German foreign policy is stuck in neutral – Op-ed by Julianne Smith

Julianne Smith is an American policymaker. She has served as National Security Advisor to Vice President Joseph Biden and was Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. As a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow, she came to the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin to escape the Trump madness and recurring debates about the state of American democracy. However, she found political stagnation despite looming questions of existential importance about Europe's future. In an op-ed for Süddeutsche Zeitung she calls attention to this situation. The article was translated into English for War on the Rocks.  

Julianne Smith attests Berlin's inability to formulate political responses to challenges from China, Russia and the USA. Her appeal is, firstly, to establish a National Security Council that offers room for strategic debate, prioritization and coordination between domestic and foreign policy. Secondly, there is a lack of German input and leadership in the major debates on the future of Europe. Germany must offer the much-needed leadership on the European continent.