Explaining the Revolution in German Foreign and Defense Policy

The last few days have ushered in a revolution in German defense and foreign policy. After halting the operations of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, supporting the decision to exclude several Russian banks from the SWIFT system, and sending weapons to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in a special session of the Bundestag on Sunday that Germany will set aside €100 billion for a special defense budget this year. Scholz also announced that Germany will raise its annual defense budget to over 2 percent of GDP and invest in greater resilience and energy independence. This is a remarkable shift for a country in which military spending has for decades been comparatively low and politically controversial.

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