Bob Hickok examines how the AfD’s rise is becoming part of the wider multipolar revolt against the Atlanticist political order.
The AfD’s latest gains have pushed it deeper into the center of Germany’s political debate, with strong results in the East, rising national support, renewed clashes over immigration, energy, Russia, and the limits of the country’s political “firewall.” From a multipolar perspective, the AfD’s rise is significant because it challenges the post-Cold War consensus on Germany’s alignment with Washington, Brussels, and the Atlanticist system, and raises the question of whether Berlin could pursue a more independent role between competing global power centers.
