Image credit: Melody Cook/CNAS

June 16, 2023

A Turn in German Security Infrastructure?

By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Christian Mölling and Constanze Stelzenmüller

On Wednesday, June 14th, the German government presented the country’s first ever National Security Strategy, laying out Germany’s commitment to three key pillars: active defense, resilience, and sustainability. Following Scholz’s “Zeitenwende” paradigm shift, experts wonder whether Germany is ready to assume a more prominent role in the Euro-Atlantic security architecture. In the latest episode of Brussels Sprouts, Christian Mölling and Constanze Stelzenmüller join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss the future of Germany’s security landscape.

Christian Mölling is deputy director of the Research Institute and head of the Center for Security and Defense at the German Council on Foreign Relations. He is an expert on German defense policy, European security, and NATO.

Constanze Stelzenmüller is an expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy and strategy. She is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe and the inaugural holder of the Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and trans- Atlantic Relations at the Brookings Institution.

  • Commentary
    • Sharper
    • September 20, 2023
    Sharper: Ukrainian Counteroffensive

    With the slow progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive this summer, observers expressed increased uncertainty regarding the conflict’s trajectory. This lack of advancement c...

    By Anna Pederson, Anna Avanesyan & Charles Horn

  • Podcast
    • September 15, 2023
    The New Authoritarian Axis: Russian Relations with North Korea and Iran

    This past Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to the Russian Far East for a summit with Vladimir Putin. After more than four hours of talks, Kim vowed to provi...

    By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Hanna Notte & Markus Garlauskas

  • Podcast
    • September 8, 2023
    The Future of the Ukrainian Counter Offensive with Mike Kofman and Mark Hertling

    Over the past several months, the world’s attention has been focused on the ongoing counteroffensive by the Ukrainian army. Many of Ukraine’s supporters had high hopes for thi...

    By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Michael Kofman & Mark P. Hertling

  • Commentary
    • War on the Rocks
    • September 4, 2023
    Perseverance and Adaptation: Ukraine’s Counteroffensive at Three Months

    Western support thus far has been sufficient to avert a Ukrainian defeat, and arguably has imposed a strategic defeat on Russia, but not enough to ensure a Ukrainian victory....

    By Michael Kofman & Rob Lee

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia