FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

The German-Russian Relationship: It’s Complicated

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

The German-Russian Relationship: It’s Complicated

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

The German-Russian Relationship: It’s Complicated

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

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Tue, May 6, 2025 • 10:00 am ET

What to expect from Germany’s next government

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Debriefing Germany’s federal elections

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Content

UkraineAlert

Sep 6, 2016

The German-Russian Relationship: It’s Complicated

By Andreas Umland

There’s a growing perception in Germany that the Minsk ceasefire agreements may never be implemented and the conflict in Ukraine will continue to grind on. To examine the origins and nature of the conflict as well as its possible solution and the role Bavaria may play in these affairs, the German-Ukrainian NGO Kyiv Dialogue held […]

Germany Russia
Foreign Ministers Jean‑Marc Ayrault, Frank‑Walter Steinmeier, & Witold Waszczykowski, August 28, 2016

NATOSource

Aug 30, 2016

France, Germany, and Poland Call for a European Security Council

By Germany's Federal Office

We want to strengthen the European Union and the foundations of European integration by proving its ability to act….

European Union France
Russia's "little green men" at military base in Crimea, March 9, 2014

NATOSource

Aug 29, 2016

A Powerful Russian Weapon: The Spread of False Stories

By Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times

In Crimea, eastern Ukraine and now Syria, Mr. Putin has flaunted a modernized and more muscular military.

Central Europe Germany
NATO missile defense facility in Deveselu, Romania

NATOSource

Aug 22, 2016

NATO Takes Command of Missile Defense Facility in Romania

By Allied Air Command, NATO

Today a new milestone in the development of NATO Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) has been reached.

Central Europe Germany

Defense Industrialist

Aug 19, 2016

The mutually assured destruction of the Airbus-Boeing rivalry

By James Hasik

The ongoing sagas of the KC-46 and A400M are a reminder of how military-industrial hubris is bad for both business and government. On Breaking Defense this morning, Colin Clark notes that Boeing has just won “$2.8 billion for KC-46 tanker low rate production.” That’s good news. As multiple reporters have written this year, the company has […]

Defense Industry Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Aug 11, 2016

Why Nord Stream II is Not Only Eastern Europe’s Problem

By Sijbren de Jong

In November of 2015 the Council of State in the Netherlands decided that natural gas production in the province of Groningen should be capped at 27 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year. As the region suffers from earthquakes due to natural gas production, the level of such is a delicate topic for the Dutch political […]

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance
Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL15), (photo: Office of Congressman John Shimkus)

NATOSource

Aug 5, 2016

US Congressman: ‘I would die for Tallinn’

By John Shimkus

Many Americans served in Europe during the Cold War. I was one of them, serving on the border of the former Czechoslovakia from 1981 through 1984.

Germany NATO

Defense Industrialist

Aug 3, 2016

A Franco-Polish-German tank

By James Hasik

The Polish Defense Minister’s interest in a trilateral development program is sound in many dimensions. For Defense News today, Aaron Mehta, Pierre Tran and Jaroslaw Adamowski report how the Polish Army is edging closer to getting new tanks. During an interview back on July 22, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz told the reporters that his […]

Defense Industry Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Jul 29, 2016

NATO’s Trump Card

By Fabrice Pothier

As strange as it seems, both US President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump seem to agree on one thing: European allies don’t spend enough on defense and they need to seriously step up. How they both frame this message is where Obama the statesman and Trump the salesman differ. Since Russia’s annexation […]

Elections European Union

New Atlanticist

Jul 27, 2016

Europe’s (In)security Challenge

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Cooperation among European law enforcement agencies is a ‘big challenge,’ says Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell A spate of terrorist attacks across Europe over the past nineteen months has shaken confidence in European security, but has had divergent impacts on the popularity of the leaders of France and Germany, according to the Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell. […]

France Germany
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Michael John Williams

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Nicholas Yap

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