When Xi Jinping speaks, the Russian dictator must listen.Image: keystone
Review
Ulrike Herrmann’s new non-fiction book doesn’t say anything good about Vladimir Putin. The business journalist explains in an understandable way how Russia is heading towards the abyss – and China along with it.
March 22, 2026, 12:34 p.mMarch 22, 2026, 12:34 p.m
“Every weapon costs money.
That makes money the weapon of all weapons.”
Ulrike Herrmann
After her bestseller “The End of Capitalism,” the German business journalist Ulrike Herrmann returns with a provocative title.
So much in advance: your new non-fiction book “Money as a weapon – How the economy decides between war and peace” – does what it promises. The author not only provides plausible explanations of Putin’s war in Ukraine and the economic mechanisms behind it. It also makes the crucial connection to China. Another unjust state that is on the brink of collapse.
Watson addresses some of their theses.
Why is the book worth it?
The author Ulrike Herrmann represents clearly well-founded theses and is also known from television appearances.Image: imago-images.de
Before we get to the topic, which is also important from a Swiss perspective and even vital to survival, a brief note on the author’s strengths.
Ulrike Herrmann knows how to transform complex facts and sober figures into an exciting narrative like no other business journalist. She formulates her theses clearly and without embellishments.
And these fact-based theses have it all.
“This war will ultimately ruin Putin’s empire.”
Ulrike Herrmann
Why is Russia all about war?
As is well known, after the failed “quick” attack on Ukraine in 2022, Russia gradually switched to a war economy.
With serious consequences, as the business journalist Herrmann writes in her new book.
Vladimir Putin can no longer do anything else – and his successor will also be confronted with the same economic constraints. Because: An end to the war would not bring a return to the old days, argues Ulrike Herrmann. Rather, there is a threat of a massive economic crisis and ultimately chaos.
Their reasoning: The normal Russian economy is already badly hit. And if the ramped-up arms industry has to shrink, mass unemployment and unrest can be expected.
Peace would be risky for Putin. Millions of unemployed workers and ex-soldiers would create an explosive mix – especially in the big cities.
Large armies that are not on a campaign of conquest – they are called standing armies – are expensive and can hardly be financed in peacetime.
And so Putin is also in a quandary with his unsuccessful war of aggression against Ukraine:
“As soon as the war ends, he would be confronted with the tricky question of what the ex-soldiers should actually do in peace. So he lets the fight continue.”
Herrmann recalls Napoleon and Saddam Hussein as chilling historical examples. These rulers deliberately prolonged their wars “to avoid the hardships of peace.”
It cannot be ruled out that Putin will agree to a ceasefire from time to time. But it will only be temporary – until the next attack.
In fact, Russia has never managed to build an economy competitive with the West in the past. And now the situation has become even worse with Putin’s war of aggression.
“It is only in peace that it becomes clear how expensive a war was.”
Will the Putin problem solve itself?
No. Herrmann destroys the hope that the democratic West can simply wait and let Russia bleed economically.
«Putin’s wars will make Russia poorer. But that is no consolation for Europe. Because the poorer Russia becomes, the more aggressive the Kremlin will be in order to maintain its own power.
And: The reservoir of men and women fit for war is far from exhausted.
“So far, Putin has mainly sent minorities, prisoners, mercenaries and North Koreans to war and spared the ethnic Russians in the cities so as not to provoke resistance.”
In addition, the Russian dictator is not isolated. Rather, China is helping massively. And its ruler Xi Jinping could also be tempted to start a war to distract from economic problems.
Is there a threat of World War III because of China?
Leader Xi Jinping is trapped, explains Herrmann. Despite its reputation as a world export champion, China is in a massive economic crisis.
Since the rise of the Communist Party is based on “the promise of increasing prosperity,” economic stagnation threatens power.
The book cover.Image: zvg
To distract the dissatisfied population from home-made problems, Xi Jinping could choose the same path as Vladimir Putin. Or as Donald Trump is now doing, it should be noted.
From Beijing’s perspective, the military annexation of Taiwan is an attractive goal to enforce internal cohesion through nationalism.
Herrmann warns that such a conflict would not remain localized but could lead to a third world war. Such a world war does not mean that there will be fighting everywhere. There is a risk of a merger of the trouble spots in Asia and Eastern Europe, which were previously considered separately.
As soon as China attacks Taiwan, global supply chains would also be affected. And the alliance commitment to Taiwan makes the USA a warring party.
The world would then split into two blocs that are almost completely economically decoupled. And in such a scenario, only one “product” would be produced in the autocratic states: war.
Herrmann draws interesting historical parallels. During the predominantly peaceful period after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Europe’s politicians believed that they had secured peace through cheap Russian natural gas and intensive trade with China.
The same phenomenon had been observed many years earlier. Before 1914, the world was more globalized than ever before. And politicians believed that a major war was impossible because it would mean economic ruin for everyone involved.
How can Europe protect itself effectively?
The 62-year-old business journalist Herrmann can be classified on the left of the political spectrum. But in her new book she also takes a position that may shock readers: She advocates a European nuclear deterrent.
Herrmann describes atomic bombs as “political weapons” whose only meaningful purpose is not to be used. And yet they are needed. Because economic strength alone is not enough when you are dealing with a nuclear power like Russia.
Of course no one wants that, but it is a dangerous fact that nuclear weapons are already available in large numbers and are aimed at Europe.
And now, because of the unreliability of the USA as a military protecting power, there is a risk of a scenario in which Europe is “maximally vulnerable to blackmail” by Russia.
Herrmann’s tough economic calculation: As far as she knows, deterrence is the only means of preventing a conventional war on European NATO territory in the current geopolitical climate – especially with regard to Putin.
The French nuclear weapons alone would not help, said Herrmann. Because these are subject solely to the decision of the French President. Germany and other EU states should therefore have to co-finance the nuclear infrastructure in order to create a real European deterrent potential.
It should be noted that Herrmann caused enormous journalistic excitement with this daring thesis even before the book was published. And she already had the idea in 2024 a comment for the German weekly newspaper “taz” formulated.
When it comes to political cohesion within the European Union, Herrmann is strikingly optimistic in the book. And this despite Russia-friendly EU members such as Hungary and Slovakia.
“Putin wanted to divide Europe, but he is likely to achieve the opposite and unite Europe.”
How will Ukraine fare?
In a recent interview with the “Tages-Anzeiger” Ulrike Herrmann predicted:
«Ukraine will free itself from its Soviet legacy – and boom. Of all things, the war showed the world how innovative the industry and IT companies in Ukraine are. They now produce many weapons themselves that the West could not or would not supply. The country will become a key exporter of IT services and technical products.”
Source: tages-anzeiger.ch
In the book, the business journalist also discusses how Putin used and continues to use “corruption as a weapon” not only in his homeland, but also in former Soviet states such as Ukraine.
The good news: Under President Volodymyr Zelensky, the fight against corruption has increased – also due to external pressure – and is having an impact.
And Switzerland?
Ulrike Herrmann’s book focuses on the three major military powers Russia, China and the USA as well as the European Union (EU).
She is skeptical about the Swiss model because neutrality is actually an illusion. You can stay out of it militarily, but economically you have long been part of the Western bloc.
Herrmann sees little scope for a special approach. Anyone who belongs to the West must also carry its “financial weapons” with them in an emergency. Or as she explains in the “Tages-Anzeiger” interview:
Money is, as I said, a weapon – and Switzerland is a central vault for this money. The EU will increasingly push to ensure that there are no gaps in the common strategy.”