German foreign policy leadership

Macron’s Charlemagne challenge to Berlin

Emmanuel Macron both lay down a gauntlet and held out a hand to Angela Merkel in Aachen. But the chancellor seized neither.

Germany’s defence commitments: nothing but paper tigers?

Scepticism about Germany’s willingness to confront a revisionist Russia in 2014 has vanished. But there is new disappointment that the German diplomatic leadership has no military equivalent.

A New Beginning for European Defence

It is time to move past institutional integration and develop practical European security capabilities

From Iran to North Korea, German policymakers are at a loss

Postwar German foreign policy is based on cooperation, rules and trust, not power, interest and threat. But with crises from Iran to North Korea likely to be play out the old-fashioned way, that approach looks naive.

The liberation of Europe

The remaining 27 EU members have turned the page after Brexit much faster than the UK itself

Germany and the UK: Hints of a role reversal

The EU debate in Berlin has moved on to one that is more instrumental, aiming to work out what the Union can contribute to protect and empower Europe’s citizens to continue their lives in freedom, security, and prosperity.