Two-Level Politics: How Campaigning and Power Politics Shape Trump’s Foreign Policy
May 6, 2026 | 8:00–9:30 p.m. | Room 4.001, Lennéstraße 6, 53113 Bonn
This panel discussion will examine how domestic political dynamics—particularly the upcoming election cycle—influence decisions and public messaging in Trump’s foreign policy. The focus is particularly on the security policy dimension: If foreign policy decisions increasingly follow domestic political calculations, what impact does this have on the reliability of the U.S. within NATO? Does this open up new strategic room for maneuver for European states—or does their structural dependence on U.S. security policy become more clearly visible? The discussion offers an analytical assessment of how Europe should respond to a U.S. foreign policy that is heavily driven by domestic politics, and what long-term consequences this will have for the transatlantic security architecture.
The event is organized by the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) in collaboration with the Junge Deutsche Atlantischen Gesellschaft (Junge DAG) and the Bonn Hochschulgruppe für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (BHAS).
Procedure
Panel discussion with:
Former Ambassador Emily Haber
Former Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States
PD Dr. Hendrik W. Ohnesorge
Director of the Center for Global Studies and expert on transatlantic policy
Moderator:
Dr. Shushanik Minasyan-Ostermann
Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS)
Further Information
The event is organized by the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) in collaboration with the Junge Deutsche Atlantische Gesellschaft (Junge DAG) and the Bonner Hochschulgruppe für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (BHAS).