Zeitenwende and the German Zeitgeist (with Dr. Ulrike Franke)

Dr. Ulrike Franke, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, joins The Eastern Front to unpack Germany's support of Ukraine, its more controversial foreign policies, and Germany's potential for greater European leadership. She explains how German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's significant February speech on Germany's zeitenwende (roughly translated "turning of the times") was not a proclamation that Germany would change but rather a statement that times are changing. She elaborates on the significance of Germany pledging to meet the 2% NATO spending threshold, raising its defense spending to $100 billion dollars, its support of Ukraine to-date and the probability of these actions increasing potential for greater German leadership in Europe.