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Germany is facing a perfect geopolitical storm. It needs to respond by further strengthening multilateralism, building up European sovereignty as well as solidarity, and reviving the transatlantic alliance with a new US administration.

With the assassination attempt on Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin has crossed a red line. Moscow no longer makes a distinction between domestic and foreign policy.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been more clear-sighted on Brexit than most European leaders. But now is the time to back down and compromise.

Germany needs to improve its capacity to act in the realm of foreign and security policy. This includes reaching the NATO 2-percent goal more quickly. There are also structural changes required, including the setting up of a National Security Council.

Sticking to its demands for “level playing fields” and reciprocity in its relations with China, the EU has entered a slippery slope. It may end up acting more like Beijing rather than persuading it to act more like the EU.

Berlin is following in Paris’ footsteps in embracing the “Indo-Pacific” concept, at the risk of antagonizing China. This could lay the foundations for the EU to develop a coherent strategy toward the region.

If Joe Biden wins the US presidency, his policy on nuclear arms control is unlikely to meet German expectations of focusing primarily on disarmament. Countering China’s rise is, after all, one of the few remaining issues of bipartisan agreement in Washington.

It’s clear a President Joe Biden would pursue a very different foreign policy from Donald Trump. But would he seek to return to the approach of President Barack Obama or forge a new path?

The Trump presidency has led to an estrangement between the United States and Europe. It is particularly pronounced in Germany, with the younger generation turning away.

Germany has become dangerously cavalier when it comes to the country’s vital relationship with the United States.

Angela Merkel is entering the last lap of her chancellorship. When she leaves office, she will have spent 16 years at the helm of Europe’s most powerful country, yet her legacy remains strangely elusive.

Emmanuel Macron wants Europe to be a geopolitical actor independent from Washington. But that does not mean that he wishes for the United States to drift further toward isolationism.