Why Germany Broke Defense Taboos

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Zeitenwende speech in February 2022 laid the groundwork for a transformation of Germany’s foreign and security policy. One year in, how much has Berlin’s positioning on Russia, energy, and defense changed?  

Judy Dempsey, a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, and Sophia Besch, a fellow in the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sit down to unpack Germany’s traditional approach toward the military, current security and defense policies, and future relations with the United States, Russia, and China.  

[00:00:00] Intro, [00:01:45] Present State of German Defense, [00:12:29] German Defense Prior to 2022, [00:23:02] German Security Relations in the Future

Sophia Besch, December 21, 2022, “EU Defense and the War in Ukraine”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

Judy Dempsey, January 10, 2023, “Germany Must Move Past the Crossroads,” Carnegie Europe.  

Sophia Besch and Sarah Brockmeier, March 9, 2022, “Waking a Sleeping Giant: What’s Next for German Security Policy,” War on the Rocks.

Sophia Besch, January 2023, “To really modernize its armed forces, Germany needs a long-term increase of its defence budget,” 49Security.  

Sophia Besch and Liana Fix, November 21, 2022, “Don’t let Zeitenwende get derailed,” War on the Rocks.

Sophia Besch, “Ukraine’s Silver Tank? | The World Unpacked,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

Judy Dempsey, January 24, 2023, “Europe Waits for German Leadership,” Carnegie Europe.  

Judy Dempsey, January 26, 2023, “Scholz’s Tank Decision Upends Germany’s Long Affair with Russia,” Carnegie Europe.