FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

NATO Summit Special Series: United States

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

NATO Summit Special Series: United States

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

NATO Summit Special Series: United States

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

Online Event
Tue, May 6, 2025 • 10:00 am ET

What to expect from Germany’s next government

Elections
Europe & Eurasia
European Union
Germany

Online Event
Tue, February 25, 2025 • 9:00 am ET

Debriefing Germany’s federal elections

Elections
European Union
Germany
Politics & Diplomacy

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Content

A US B-52, two Polish F-16s, two German Eurofighters, four Swedish Gripens, and four US F-16s, June 14, 2016

NATOSource

Jul 2, 2016

NATO Summit Special Series: United States

By Kori Schake

If it feels like NATO is perpetually preparing for or having a summit meeting, that is true.

Germany NATO
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, June 18, 2015

NATOSource

Jun 30, 2016

NATO Summit Special Series: Germany

By Tobias Bunde

Although some critics maintain that Berlin could and should do more, Germany’s renewed commitment to NATO and territorial defense has been a welcome surprise to many.

Germany NATO

Bremain vs Brexit

Jun 30, 2016

Wilson Quoted by Politico on US-German Relations Post-Brexit

By Damon Wilson

Read the full article here.

Germany

UkraineAlert

Jun 29, 2016

Now Is Not the Time to Scrap the Minsk Agreement

By John E. Herbst

A Reply to David J. Kramer Editor’s Note: On June 22, Ambassador John Herbst and David J. Kramer debated whether we should bury the Minsk agreement, the troubled ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, at an Atlantic Council event in Washington, DC. Their remarks have been adapted from the debate. Ukraine’s discussion of the war with Russia […]

Germany OSCE

New Atlanticist

Jun 29, 2016

It’s Time to Scrap the Minsk Agreement

By David J. Kramer

Editor’s Note: On June 22, Ambassador John Herbst and David Kramer debated whether we should bury the Minsk agreement, the troubled ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, at an Atlantic Council event in Washington, DC. Their remarks have been adapted from the debate. The Minsk ceasefire agreement, signed February 15, 2015, by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, […]

Germany OSCE

Bremain vs Brexit

Jun 28, 2016

With Brexit Looming, United States Advised to Forge Ties with Germany, the UK

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Germany has economic and political dominance in Europe, said Atlantic Council board member R. Nicholas Burns In light of the British decision to leave the European Union, US President Barack Obama and his successor must forge a closer bond with Germany and shore up the “special relationship” with the United Kingdom, said R. Nicholas Burns, […]

European Union Germany

UkraineAlert

Jun 27, 2016

The Dangerous Perspective of Theo Sommer

By Alexander J. Motyl

This time, Theo Sommer has outdone himself. After closing his eyes to the mass murders of the Soviet regime in an article published on May 31, the editor-at-large of Germany’s prestigious Die Zeit newspaper has now demonstrated in a just-published piece an alarming ignorance not just of Ukraine but of elementary strategic logic. The former […]

Germany Ukraine

Bremain vs Brexit

Jun 24, 2016

EU’s Salvation a Priority

By Anders Åslund

David Cameron will go down as one of the most foolish prime ministers in British history. By placating populist sentiment and agreeing to hold a referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership in the European Union to manage tensions in his own Conservative Party, he has taken his country out of relevant international politics, forced himself […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union
morningstar_tile.jpg

Bremain vs Brexit

Jun 24, 2016

Post-Brexit, Germany ‘Has to be Very Careful’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

We asked our experts to tell us what the European Union needs to do differently in light of the referendum. This is what they had to say: Richard L. Morningstar is the founding director and chairman of the Global Energy Center at the Atlantic Council and a former US ambassador to the EU.  The EU […]

European Union Germany

New Atlanticist

Jun 24, 2016

Brexit: Losers and Winners

By Ben Nimmo

The United Kingdom will emerge as the biggest loser from its voters’ decision to exit the European Union.  The United States loses a useful ally in its dealings with the European bloc, but it has others. France and Russia benefit, while Germany under Chancellor Angela Merkel will look increasingly vulnerable. Italy, Poland, and Spain have […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union
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Experts

Fellow

Rachel Rizzo

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center Transform Europe Initiative

Economy & Business English

Fellow

Jeremy Stern

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

China Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Didi Kirsten Tatlow 

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Global China Hub

China Politics & Diplomacy
Nicholas Yap

Staff

Nicholas Yap

Director, Strategy and Operations

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Disinformation Elections