Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series about the production and trade of arms around the world.Between 2014 and 2017, Germany’s government approved some $31 billion in weapons sales, including almost $18 billion to countries outside the European Union and the NATO alliance. Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has become one of the top five arms exporters in the world by volume, despite major domestic opposition to the sale of German weapons. In an email interview, Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the Center for European Reform and an expert on German defense and security policy, explains what is driving the growth in Germany’s defense industry, even as “many German citizens reject arms exports flat out.”
WPR: What is driving the rapid growth in Germany’s arms exports?