Germany's soft power.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Germany is the undisputed leader in Europe today, relying largely on a set of soft-power tools. Germany's, and Europe's, problem is that there is an increasing mismatch on two fronts: first, between the interests of Germany and its key partners; and second, between overall German goals and available means, especially as far as soft-power resources are concerned.
Germany's hard power is slowly recovering in the wake of resurgent military threats in NATO's main theatre of operation.
The recent wave of terrorist attacks in southern Germany adds pressure to refocus attention on domestic concerns.
Parties have started positioning themselves for next year's federal election, affecting domestic and foreign policy agendas.
