militarily, industrially, and socially.
And at the same time, leaders speak loudly about “European values,” without asking whether values survive without stability.
Cutting Ties with the World
Sachs points to something even larger than the relationship with Russia.
He sees a Europe that is rapidly cutting ties with the world.
Russia — cut off.
China — cut off.
India — drifting away.
Three of the most decisive centers of power in the world — economically, demographically, and strategically — are now treated as if they were peripheral. As if Europe were still the center of the planet.
But we are not.
The multipolar world is already here.
Yet Europe behaves as if it were still 1992.
The consequence is that the continent risks becoming:
• Energetically poorer
• Industrially weaker
• Geopolitically marginalized
Not because of external coercion — but because of its own decisions.
This is what Sachs calls self-destruction.
The Last Bastions of Realism?
In his analysis, Sachs highlights a few countries that still, in his view, display a degree of realism: Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.
This does not mean their policies are flawless.
Nor that they are morally superior.
But they dare to ask questions that the rest of Europe seems afraid to face:
• What does this actually do for our people?
• Does this make us safer — or just more ideologically pure?
• Is the goal stability or symbolism?
That these voices are now often branded as problematic says more about Europe’s condition than about these countries.
When realists are called extremists, the center has already shifted.
From Post-War Wisdom to Contemporary Hubris
Europe was reborn after World War II from a simple insight:
great-power war on the continent must never become normal again.
That is why everything was built around cooperation, trade, dialogue, and mutual dependence.
Not out of idealism — but out of experience.
The people who created the European project had seen the ruins.
They had seen cities burn.
They had seen children grow up without fathers.
Today’s leadership has seen PowerPoint presentations.
It is a harsh formulation — but a telling one.
When war becomes an abstraction.
When conflict becomes rhetoric.
When sanctions become spreadsheet figures.
Then decisions lose their human weight.
And escalation can be discussed as if it were a market strategy.
The Europe of Bureaucrats
Sachs argues that Europe is no longer led by visionaries, but by bureaucrats, ideologues, and slogan-repeaters.
Harsh words — but difficult to dismiss entirely.
Today’s political language is often:
• Predictable
• Cautious
• Full of the right words — but empty of real decisions
Everyone speaks about values.
Few speak about consequences.
Everyone speaks about “standing firm.”
Few speak about standing when the wind turns.
Everyone speaks about leadership.
But leadership without risk is only administration.
The Price Will Be Paid
Sachs warns that the cost of this course will not be theoretical.
It will not be paid in editorials or seminars.
It will be paid in:
• Energy poverty
• Social unrest
• Lost jobs
• Increased military risk
• And in the worst case — blood
History is full of societies that did not fall because they were evil — but because they were complacent. Too certain of their moral compass. Too unwilling to rethink their direction.
Rome.
Spain.
The Ottoman Empire.
The Soviet Union.
They did not fall because they lacked power — but because they stopped understanding the world around them.
What Is Strength, Really?
Europe often speaks about strength.
But what is strength in geopolitics?
Is it raising your voice?
Or knowing when to lower it?
Is it isolating yourself?
Or negotiating?
Is it being uncompromising?
Or knowing when compromise saves lives?
Jeffrey Sachs reminds us of something fundamental:
real strength does not lie in closing doors — but in keeping them open without losing your soul.
A Crossroads for Europe
Europe is not only facing a military moment.
It is facing a civilizational crossroads.
Do we want to be:
• A continent that preaches morality — but loses influence?
• Or a continent that combines values with realism?
Do we want:
• Leaders who speak like consultants?
• Or statesmen who dare to carry the consequences of their decisions?
Sachs does not say Europe should abandon its values.
He says values without strategy become dangerous.
And perhaps that is why his words are so uncomfortable.
They demand not only new decisions —
but a new way of thinking.
The End of the Illusion
“This is what decline looks like,” Sachs says.
Not first in poverty.
Not immediately in war.
But in the loss of intellectual weight.
When leadership is reduced to message management.
When politics becomes moral theater.
When security policy becomes hashtags.
Then decline has already begun — even if the façade still shines.
Europe was once built by people who knew how fragile civilization is.
Now it is led by people who seem to believe it is guaranteed.
History shows that this is exactly when it is lost.
By Chris...