Germany Rearmed: The Return of War and the End of Illusions

by Fix, Liana · 2026

After eighty years of restraint, Germany is returning to military power. For many years, German political culture rested on the conviction that military force belonged to a darker past--and that security could be outsourced to the United States or replaced by trade and diplomacy. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Trump's return to the White House have shattered these illusions. The threat of Russian aggression and the risk of US abandonment have triggered a German rearmament of historic proportions. But this rearmament also poses a dilemma. With right-wing populism rising at home, can Germany assume a greater military role without reviving old fears among its neighbors or undermining European stability? Can it become a credible security provider while remaining firmly anchored in liberal democratic values? This timely, important book analyses Germany's foreign policy and its relationship with military power from 1945 to the present, and explores the choices and alternatives for European security in the next decade and beyond. Challenging Germany's 'myth of pacifism', Liana Fix argues that, as the post-war order fades, Germany can--and must--become a military power capable of protecting Europe when America will not.