sGermany Reawakens to its Martial Traditions and Naiveté

Where does German security policy go now?

The Zapfenstreich is the most important ceremony in the tradition of Germany’s Armed Forces; it consists of two armed platoons of the Guard Battalion, a military band, pipes and drums, and two lines of soldiers carrying torches, in total about 400 men. (Image: NATO)

For decades, it has been easy to paint Berlin as a NATO free-rider, as naïve mercantilist Putinversteher, proponents of Ostpolitik — shorthand for normalising ties with the erstwhile Soviet Union, and overall disinterested in geopolitics, security and assuming their rightful place in the global…