AGI

Foreign & Security Policy

The AGI Foreign & Security Policy Program addresses German security policy, the foreign policy cooperation between the U.S. and Germany, and the transatlantic defense relationship.
Reset

Adapting German Foreign & Security Policy to a New Threat Environment

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s First Steps German Chancellor Friedrich Merz entered office in May 2025 promising a more strategic and unified foreign and security policy to keep Germany safe, influential, and …

Iulian Romanyshyn, DAAD/AGI Research Fellow

AGI is pleased to welcome Dr. Iulian Romanyshyn as a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in Fall 2025. Dr. Iulian Romanyshyn is a senior fellow and lecturer at the Center for Advanced …

Nele Marianne Ewers-Peters, DAAD/AGI Research Fellow

AGI is pleased to welcome Dr. Nele Marianne Ewers-Peters as a DAAD/AGI Research Fellow in Fall 2025. Dr. Nele Marianne Ewers-Peters is Assistant Professor for European Security at the Faculty …

Improving Foreign and Security Policymaking in Germany

This is the third of a three-part series addressing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s approach to foreign and security policy and initial actions, the key issues Merz faces through the end …

Episode 134: Europe’s Strategic Dependencies

The dynamics of the transatlantic relationship are changing. As Europe faces the changing policies of the United States toward its alliances, Germany is investing in its armed forces at a …

Chancellor Merz’s Key Choices on German Foreign and Security Policy

This is the second of a three-part series addressing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s approach to foreign and security policy and initial actions, the key issues Merz faces through the end …

The Case for a German Grand Strategy

The early morning hours of February 24, 2022, shocked many German citizens and politicians. War on the European continent had been perceived as a relic of the past; the notion …

Episode 133: The SPD and Its Foreign Policy Challenges

The center-left Social Democrats are the junior coalition partner in Friedrich Merz’s government, but they hold two of the most important portfolios for implementing Germany’s security policy revolution known as …

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Foreign Policy Approach

This is the first of a three-part series addressing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s approach to foreign and security policy, initial achievements, the key issues Merz faces through the end of …

The Secret of Strobe Talbott’s and Bill Clinton’s Friendship

New Insight from Strobe Talbott’s Diaries Senior staff turnovers within the White House or the executive branch are not uncommon. There are many reasons, including firing, exhaustion, overwork, political loyalty, …

A Zeitenwende in Germany’s Israel Policy?

Former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2008 speech in the Israeli Knesset set a lasting foreign policy precedent by declaring that Israel’s security was a matter of German Staatsräson—a fundamental German “reason …

Episode 130: Germany’s Transatlantic Coordinator on U.S.-German Relations

Germany’s defense commitments are beginning to match the ambitions of the Zeitenwende, and Germany’s increased investments in European security are being noted in Washington. In his first visit to the …

Strobe Talbott and the Rise of the Liberal Post-Cold War Order

Currently, we are witnessing enormous stress on the institutions established in the post-Cold War era. A new era of great power competition and a revival of authoritarianism threaten to undermine …