event

Germany’s Nuclear Choices: Disarm or Proliferate?

Tue. March 26th, 2024
Washington, DC

For decades, Germany has safeguarded its security through a combination of U.S. extended nuclear deterrence and disarmament advocacy. With Donald Trump’s threats to NATO and Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, both policies face mounting challenges. In Berlin, nuclear weapons discussions are taking place against the background of a Zeitenwende—or pivotal turning point—in German foreign and security policy.

How should Germany adapt its nuclear policies to the changing conditions of great power rivalry? Can it continue to balance deterrence and disarmament, or is Germany changing its national identity from civilian to military power? And how can the country leverage its technological innovation potential for the defense of Europe?

In his new book Germany and Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century: Atomic Zeitenwende?, Ulrich Kühn brings together internationally renowned nuclear scholars and policy analysts from Germany and abroad to answer these questions and discuss Germany’s changing nuclear deterrence, arms control, and disarmament, as well as nonproliferation policies. This timely volume can be a guide for officials and experts managing the tensions between dependency on the United States and Germany’s own conservatism. Join George Perkovich as he sits down with Ulrich Kühn as well as Liana Fix and Amy J. Nelson, two of the contributing authors, to discuss. 

Nuclear PolicyWestern EuropeGermany
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Liana Fix

Liana Fix is a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of A New German Power? Germany’s Role in European Russia Policy.

Ulrich Kühn

Nonresident Scholar, Nuclear Policy Program

Ulrich Kühn is a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the head of the arms control and emerging technologies program at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.

Amy J. Nelson

Amy J. Nelson is a fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings and a previous Robert Bosch Fellow in residence at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin.

George Perkovich

Japan Chair for a World Without Nuclear Weapons, Vice President for Studies

George Perkovich is the Japan chair for a world without nuclear weapons and vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, overseeing the Nuclear Policy Program and the Technology and International Affairs Program. He works primarily on nuclear strategy and nonproliferation issues, and security dilemmas among the United States, its allies, and their nuclear-armed adversaries.