Germany
Shipping and the great shrinking waterways
How low can the Yangtze go?
Although Asia’s longest river is making a slow recovery from the late-2022 drought that stopped some of the traffic up the “golden waterway” that…
Germany’s digital dilemma
In a world increasingly defined by digital transformation, Germany stands as anomaly, resisting the tide of digitisation in the face of global trends.
When I recently stepped…
Left behind: Sahra Wagenknecht’s new populism
She is one of Germany’s most recognised and popular politicians. And yet, Sahra Wagenknecht has never held a ministry, never been the chair of a party, and has spent her career in…
Plumbing the depths of the former East Germany’s grotesque delusion
Book review: Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949–1990, by Katja Hoyer (Penguin 2023)
Many of us only know the former East Germany (GDR) at second hand, through the eviscerating…
Whether on Russia or China, clearly Baerbock is driving Germany’s change
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s address to the Lowy Institute this week highlighted the significant changes in German foreign and security stance over the last 18 months,…
Friedrich Merz and the fall of the “Berlin firewall”
To view it charitably, one might have forgiven Friedrich Merz for a brief lapse of judgment. But to view it critically, the comment last month by Germany’s centre-right Christian…
Berlin’s economic “de-risking” model could be Europe's answer to the Taiwan question
On 13 July, Germany released its China strategy white paper. The 64-page document highlighted the European power’s acceptance of a “systemic rivalry” with the People’s Republic of…
Europe’s divisions over China could hamper G-7 unity
While the focus of the G-7 meeting in Hiroshima this week will be on Russia, the gathering leaders will have China on their minds. But could differences in Europe over how best to…
Make or break: Scholz’ Beijing business
On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will become one of the first global leaders to visit China since Xi Jinping emerged more powerful than ever from the 20th Communist Party…
A new solidarity? Olaf Scholz on the future of Europe
The German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt once quipped that, in politics, “whoever has visions should go to the doctor”. Big-thinking and inspiring rhetoric do not marry easily with…