In an incredible turn of events, David Cameron is back. The man who gambled his country's future to end a dispute in his party by calling the Brexit referendum is now in charge of Britain's foreign policy. Once you stop laughing at the irony of...
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered a public debate in Germany about the future of its security policy, and about its relations with Central and Eastern Europe. Historic arguments about the Second World War and the Cold War play an important role in this...
St Nikolai Church in Hamburg, built by an English architect, was destroyed during the so-called 'Operation Gomorrha', a series of allied air raids against Hamburg in 1943. For King Charles III to visit this memorial during his first state visit abroad is a very significant...
Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue Parliament in the middle of a significant national crisis has provoked outrage at home and abroad. Leaving the consitutional implications aside, this article argues that Johnson made a significant strategic mistake with this decision. He may have hoped to bully...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Interview with Matt Frei on Channel 4 News on 4 July 2019 about the Tory leadership contest, Boris Johnson, and Brexit.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][button target="_blank" hover_type="default" text="Details" link="https://www.channel4.com/news/german-historian-helene-von-bismarck-on-brexit-boris-johnson-and-the-eu"][/vc_column][/vc_row]...
Is the drama about Brexit just the culmination of a British EU-membership that has always been doomed to fail? This article for the Swiss Republik magazine argues that this is not the case. The frustrations about Brexit are no excuse for a selective reading of...
Since 1950, politicians, high-ranking officials, business people and influential journalists from Britain and Germany have met annually at theKönigswinter Conferences for a frank, informal and confidential exchange of views. This essay discusses the relevance of these conferences for the Anglo-German relationship. Published by Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft....
Interview with Channel 4 News about the popularity of World War 2 references in the Brexit debate. The use of inappropriate historical analogies is not just offensive to the EU27, it is also severely damaging to the quality of the inner-British debate about Brexit. No...
Essay for the Thinktank The UK in a Changing EU about the implications of the CDU-leadership race for Brexit and the Anglo-German relationship. No matter which candidate succeeds in taking over from Merkel, be it Fridrich Merz, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer or Jens Spahn, it will not...
Essay for the opinion pages of Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. The Brexit negitiations are entering their decisive stage this fall. Even if the EU27 and the British Government overcome their considerable differences, the situation is complicated by the bitter divisions in the House of Commons....