Voters in Germany will go to the polls in September for elections that will be unusually consequential for the country’s foreign and defense policy. Chancellor Angela Merkel is retiring after almost 16 years in the position, and three major parties recently announced their candidates to replace her.

Much attention has focused on one of the candidates in particular: Annalena Baerbock of the Green party, which is surging in popularity and is likely to enter government as part of a coalition in the fall. This could allow the Greens to exercise influence over decision-making in Berlin. What would that mean for Germany’s approach to foreign policy and defense issues in the post-Merkel era? This week on Trend Lines, WPR’s Elliot Waldman digs into this question and more with Claudia Major, head of the international security research division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

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Relevant Articles on WPR:

• Germany’s Greens Are On the Rise. Can They Stay True to Their Roots?
• Can Armin Laschet Lead Germany’s CDU Into the Post-Merkel Era?
• A Generation of Germans Considers Life After Merkel
• How Germany Can Work With Biden to Rebuild Trans-Atlantic Ties

Trend Lines is produced and edited by Peter Dörrie, a freelance journalist and analyst focusing on security and resource politics in Africa. You can follow him on Twitter at @peterdoerrie.

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