Today, the Geopolitics and Security Studies Center (GSSC), in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Lithuania, hosted a discussion titled “The Transformation of the Bundeswehr: Structural, Political, and Military Challenges.”
The guest speaker was Professor Sönke Neitzel, a Bundeswehr expert and military historian. The discussion was moderated by Vytautas Leškevičius, GSSC Senior Policy Analyst.
During the discussion, Neitzel quoted a thought attributed to Henry Kissinger: “Germany is too big for Europe and too small for the world.” The quote was used to illustrate Germany’s strategic dilemmas as it defines its place within the European and transatlantic security system.
Key topics discussed:
Bundeswehr transformation. Germany’s armed forces are experiencing something of a renaissance: public trust in the Bundeswehr has grown significantly in recent years, yet turning this “trust credit” into real change—through reforms and modernization—is a difficult task for any government. Rapid growth in German defence investment was also highlighted; looking at the past year, this was one of the most significant increases in defence spending within the Alliance. The pressing challenge now is to use the newly allocated funds as effectively as possible.
Bundeswehr personnel. Although the armed forces are currently one of the most trusted institutions in Germany, an army based on voluntary service has limits to growth—especially when seeking to form additional brigades.
Germany’s brigade in Lithuania. The speaker expressed no doubt that Germany’s commitment to the full deployment of a brigade in Lithuania is firm, and saw no reason to question that a fully ready combat brigade will be deployed on time—in 2027. This goal was described as a matter of credibility for Berlin’s foreign and security policy: Germany cannot afford to fail to deliver. The speaker also emphasized broad political and public support for strengthening the Bundeswehr. He highlighted the evolution of Germany’s defence policy: a strong Cold War-era Bundeswehr prepared for NATO collective defence tasks, followed by a period of weakening shaped by the “peace dividend,” then—together with the wider NATO Alliance—a phase oriented toward expeditionary forces and peacekeeping missions, and finally today’s understanding that the Bundeswehr must become Europe’s leading conventional deterrence and defence force. “Do not doubt that the Bundeswehr’s ‘Lithuania brigade,’ like the Bundeswehr as a whole, will act reliably from the very first moment if Lithuania faces a direct military threat,” the German expert assured, adding that the deployment of German forces also contributes to the Bundeswehr’s own transformation efforts.
Regional defence cooperation. The discussion raised the idea of strengthening cooperation between Germany, the Baltic states, and the Nordic countries—especially by coordinating procurement, thereby accelerating the production and deployment of needed capabilities.
The discussion also devoted significant attention to the pace of institutional reforms, the Bundeswehr’s governance structure, and combat effectiveness as a key measure of the ongoing transformation of the Bundeswehr.