Berlin Bulletin
A weekly newsletter on German politics, with news and analysis on the new government.
Latest issues
Déjà vu all over again
BACK TO SQUARE ONE SENTIMENTAL MOOD: When the news broke this week that the Trump administration had been negotiating a 28-point Ukraine–Russia peace plan with Moscow, it felt reminiscent of the dog …
Merz’s stern words for Ukraine
MORE CASH, MORE CRITICISM HARD WINTER: Ukraine is in increasingly dire straits as the fourth winter of full-scale war approaches, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz knows it. Immediate …
The AfD’s American friends
NEW TRANSATLANTICISM FRIENDS IN FARAWAY PLACES: Leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have been trying hard of late to make friends in the U.S. …
Army dreamers
RECRUITMENT ISSUES SAME BOAT? Some of Germany’s leading conservative politicians this week criticized young Ukrainian men for coming to Germany in increasing numbers instead of serving in …
Merz’s mixed messages
OWN GOAL MOOD SWINGS: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz somehow forgot to practice what he preached when briefing reporters on his party’s strategy to counter the rising far-right …
The firewall feud
CONSERVATIVES FRET AS FAR RIGHT RISES FEELINGS OF FUTILITY: Friedrich Merz has tried and tried to foil the rise of Germany’s far right, but nothing he’s done …
Sorry, not sorry
A weekly newsletter on German politics, with news and analysis on the new government. By NETTE NÖSTLINGER Send tips here | | Subscribe for free | View in your …
Trump applauds Germany
A weekly newsletter on German politics, with news and analysis on the new government. By JAMES ANGELOS with NETTE NÖSTLINGER Send tips here | | Subscribe for free | …
Merz’s Israel conundrum
CHANCELLOR’S TIGHTROPE ACT IT’S SOMETIMES HARD to know what Friedrich Merz really thinks when it comes to Germany’s policy on Israel and the war in Gaza. Germany …
‘False nostalgia’
TRANSATLANTIC LAMENT BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO: Friedrich Merz picked quite the week to make Europe’s slow divorce from the U.S. semi-official. Growing apart: “We must …
Song of the Germans
EAST-WEST DIVIDE NEW ANTHEM? Germany’s fraught history means national symbols are often fodder for heated debate. And so it was again this week when a small furor …
Weltschmerz anew
A weekly newsletter on German politics, with news and analysis on the new government. By JAMES ANGELOS with NETTE NÖSTLINGER Send tips here | | Subscribe for free | …
What’s a security guarantee?
LOOSE DEFINITIONS PHILOSOPHY 101: The German government doesn’t normally inspire the armchair philosopher in us, but here at the Bulletin we began reminiscing about our college Intro …
Merz’s Gaza quandary
WRESTLING FOR ANSWERS SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY: German leaders find it particularly hard to criticize the Israeli government — for an obvious reason. Utterly inconceivable: As German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier put it …
Franco-German restart?
MERZCRON IN BERLIN SYMBOLPOLITIK: The post-war relationship between France and Germany has always been heavily steeped in the symbolism of reconciliation. Statesmen of old: As far back …
Merz’s Trump workaround
‘DONALD, THIS IS REALLY BIG’ WHO COULD HAVE KNOWN? Donald Trump has been, in his own words, “very disappointed” with Vladimir Putin of late for the Russian …
Merz’s summer meltdown
THE GERMAN COALITION’S FRAGILITY SOMMERLOCH? Just when your loyal Bulletin scribes thought they could begin to enjoy the slow, summer news cycle — or what our German …
German-Polish border wars
THE BATTLE OF SYMBOLIC MIGRATION CRACKDOWNS ROCKY RELATIONS: Ties between Germany and Poland have been strained for quite a long time. Mentioning the war: For one, in …
Merz’s Weltschmerz
‘A LEADING MIDDLE POWER’ REALITÄTSCHECK: Chancellor Friedrich Merz campaigned on a vow to restore his country’s clear leadership role within the European Union, but lately it sounds …
Merz’s ‘dirty work’
GERMAN ART OF DIPLOMACY GUNG-HO: Germans aren’t used to their leaders sounding even remotely enthused about war. That’s part of the reason it struck some in the …