Rethinking Defence. Rethinking Germany.

Defence is fundamental to Germany's sea change in its foreign and security policy because Germany has been so fundamentally deficient in this area. This was a key point that the country's leaders conceded in February last year after Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. Having long underinvested in – and undervalued - its military, the country had been left unable to truly defend itself or play its full, proper role in NATO.  

Having courted accusations of cheap-riding and taking (at best) a naïve approach to geopolitics, Chancellor Scholz’s Zeitenwende speech raised expectations that Germany was finally ready and willing to equip itself to deal with emerging challenges. This is why defence is such a key barometer of the Zeitenwende – but how has that panned out in practice?

We discuss this with our expert guests who highlight the difficulties that Germany has had in grappling with this issue, including because of partial readings of its own history and questionable analyses of its present situation and future options. They discuss why this matters for the country and its partners, but also how it has complicated Germany’s relations with key allies, including the US.