Elisabeth Winter

Program director Global Markets and Social Justice at Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Sschmidt-Stiftung (BKHS)

Elisabeth’s work centers on the politics of international trade. In her role as programme director “Global Markets and Social Justice” at Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung (BKHS) she researches possibilities for a more equitable global trade governance focusing on transatlantic trade cooperation and its social consequences at national and international levels. Elisabeth graduated recently with a PhD thesis on US geoeconomics from Freie Universität where she teaches international trade and US foreign trade policy. As a project fellow, Elisabeth is interested in connecting transatlantic trade initiatives with the needs of industrial heartlands on both sides of the Atlantic. Acknowledging that global rules on trade affect all of us, she aims to identify concrete measures to do so through a human-centered approach.

Renewal amidst Turmoil: Industrial Heartlands between Rearmament, Recarbonisationand Realignment

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This paper examines how these regions navigate three defining dynamics of 2026: rearmament driven by Europe’s military build-up, looming recarbonisation as fossil fuel dependencies are deepened, and political realignment marked by surging populist anti-establishment movements.
Friedrich Opitz, Nicholas Courtney, Elisabeth Winter, Vera Gohla, Whitney Terrill, Leon Tiedemann-Friedl

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