EUROPE WEEK: Germany's Changing Role in Geopolitics

With centrifugal forces challenging the cohesion of the European Union, including the rise of populist parties across the continent from Poland to Spain, Britain's inevitable exit from the Union, a migrant crisis and the aftershock of the Eurozone crisis, many believe it falls to Germany to stabilize a continent in upheaval. More so, after increasingly isolationist policy proclamations by the Trump administration, many are looking to Germany to uphold a global order anchored in the strength of vibrant, multilateral institutions. Meanwhile, Germany faces a decisive year in domestic politics, with a national election in September which could see the end of a grand coalition government with Chancellor Merkel at the helm. What might this confluence of events mean for geopolitics? For Germany's role in Europe? We will address these questions with the Chairman of the Munich Security Conference and former German Ambassador to the United States, Wolfgang Ischinger.