In this delicate security situation, the following alternatives are available to Germany:

1. Berlin continues to muddle through and hope for better times after Trump is gone. However, if Germany chooses to follow this path the U.S. security guarantee will become less and less credible by the day. President Trump’s recent statements regarding NATO member Montenegro have further reinforced these doubts. Particularly Germany, as President Trump’s new enemy, can no longer count on U.S. support. This forces us into a disturbing conclusion: for the first time since 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany is without the protection of the U.S. nuclear shield. Accordingly, in case of a serious crisis, Germany would be defenseless! Yet, who talks about this issue? Who presents a well-reasoned argument about possible consequences? Clearly, the German security debate is in need of more intellectual and material contributions. In order to again convince the United States that both NATO, as well as its member state Germany, are worth defending, Germany must think and act, especially in regard to nuclear deterrence, with a view toward the future.

2. As a replacement for an increasingly uncertain U.S. nuclear guarantee, a European nuclear force is now being discussed in Berlin. Either a collaborative European nuclear power is to be created, or France and/or Britain are supposed to guarantee continued nuclear deterrence for Germany. Germany could finance such a European nuclear power by agreeing to co-finance British and/or French nuclear weapons projects if, in return, the two powers agree to guarantee Germany’s safety with an extended nuclear deterrent. But is such a proposal convincing?