Germany charting new 'grand strategy' in era of great power competition: Merz
Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced a new "grand strategy" for Germany to navigate shifting global power, urging Europe to assert its own interests as the U.S. moves away from its role as an international guarantor.
- Europe
- Anadolu Agency
- Published Date: 04:38 | 20 February 2026
Germany is charting a new "grand strategy" with its European allies to navigate an era of intensifying great power competition, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday.
Speaking at his Christian Democratic Union party congress, Merz said Berlin is working to ease tensions with the Trump administration and restore transatlantic relations, but is also preparing to adapt to fundamental shifts in the global order.
"The US is increasingly losing interest in the role of a guarantor power for the international order. We would do well to recognize this without illusions and without nostalgia," the conservative leader told party delegates, adding that Germans must not stand idle but actively shape the future.
"We are setting new priorities. This is how a new grand strategy is emerging, specifically for Germany within a united Europe," Merz said, recalling former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who guided German foreign policy in the post-war era. "Like Konrad Adenauer, we will demonstrate courage the courage to shape the future and the courage to assert ourselves in this world."