Rachel Tausendfreund

“ The Israeli ground offensive is already facing growing political challenges even before it begins. The more people die in Gaza, the more difficult it will be for Israel's allies - especially the United States - to fully support a major invasion of Gaza. ”

“ People in Germany and in the chancellery look at this kind of escalating rhetoric in Washington of an unavoidable escalation of conflict with China and view that with some concern and think that an escalation is still avoidable. And so that's going to be the difficult part for Olaf Scholz and German politics in general, if tensions continue to rise with China. ”

“ Germany’s partners need to understand that the Zeitenwende was never about Germany suddenly becoming a geopolitical security policy leader in Europe. It was about an important shift in Germany’s security understanding – the realisation that Germany should also be able to defend its freedoms. But the Zeitenwende was not a promise of German leadership or vision. ”

“ The shock of Putin’s war has turned the geopolitical times for Germany. Prior to the invasion, Berlin was unique in the West for having a strategic logic still shaped primarily by the lessons of the First World War. ”

“ It's consistent with our values, but it also has a utilitarian component. ”

“ Climate change is more on the mind of Germans than certainly other bigger issues. Foreign policy, [the] transatlantic relationship, that has not entered into this campaign at all. And climate change has been consistently an issue. ”

“ [Angela Merkel] really managed to bring other Europeans together on a few important issues and issues that were really important to transatlantic politics, so she has a strong legacy in that regard. She waited for the time to be right, and she managed to pull a lot of different people around the table together. ”