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An armed PKK fighter places a weapon to be burnt during a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video.
What We're Watching

What We're Watching: Kurdish militants melt away the past, Trump to shift focus away from Congress, Germany gets a taste of US-style court battles

​From left to right, Prime Minister of Bavaria Markus Soeder, Chairman of the CDU Friedrich Merz, Heads of the SPD Lars Klingbeil, and Saskia Esken arrive at a press conference after successful coalition negotiations in Berlin, Germany, on April 9, 2025.
What We're Watching

Germany’s Friedrich Merz strikes grand coalition deal

Germany’s leading establishment parties reached a grand coalition deal on Wednesday, bringing Europe’s largest economy a step closer to having a formal government amid severe domestic and global challenges.

​Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party Friedrich Merz reacts as he attends an extraordinary session of the outgoing lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on March 18, 2025.
What We're Watching

Germany’s vote to boost military spending makes history

Germany’s parliament made history Tuesday as it voted to sharply increase defense spending – by exempting it from limits on the country’s assumption of debt. Germany’s upper house, the Bundesrat, is widely expected to approve this change with a vote scheduled for Friday.

German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz
What We're Watching

Germany drops debt brake, passes preliminary agreement to boost defense, infrastructure, and climate spending

Germany’s election-winning center-right Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union, led by Friedrich Merz, and the Social Democrats have reached a preliminary agreement with the Green Party on a deal to exclude defense spending from the country’s constitutional debt break and establish a dedicated $545 billion fund for infrastructure investments.

​Christian Democratic Union party leader Friedrich Merz speaks at the party headquarters after the exit poll results are announced for the 2025 general election, in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 23, 2025.
What We're Watching

Conservatives come first, far right second in German election

As expected, the conservative Christian Democratic Union and its sister party, the Christian Social Union, came out on top in Germany’s election on Sunday with 28.6% of the vote. But the biggest celebrations were held by those supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which scored a second-place finish with 20.8%, doubling its share of the vote since the last election. It beat the centrist SPD’s 16.4% and the Greens’ 11.6%.

​Ten thousand protesters gather in front of Duesseldorf Central Station to march against the AfD's upcoming afternoon rally in Duesseldorf, Germany, on Feb. 15, 2025.
Viewpoint

Viewpoint: Far right surges to prominence ahead of German elections

Amid a deep economic crisis and renewed migration concerns, the far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is poised to double its vote share in this weekend’s general elections. We talked to Eurasia Group expert Jan Techau, about how the AfD's increasing strength is transforming German politics.

​Germany’s Friedrich Merz in front of poker table.
by ian bremmer

Germany’s Friedrich Merz and a bold political gamble

​KYIV, UKRAINE - DECEMBER 9, 2024 - Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva (L to R) attend a meeting with German Chancellor candidate, leader of the Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz, Kyiv, capital of Ukraine.
What We're Watching

Zelensky preps for hard bargaining

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.