FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

Pence takes Germany to task over defense spending

New Atlanticist
May 6, 2025

Is Merz’s double-take chancellor vote a sign of things to come in Germany?

By
Jörn Fleck and Jurek Wille

It took two rounds of voting in the Bundestag to elect Friedrich Merz chancellor, a sign of division unprecedented in modern German history.

Defense Policy
Elections

Pence takes Germany to task over defense spending

New Atlanticist
Feb 19, 2025

Germany’s economy has gone from engine to anchor. Here’s what the next chancellor faces.

By
Piotr Arak

Revitalizing growth in Germany’s economy, which appears increasingly mired in stagnation, will demand urgent action from the next chancellor.

Economy & Business
Elections

Pence takes Germany to task over defense spending

New Atlanticist
Feb 4, 2025

The next German chancellor must lead from the front, not the middle, on European security

By
Rachel Rizzo, James Batchik

From support for Ukraine to defense spending, German leaders would be wise to take the phrase Führung aus der Mitte permanently out of their vocabulary.

Elections
Germany

Events

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Tue, May 6, 2025 • 10:00 am ET

What to expect from Germany’s next government

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European Union
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Tue, February 25, 2025 • 9:00 am ET

Debriefing Germany’s federal elections

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Content

New Atlanticist

Apr 3, 2019

Pence takes Germany to task over defense spending

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US vice president also warns Turkey against purchase of Russian missile defense system.

Germany NATO

Inflection Points

Mar 9, 2019

Dear Europe: Renaissance or unraveling?

By Frederick Kempe

Across Europe, Macron has been unable to personally integrate other pro-EU forces and sometimes appears aloof from what other Europeans think.

European Union France

SyriaSource

Feb 26, 2019

Syrian refugees’ struggle with temporary status in Germany

By Hosam al-Jablawi

Just a few months separated the arrival of Syrian refugees Ahmad al-’Awda and his friend Mahmud al-Agha to Germany. Both of them fled from the war in their country that started in 2011. Al-’Awda arrived in Germany in January 2016 and al-Agha arrived in May 2015. This short eight month difference separating their arrivals was enough to guarantee that al-’Awda would not be able to apply to bring his family, who are still in Syria, because he did not get permanent residency in Germany. Rather, due to a series of laws, the German authorities have been granting only temporary residence papers to Syrian refugees.

Germany Syria

Report

Feb 21, 2019

The Putin exodus: The new Russian brain drain

By John E. Herbst, Sergei Erofeev

Human capital is fleeing Russia. Since President Vladimir Putin’s ascent to the presidency, between 1.6 and 2 million Russians – out of a total population of 145 million – have left for Western democracies.

Corruption Germany

New Atlanticist

Feb 13, 2019

Can Germany stay the course on defense spending?

By Brooks Tigner

Germany has long been an underspender when it comes to meeting NATO’s defense budget guideline of 2 percent of GDP for each of its allies, but that is now changing.

Germany NATO

In the News

Feb 8, 2019

Binnendijk in Defense News: German F-35 Decision Sacrifices NATO Capability for Franco-German Industrial Cooperation

By Hans Binnendijk

Read the full article here

Germany NATO

UkraineAlert

Jan 25, 2019

Ukraine’s Slow but Steady Strangulation Is Taking Place in Plain Sight

By Peter Dickinson

Russia’s war against Ukraine is about to enter its sixth year, but many remain in denial over the true nature of the conflict. There is still widespread international reluctance to acknowledge the global significance of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, leading to a preference for the kind of euphemistic language that blurs the lines between victim and […]

Germany Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2019

The new treaty of Aachen: More than just a symbol?

By Nicholas Dungan

The treaty sends a signal that France and Germany are serious about the preservation of the European ideal, pooling of sovereignty, and the postwar international order.

France Germany
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, January 14, 2015

NATOSource

Jan 22, 2019

German Defense Minister: The World Still Needs NATO

By Ursula von der Leyen, New York Times

The alliance is not just about bases and troops. It is about defending the world order.

Germany NATO
President Donald Trump at the NATO Summit in Brussels, July 12, 2018.

NATOSource

Jan 9, 2019

President Trump: ‘I Want Europe to Pay’

By Donald Trump, White House

[Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan] is working so hard on the military. We have a — we were taken advantage of by so many countries on our military.

Afghanistan Germany
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Jacob Heilbrunn

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Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

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Jacopo Pastorelli

Program Assistant

Europe Center

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

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Rachel Rizzo

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center Transform Europe Initiative

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