Areas of Expertise

European (in)security politics
European integration and EU foreign, security, and neighborhood policies
Neo-Idealism
EU-Ukraine relations
European geopolitics, global ordering, and geostrategy
Borders, mobility, and migration
International politics of identity, culture, and the future
Germany (including the Zeitenwende), the UK, and Central and Eastern Europe

Short Bio

Dr. Benjamin Tallis joined DGAP in September 2022. He is a senior research fellow at the Alfred von Oppenheim Center for the Future of Europe and runs the project “Action Group Zeitenwende“, where he hosts the podcast "BerlinSide Out".

He previously worked for the EU on security missions in Ukraine and the Balkans and was policy officer at the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management in Berlin.

Tallis spent five years at the Institute of International Relations Prague where he headed the Centre for European Security, advised numerous European governments, edited the journal New Perspectives, and created the 2017 Prague Insecurity Conference. He worked at the Hertie School in Berlin and the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH). At the latter, he advised the German government on the future of European security and curated the 2019 Hamburg Insecurity Sessions. He contributed to the drafting of the 2016 EU Global Strategy and advised on visa liberalization for Ukraine in 2017.

Tallis holds a doctorate from the University of Manchester, regularly appears in the media, and has been published in Foreign Policy, Politico, The Independent, and in leading academic journals including International Studies Quarterly, Security Dialogue, and Cooperation and Conflict. He is the author of the books To Ukraine with Love: Essays on Russia’s War and Europe’s Future (2022) and Identities, Borderscapes, Orders: (In)Security, (Im)Mobility, and Crisis in the EU and Ukraine (2023).

Languages

English, German, Czech

[Last updated: September 2023]

Contributions

DOCUMENT DATE: 14 May, 2023 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz looks on as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy waves from the stage on the day of receiving Germany's prestigious Charlemagne Prize (Karlspreis) during the ceremony in Aachen, Germany, May 14, 2023.

Who’s Afraid of (Ukraine’s) Victory?

For Germany’s chancellor, victory seems to be the hardest word. This reluctance appears driven by fears of geopolitical change, which he seems hesitant to shape, let alone master, and by drawing the wrong lessons from German history.

Benjamin Tallis

Julian Stöckle

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock attend the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany March 22, 2023.

The Zeitenwende Is Here, It’s Just Unevenly Distributed

At first it meant a “historical shift” that happened to Germany, now the term "Zeitenwende" is widely used to describe the country’s much-needed foreign and security policy rethink. Much has changed already, but important questions remain open.

Benjamin Tallis

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte and France's President Emmanuel Macron attend the Informal EU 27 Summit and Meeting within the European Political Community at Prague Castle, in Prague, Czech Republic, October 7, 2022

The Zeitenwende Beyond Germany

The Baltic States, Central Europe, France, the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States have all reacted to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in their own, but often similar ways.

Jannik Hartmann

Kenny Kremer

Jacob Ross

et al.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz looks at weapons during a visit to a military base of the German army Bundeswehr in Bergen, Germany, October 17, 2022.

What Zeitenwende?

Instead of introvertedly focusing on defense, internationalizing and socializing their country’s transformation will give Germans the best options for action—and drive lasting change, which they must own.

Benjamin Tallis