The Promise and Peril of Germany's Post-Ukraine Foreign Policy Shift - Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz poses in front of a German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun Flakpanzer Gepard during a visit of the training program for Ukrainian soldiers on the Gepard anti-aircraft tank in Putlos near Oldenburg, Germany August 25, 2022. Axel Heimken/Pool via REUTERS

The Promise and Peril of Germany’s Post-Ukraine Foreign Policy Shift

February 23, 2023

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Zoom Webinar

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought about a radical change in Germany’s foreign and security policy. This has included steps that would have been unthinkable only a year ago, like the provision of heavy weaponry to Ukraine. However, this change has also caused significant splits in the German coalition government and unease in sections of German society. There is also concern among Germans, and especially in industry, about the dangers to the German economy if Germany follows the U.S. lead in seeking to isolate and weaken the economy of China, which is a key market for German exports. These are vitally important questions not only for Germany, but for the European Union and the future coherence of the Transatlantic alliance.

To discuss these issues and answer questions from the audience, the Quincy Institute has convened a highly distinguished panel spanning the fields of diplomacy, politics, and the expert community. The discussion will feature Rüdiger Lüdeking, former German diplomat; Sevim Dagdelen, Deputy Leader of the German Left Party; and Rachel Rizzo, non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. Anatol Lieven, Eurasia Director at the Quincy Institute, will moderate.

Panelists

Rüdiger Lüdeking

Rüdiger Lüdeking is a former German diplomat. He has served as Ambassador and Deputy Commissioner of the Federal Government for Disarmament and Arms Control, Permanent Representative to the United Nations and to the other International Organizations in Vienna and as Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Before retiring in 2018 he served as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium.

Sevim Dagdelen

Sevim Dagdelen of the Left Party (Die Linke) has been elected four times as a member of the German Bundestag for Nord Rhein-Westfalen. She is Deputy Leader of her party in parliament and chair of the German-Turkish parliamentary group, as well as spokeswoman for the Left Party parliamentary group on the Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affairs. She previously worked as a journalist for German and Turkish newspapers.

Rachel Rizzo

Rachel Rizzo is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. Her research focuses on European security, NATO, and the transatlantic relationship. She previously served as the director of programs at the Truman Center for National Policy. She has written for many publications including Politico, Foreign Policy, The National Interest, World Politics Review, and War on the Rocks.

Anatol Lieven (Moderator)

Anatol Lieven is Eurasia program director and senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He was formerly a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and in the War Studies Department of King’s College, London. He is a member of the advisory committee of the South Asia Department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. From 1985 to 1998, Lieven worked as a journalist in South Asia, the former Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe and covered the wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and the southern Caucasus.