Abstract
Germany emerged as the leader of EU crisis management efforts during the Ukraine conflict in 2014 and 2015. Traditional conceptualisations of German foreign policy – from civilian to hegemonic and geo-economic power – have not been able to sufficiently explain this new German leadership role. By applying a comprehensive taxonomy of power, this analysis aims at untangling the different ‘shades’ of German power, arguing that German ‘Machtpolitik’ is much more nuanced and subtle than previous conceptualisations and theoretical schools suggest. Taking Germany and EU foreign policy during the Ukraine conflict as a case study, this article contributes a new theoretically grounded perspective to the question of German power and influence within the European Union. The aim is to bring back power as a category into the analysis of member states’ relations within the EU since power politics have only been tamed, but not excluded from the European project. By combining and applying different ‘shades’ of power, Germany has become the central axis of policy-making between the European Union and Russia during the Ukraine conflict, decisively shaping discourse and content of EU policy towards Russia.
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