IPQ Frontpage

Berlin has become versed in writing strategy papers, but less so in turning them into action. Reaching out to African countries in a meaningful way is a test case of whether Germany’s new foreign policy is truly strategic.

As Berlin sees its role as a middle power grow, it is both constrained and bolstered by being embedded within the European Union.

US officials may have accepted the return of great power competition, but Washington continues to operate on the assumptions of unchallenged dominance.

Poland has considerable reservations about Germany’s large-scale rearmament. Berlin should change its narrative, include Warsaw in key discussions, and undertake practical steps to make its commitment to the defense of Central Europe more credible.

In Paris, Berlin’s aspiration to leadership in Europe is met with a mix of relief, disappointment, and concern. To meet the latter, Germany will need to reinvent itself.

The United Kingdom is not so much worried about Germany seeking too much influence. Rather, it is concerned that Berlin still appears reluctant to exercise its capabilities for geopolitical ends.

After Germany’s recent failure to be elected to a two-year rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council, Berlin should get behind a new initiative to make the UNSC fit for the 21st century.

The EU is not a middle power—yet. Failing to build the financial architecture to mobilize capital at scale and project power may well lead to it becoming an irrelevance.

Global opinion polls show that views about the European Union are shifting. Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Europeans are perceived more independently from the United States.