In summer 2018, the 72nd General Assembly of the United Nations in New York will decide on Germany’s application for a seat on the Security Council in 2019 and 2020. Germany’s application for one of the non-permanent seats was announced in June 2016 by then Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. As a German citizen, I like the idea that the Federal Republic has applied for one of the seats soon to …

In mid-December the European Council authorized Brexit negotiations to move from a divorce settlement to forging a new relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom. The clock is ticking. Brussels and London have barely a year left to lay the foundations for their future partnership. Failure to do so would have disastrous strategic consequences for European prosperity and security.

There are areas, such as the Single Market, that …

The Cold War was by and large better than its reputation, especially in hindsight. It imposed, as never before, a kind of long nuclear peace upon the global powers and forced minor players to conform. French philosopher Raymond Aron described what he saw in telegram-style: “Guerre improbable, paix impossible.” But the Cold War is over, for better or for worse, and a repeat performance does not seem near on the …

One down, three to go. And judging by Trump’s first year in office, the next three should be long and painful. As the US backs away from is traditional role as team captain, its “America First” foreign policy is setting the world on edge. Trump has already pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Agreement. Next on his chopping block may well be the Iran nuclear deal …

As far as the world economy is concerned, it is interlinked,” deadpanned the famous German satirist Kurt Tucholsky in the early 1930s. Although uttered in the Weimar Republic, the remark applies today as much as ever. Indeed, while some observers see President Donald Trump’s words at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos – “America first does not mean America alone” – as a gesture of conciliation, this would be …

There are two main reasons the United States will maintain its primacy on the world stage. The first is that, in a world of weak or broken identities, theirs remains strong, despite racial tensions and the growth of social inequality. The US is a land of immigrants, who swept the plate clean – almost – of its indigenous populations. From the outset, Americans have been bound together by a sacred …

Britain’s vote to leave the EU has added a new layer of complexity to the process of strengthening European security. It coincides with a chilling of the transatlantic relationship following the election of Donald Trump as US president; persistent Russian probing of the political and military resilience of European governments and societies; and the intensification of radical Islamist terrorist threats within Europe and a chaotic Middle East. In this sense, …

This is the hour of Europe – a unique opportunity to unite a divided continent by showing that unity is the first line of defense in a dangerous world. But thus far there is a continent-sized gulf between the European government’s rhetoric on global disorder and the unambitious, technocratic initiatives it has launched. There is still much time remaining to close it.

A thought experiment: Imagine it was still 2007, …

In recent years, certainties within international politics have become fewer for Germany. European integration appears more fragile due to growing social disparities within the EU; Brexit and nationalist trends across most of Europe are also playing a role. At the same time, international policy regimes and fundamental principles such as international law, multilateralism and the universal validity of human rights have come under pressure. The threat of a new arms …

We are still living in the second nuclear age. Unlike the first nuclear age, which was shaped by the bipolar nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, the second is far more complex. The spread of nuclear weapons has made deterrence a multiplayer game; Asia has emerged as the region with the greatest potential for nuclear conflict; and new nuclear aspirants can benefit from the technological progress …