German Foreign Policy Under the Merkel IV Government: The Role of Party Political Contestation Within the ‘Grand Coalition’

ABSTRACT

The article takes stock of German foreign policy under the Merkel IV government and adopts an analytical perspective that zooms in on the role of coalition politics. Specifically, it explores the impact of party-political contestation inside the ‘grand coalition’ both between (inter-party contestation) and within (intra-party contestation) the coalition partners on the foreign policy record of the Merkel IV government. In the empirical analysis, the discussion focuses on selected foreign policy areas that dominated the German foreign policy agenda during the Merkel IV government, namely transatlantic relations, European integration, the UN and multilateralism as well as Germany’s relations to autocratic states, in particular Russia and China. While the analysis points to some foreign policy contestation between and within the coalition parties, it finds that the foreign policy of the Merkel IV government remained largely unaffected by party political contestation inside the ‘grand coalition’. The article argues that the limited influence of coalition politics points to the key role of the foreign policy executive in German foreign policy and reflects the broad foreign policy consensus at the centre of the German party system.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kai Oppermann

Kai Oppermann is Professor of International Politics at the Chemnitz University of Technology. He has previously held positions at the University of Sussex, King’s College London and the University of Cologne. His research centres on the domestic sources of foreign policy and international politics, with a focus on British and German foreign policy. His work has been published in journals such as European Journal of International Relations, International Affairs, West European Politics, Foreign Policy Analysis, Journal of European Public Policy, and British Journal of Politics and International Relations.

Klaus Brummer

Klaus Brummer holds the chair of International Relations at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany. He served as co-editor-in-chief of the journal ‘Foreign Policy Analysis’ (2018–2020) and as president of the Foreign Policy Analysis section of the International Studies Association (2015–2016). He has published in peer-reviewed journals such as British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, Government and Opposition, International Affairs, International Politics, International Studies Review, and Journal of European Public Policy.