Germany has dramatically increased its defense spending since the wake-up call of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine – the 2020 defense budget is 40% greater than just six years prior. Does Germany’s vision for its security and defense role match those expanded resources? On the one hand, the German government has agreed with France to push forward on the next generation of defense systems in the air, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS). On the other hand, political disagreements within Chancellor Merkel’s Grand Coalition government have recently prevented the Bundeswehr from acquiring armed unmanned air systems (“drones”) — the Social Democratic Party refused to agree to the acquisition, asserting a need for further deliberation. What does this difficulty indicate about Germany’s defense challenges and political-strategic culture?
In this episode of The Zeitgeist, AICGS President Jeff Rathke discusses the impact and implications of this development with Dr. Ulrike Franke, one of Germany’s leading experts on the impact of new technologies on defense and a Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. How do SPD’s misgivings over drones reflect its leadership’s shift on defense policy? How do other mainstream German parties including the Greens and the Christian Democratic Union see the use of armed drones? How will this affect Germany’s international relationships, including with France on the Future Combat Air System, in which armed unmanned systems will be an integral part? Will a new governing coalition in Germany after the upcoming federal election boost the country’s ability to modernize its defense policy and adapt to the changing way of war?

Host
Jeff Rathke, President, AICGS
Guests
Ulrike Franke, Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)