FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

US Army May Pre-Position 100 More Armored Vehicles in Central Europe

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

US Army May Pre-Position 100 More Armored Vehicles in Central Europe

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

US Army May Pre-Position 100 More Armored Vehicles in Central Europe

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

Program

The Europe Center promotes the transatlantic leadership and strategies required to ensure a strong Europe.

EXPLORE THE PROGRAM

Content

1st Cavalry Division tanks in Poland, Oct. 27, 2014

NATOSource

Nov 25, 2014

US Army May Pre-Position 100 More Armored Vehicles in Central Europe

By Jeff Schogol, Army Times

The U.S. Army intends to add at least 100 fighting vehicles to Europe by the end of next year, the commander of U.S. Army Europe told reporters on Monday.

Central Europe Europe & Eurasia
Italian soldier with Afghan National Police, March 15, 2013

NATOSource

Nov 19, 2014

Germany and Italy to keep up to 1,350 soldiers in Afghanistan

By Reuters

Germany and Italy plan to keep a total of up to 1,350 soldiers in Afghanistan in 2015 to help train local armed forces, their defense ministries said on Tuesday, a slightly larger contingent than had been previously expected.

Afghanistan Germany
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, June 6, 2007

NATOSource

Nov 18, 2014

Merkel Issues Rebuke to Russia, Setting Caution Aside

By New York Times and Deutsche Welle

From Alison Smale, New York Times:  Tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats. Russian naval ships showing up as world leaders meet in Australia. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany telling Russia sternly to play by 21st-century rules

Australia European Union
Brandenburg Gate

NATOSource

Nov 13, 2014

Time for Germans to Earn the Gift of 1989

By Constanze Stelzenmüller, Brookings

At this watershed moment, Germany, dubbed the “reluctant hegemon” not so long ago, finds itself the pivotal player in Europe.

Europe & Eurasia France
Russian jets over Victory Day Parade, May 9, 2010

NATOSource

Oct 29, 2014

NATO Intercepted 19 Russian Military Aircraft Today

By Allied Command Operations

NATO detected and monitored four groups of Russian military aircraft conducting significant military manoeuvers in European airspace over the Baltic Sea, North Sea/Atlantic Ocean, and Black Sea on 28 and 29 October 2014.

Germany NATO
US troops participating in Combined Resolve exercise, Oct. 25, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 27, 2014

Has Russia’s War on Ukraine Changed European Defense Budgets?

By Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News

Russia’s heightened aggressiveness has been on display for most of the year, notably in Crimea and Ukraine. But President Vladimir Putin’s military forces have been more antagonistic elsewhere,

France Germany
Airbus CEO Thomas Enders at the Atlantic Council, April 30, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 22, 2014

Airbus Chief Hits Out at German Defense Policy

By AFP

The head of European aerospace giant Airbus, Thomas Enders, lashed out at what he saw as Germany’s risk aversion in matters of defence policy in a magazine interview Wednesday.

Germany
German Minister of Defense Ursula von der Leyen, Jan. 31, 2014

NATOSource

Oct 16, 2014

A Crisis in German Defense

By Peter Dörrie, War is Boring

The German armed forces have come clean. They’ve admitted they’re incapable of managing arms procurement—and have systematically neglected the hardware that’s already in service.

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Oct 9, 2014

After 25 Years, Germans Present the Berlin Wall’s ‘Signature Segment’ to Atlantic Council and Washington

By New Atlanticist

In the quarter-century since the Berlin Wall fell, a group of Germans has created a particular memorial to that event: a three-ton segment of the wall signed by the government and other leaders who managed the peaceful ending of the Cold War. This week, they presented it as a gift to the American people, to […]

Germany

Press Release

Oct 8, 2014

Atlantic Council Receives Berlin Wall Piece in Leipzig, Germany

By Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council President Frederick Kempe accepted a unique, three-ton segment of the Berlin Wall as a gift from Verbundnetz Gas, a prominent German energy company, in a ceremony this evening in Leipzig.

Germany
Load More

Experts

Staff

Jörn Fleck

Senior Director

Europe Center Transform Europe Initiative

Digital Policy Economy & Business

Fellow

Jacob Heilbrunn

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Media Europe & Eurasia

Staff

Stuart Jones

Program Assistant

Europe Center

Europe & Eurasia European Union

Fellow

James Kirchick

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

Central Europe Conflict

Fellow

Andrea Montanino

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoEconomics Center

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

Staff

Jacopo Pastorelli

Program Assistant

Europe Center

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia
Load More