The German Review

The German Review

Germany in the world

Understanding German foreign policy.

Jörg Luyken's avatar
Jörg Luyken
May 11, 2025
∙ Paid

photo of outer space
Photo by NASA on Unsplash

For three decades leading up to 2022, German foreign policy was predicated on the idea that countries that do business don’t go to war with one another.

This strategy, known as Annäherung durch Handel (rapprochement through trade), served as the moral justification for buying cheap energy from Russia, selling cars to China, and l…

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