Beyond the big powers: Germany's global pivot | Berlin Briefing Podcast

Where is Germany really heading as it scrambles to diversify its foreign‑policy partnerships? And what does that shift look like from inside the government delegations themselves? In this episode of Berlin Briefing, Nina Haase talks to Jakob Hensing (Head of Political Economy, GPPi) about Germany’s evolving role in a tense, multipolar world. Richard Walker and Michaela Küfner join in to share rare first‑hand insights from traveling with German officials on diplomatic missions to the Indo‑Pacific and the Gulf — trips aimed at securing new energy sources, building fresh alliances, and reducing dependence on the usual big powers. Can Germany balance values with hard interests? And what did our correspondents witness behind the scenes that signals a deeper strategic pivot?  DW Berlin Briefing on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dw-berlin-briefing-inside-german-politics/id1775699172 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/07Wp4c6w9qVIYmB7JIbFBZ RSS feed DW Berlin Briefing: https://rss.dw.com/xml/podcast_Berlin_Briefing CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 02:57 A new German economic model? 05:23 Merz’s Realpolitik approach 09:30 Opposition criticism 12:37 Merz’s Gulf region agenda 17:55 Indo-Pacific jet set diplomacy 21:36 A lack of experts 26:18 Values vs interests 29:22 European constraints 33:58 A clear vision? 35:26 Outro #BerlinBriefing #Germany #Geopolitics For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ Follow DW on social media: ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews ►TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dwnews ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/ ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwnews Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1