In this video, the host examines Germany’s recent decision to approve arms exports to Saudi Arabia despite a domestic energy crunch and public opposition. He outlines the background: Germany halted sales in 2018 over Saudi involvement in the Yemen war and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, yet under Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Chancellor Olaf Scholz the country has now signed deals worth roughly €236 million for Eurofighter and Tornado equipment. The host links the move to Germany’s urgent need for oil and gas after Russian supplies were cut, noting Scholz’s recent Gulf tour to secure energy. He cites reports from Der Spiegel, the European Union Institute for Security Studies, and SIPRI that show a broader rise in EU arms exports to the Middle East and North Africa, and discusses Saudi Arabia’s motivations for amassing weapons. The analysis also critiques Scholz’s $306 billion energy‑price shield plan, arguing that Germany’s reliance on Russian energy and its borrowing could trigger economic collapse, and questions whether the crisis is unavoidable. The video ends with a call for viewer comments on the prospect of Germany’s economic collapse due to energy shortages.
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Hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. Today's topic is about Germany's decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. So some of you might be asking the question, what does it all have to do with me? Hey, others might be asking, how on earth Germany can is selling weapons to Saudi Arabia while its citizens are struggling to pay energy bills. So before I delve deeper into this topic, uh, don't forget to subscribe and hit the like and notification buttons so you will be notified every time I upload a new video. So how ironic is for German government to approve new arms sales to Saudi Arabia, more than 3 years after it halted all the weapon sales to the Arab kingdom, that is, due to Saudi Arabia's ongoing war in Yemen and its role in the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. So I'm going to provide you an analysis as to what it all means and place it within the context of the energy crisis in Germany and Europe for that matter. So the German government, you know, went ahead actually, despite all this, the German government went ahead with the approval of the sale. So, so here is the background. For this topic here. So recently, which just happened a few days ago, I had to check on the certain information to make sure is accurate. So recently, Robert Habeck, he is the German economy minister and vice chancellor, confirmed in a letter to the Bundestag, which is the German parliament, that Germany has cut a deal, several deals, as a matter of fact, on arm exports to Saudi Arabia. And Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sort of been aware of this before his trip to the Persian Gulf, which took place about a week and a half ago, where he went to seek energy. It almost reminds me of President Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia last summer in, or in July or August, actually in July, to ask the Saudis to increase oil production. And this proves now the energy crunch Germany is under. So here is the thing for Germany approving this kind of sale of weapons. So the export licenses are part of a joint program actually with Italy, Spain, and Britain. So all those 3 countries in addition to Germany are selling weapons to Saudi Arabia despite what's going on. And I'm going to share with you as to what's going on. Well, there is now reports emerging After Olaf Scholz, who is the current chancellor of Germany, returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, because he went there to ask for, and I'm gonna use the term to beg for energy with the oil and gas-rich Persian Gulf states. And this was reported by Der Spiegel, magazine, which is usually, it's accurate in its reporting. I've been reading some of their publications way back. And Der Spiegel reported that Saudi Arabia will be able to purchase equipment and ammunition for the Eurofighter and the Tornado jets that is worth about €236 million. The equivalency of about $35 million. But here's the interesting thing, and this is something I knew about it a couple of years ago. German Chancellor, the former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, back then she agreed in March 2018, if I recall, she agreed to prevent arms sales from being delivered to any country directly involved in the devastating war on Yemen, because it is. We don't hear much about it. I've been in Yemen, I saw with my own eyes, it's a poor country, and we don't hear much about this one. So this is why I wanted to come on the air and share with you, uh, this brief analysis about what it all means despite the energy crisis in Germany. So here's my analysis for you. So here's the thing, The way it stands as of today is that this year, as Germany came under pressure to provide Ukraine with weapons during Russia's military operations in the country, of course, Germany ended up being sort of having shortage in gas. Saudis, on the other hand, have launched a devastating war in Yemen since 2015. In collaboration with some other Arab allies, and of course with the arms and