Henning Hoff

Berlin

Executive Editor at INTERNATIONALE POLITIK QUARTERLY

Executive editor INTERNATIONALE POLITIK QUARTERLY @IPQuarterly /Editor-at-Large @Int_Politik, publ. by @dgapev Co-founder WELTKIOSK @weltkiosk lapsed Londoner

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Articles

The EU and the UK Turn a Page

1 month ago | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

In the minds of those in the United Kingdom who supported leaving the European Union, “British fish” always meant more than just the ever-dwindling shoals of cod or haddock passing through the territorial waters of the United Kingdom.
A Terrible Start for Merz

1 month ago | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

With Friedrich Merz, it seems, Germany is entering new, uncharted territory. The 69-year-old leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) only become German chancellor on his second attempt. And he has form. It already took three rounds of voting for him to be elected leader of the CDU back in 2021. The adage by Irish absurdist playwright Samuel Beckett—“fail again, fail better”—comes to mind.
Verteidigungsfinanzierung: Warum London vermehrt nach Brüssel blickt

2 months ago | table.media | Henning Hoff

Auch im Vereinigten Königreich sollen die Verteidigungsausgaben massiv steigen. Bei der Finanzierung schaut London in Richtung EU. In Sachen erhöhter Verteidigungsausgaben gehört das Vereinigte Königreich zu den Trendsettern: Nach einigem Zögern kündigte der seit Juli 2024 amtierende Labour-Premierminister Keir Starmer diesen Februar eine Steigerung der Ausgaben von aktuell 2,3 auf 2,5 Prozent des Bruttoinlandprodukts ab dem Finanzjahr 2027/28 an.
Voted Out of Power, the Greens Are Still Shaping Germany

Mar 25, 2025 | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

“The Greens are to blame!” At some point in 2024, when the popular frustration with outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ permanently bickering governing coalition of center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Greens, and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) was at a high, it became fashionable to fault the Green Party for all that was wrong with Germany and the world at large.
The China Factor

Mar 25, 2025 | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

2025 sees the 50th anniversary of the establishment of relations between China and the European Union. There’s not much of a festive mood in Brussels or Beijing, however. Suggestions that Chinese President Xi Jinping may pay a visit to the de facto EU capital for this year’s EU-China summit to mark the occasion have been rebuffed by the Chinese government. Xi will be sending Premier Li Qiang instead, while a date still needs to be fixed for the summit. In 2024, it didn’t take place at all.
Merz Gets Off to a Zigzagging Start

Feb 26, 2025 | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

“Grand” isn’t what it used to be. When Angela Merkel built her first “grand” coalition between her center-right Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) back in 2005, its parliamentary majority was 448 out of 614 seats.
Getting Europe’s Defense Right

Feb 12, 2025 | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

For Europe, defense is key. This is the message the Polish EU presidency is sending with its slogan “Security, Europe!” It is what is animating European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s second term. It is what NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte means when he calls for a “shift to a wartime mindset.” Now European states, including the United Kingdom, need to make it happen―and fast.
What Will Germany Do Next?

Feb 12, 2025 | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

The so-called “traffic light” coalition government of Olaf Scholz, combining the chancellor’s Social Democrats (SPD) with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), lasted less than three years. It may “only” have been a “transitional government,” as former Green leader Omid Nouripour (a foreign policy expert) described it in late summer 2024. At that time, the writing of an early end was already on the wall, and the self-chosen moniker of a “coalition for progress” sounded hollow.
The Status Quo Is History

Jan 7, 2025 | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

Historic change is always easier to spot in retrospect. In the speech defining his chancellorship, Olaf Scholz on February 27, 2022, spoke of a “Zeitenwende” (historic turn) when describing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine three days after President Vladimir Putin launched it. Yet, Germany’s squabbling coalition parties, and in particular the Free Democrats (FDP) who put party before country and forced an early break-up of the Scholz government last fall, never really rose to the occasion.
A Touch of Trumpism Reaches Germany’s Election Campaign

Jan 6, 2025 | ip-quarterly.com | Henning Hoff

“Only the AfD can save Germany.” With a post in support of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland on social media platform X, billionaire entrepreneur and US presidential advisor Elon Musk entered the German election campaign shortly before Christmas—and he has managed to dominate it over the holidays.