German Federal Elections 2021

Prolonged talks? Messy politics? Merkel still not gone by New Year’s? Actually, Germany may have a new government more quickly than many think.

The Weimar Triangle should become a new driver of reform and deeper integration within the EU. Despite the recent developments in Poland, Germany, and France should not give up on it, but rather enhance the trilateral dialogue.

Berlin needs to improve its decision-making processes, and that means repairing its creaky foreign policy set-up—a contribution to the debate about a German National Security Council.

Germany needs to shape its own security context and that starts with its politicians speaking honestly with the public about risks and threats, and taking clear foreign policy stances. 

In France, the prospect of the Greens entering the German government this fall raises both hopes and fears.

At the close of the Merkel era Germany’s armed forces face a wide array of challenges most political parties have not even started to acknowledge, never mind address.