logistic support from the United States and United Kingdom. And the objective of this war was to reinstall the Saudi-friendly regime of Hadi al-Abd al-Rabbuh, who basically couldn't make it because the movement in Yemen led by the Houthis took over the country. So while the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet the objectives, the war has killed, the war in Yemen, that is, has killed thousands and thousands of Yemenis and rendered about 5 to 6 million children on the verge of starvation. Usually we don't hear much about this one. Because this war has spawned the world's worst humanitarian crisis. So even right groups have criticized the Saudi-led coalition for air raids that have killed thousands of civilians at hospitals, in schools, and markets, and have urged Western governments to hold arms sales or exports to Saudi Arabia and its allies. But those calls have fallen on deaf ears, you know, because here's the thing, the arms exports from the European Union countries to both Middle East and North Africa, you know, have significantly increased over the last decade or so. And this one was provided, this is an analysis that was provided also in support of what I'm talking about. It was provided by the European Union Institute for Security Studies, and I'm going to provide you a link to all this because their argument was the transfer of weapons and military equipment reached the highest volume for any, any 5-year period where they've been collecting data since the fall of of the Soviet Union. That tells you right there how much weapon has been sold. And this also has been confirmed by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which is a— it has a good reputation. I have used them in my publications as a reference because their reporting and analysis is as accurate as it can be. So here is now the conventional wisdom. That would suggest that most of the relevant questions we ought to ask are this: Why is Saudi Arabia amassing this massive stock of weapons? Is it for prestige because Saudi Arabia has surplus money and no other priorities? Is it a bulwark against Israel? Or is it something fun for the prince's lavish lifestyle due to boredom? Or get this, could it be a nice pickup or pick-me-up for a defense industry that is about to take a hit as China and Russia sales of weapons are growing tremendously? I give you an example. Turkey and Iran's recent purchase of Russia's advanced defense missile systems, the S-300 and the S-400 respectively, are a case in point. So all this doesn't happen in a vacuum. And like I always say, you know, anytime, at least the topics that I'm going to be sharing with you, or anything you may suggest as well, is you always have to put that within the global context. Because it will make perfect sense to you. So in this case, Germany's selling weapons while at the same time its citizens are struggling with the high inflation, with the shortages in the energy. No. And could it be that the Germans are begging? This is why Olaf Scholz wants to Middle East. Basically, he went over there to beg for energy. Oil and gas. So here's my conclusion to you. It is the energy shortage in Germany that is pushing the country to sell more weapons as a favor in return for energy. A defiant Chancellor Olaf Scholz will this week, as a matter of fact, forge ahead with a $306 billion plan that he was talking about to shield German residents and companies from high energy prices despite a force backlash from European Union partners. You know who basically, these European partners accused him of destroying the bloc internal market, basically destroying the EU. And I remember I talked about this topic couple times ago, uh, uh, in, in, on the other platform, that the, uh, the demise of the European Union economy, it just matter of time, it will happen. So Germany reliant on Russian gas for energy, which have been argued the survival of Germany's economy depend greatly on Russian oil. Why? Because proximity and also cheap, the cost. And as a matter of fact, not just Germany, but a whole Europe, so, because they depend so much on it. So now Germany has been hit hard by Russia's decision to hold gas, of course, in retaliation for Western sanctions over Russia's military actions in Ukraine. So Mr. Scholz, has defended his plan, which by the way, I do find him not qualified for that position. But again, this is just my personal opinion. Because mainly new government borrowing of Germany of $200 billion, which is the equivalency of €300 billion, you know, to protect the German economy from soaring energy bills as fair and proportionate. But it's the German citizen who's going to end up paying for the bill, because what this going to do to the borrowing, what this going to do to inflation, is no different than what we have here in the United States. That's the exact thing. We are printing so much money here, but we are creating problems. So, and I will address that at some point. So, so here's today's question for you. Is the collapse of Germany's economy due to lack of energy unavoidable? I repeat, is the collapse of Germany's economy due to lack of energy unavoidable? Let me know what you think and leave me some comments. And as always, remember, geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, bye-bye.
