Thousands of you have already listened to BerlinsideOut and each of you who has, has heard our opening theme tune. Some of you have asked: What is it and why do you use that? Well, it is good that you asked, because there's a reason for it...
This episode deals with grand strategy and why liberal democracies like Germany now need a new strategic approach. First with Alice Stollmeyer and then with Chris Alexander, we identify internal and extrernal threats to liberal democracies and how to counteract them.
Defence is fundamental to Germany's sea change in its foreign and security policy because Germany has been so fundamentally deficient in this area. This was a key point that the country's leaders conceded in February last year after Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. Having long underinvested in – and undervalued - its military, the country had been left unable to truly defend itself or play its full, proper role in NATO.
This bonus episode features a special conversation with Ukrainian researcher and Germany expert Stepan Rusyn that zooms in on how Berlin’s approach is viewed from Ukraine. It looks at Ukraine’s victory and why it matters – as well as why Berlin does not yet fully support it and still hesitates to send any new type of weapons, including Taurus cruise missiles.
This episode centers around Ukraine – the importance of its victory in Russia’s war, and its future in Europe and the wider Western democratic alliance. We talk with our expert guests about how failing to aim for Ukrainian victory has conditioned piece-meal support from Germany, undermining its credibility and hurting both Ukrainian and wider western interests.
Episode 1 looks at why it’s important to understand Germany when looking at international politics today. The country’s past policies put it under the spotlight when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It drew further attention to itself when Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a ‘Zeitenwende’ or epochal shift and the need for Germany to change with the times. Germany has come a long way but has moved slowly on weapons for Ukraine. By contrast, it has speedily replaced Russian gas supply, but has created new dependencies on authoritarian states. The national security strategy suggests geostrategic confusion...
BerlinsideOut, the podcast that takes an expert look at international politics from Berlin. Hosted by Dr. Benjamin Tallis, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Action Group Zeitenwende at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), and Aaron Gasch Burnett, a journalist specialising in German politics, we look at how Germany sees the world and the world sees Germany.
BerlinsideOut, the podcast that takes an expert look at international politics from Berlin. Hosted by Dr. Benjamin Tallis, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Action Group Zeitenwende at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), and Aaron Gasch Burnett, a journalist specialising in German politics, we look at how Germany sees the world and the world sees Germany.
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