ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses to what extent Germany's Zeitenwende—the “watershed moment” of Russia's invasion of Ukraine—has already changed Germany's foreign and security policy identity from “military restraint” and “civilian power” to a return to military power and leadership; how lasting this change might be; and what the implications are for broader European security and transatlantic relations. It argues that the most important explanatory framework to understand German foreign policy after reunification—the so-called “change versus continuity debate”—does not anymore capture the profound reorientation of German foreign policy after Russia's invasion. A new analytical perspective on German foreign policy is needed. Russia's war is a catalyst for change, not for continuity, but “change” is taking place differently than the long-feared return of self-centered German militarism. Germany is on a trajectory to becoming a military power again, not to subjugate, but to defend Europe against the Russian threat; not to strive for great power status for unilateral gains, but to defend the existing multilateral order.
