Spectators watch a self-propelled howitzer in action at a German military open house in Greding, Germany, June 28, 2025. According to a report released Dec. 18, 2025, by the Munich Security Conference think tank, a majority of Germans now consider the security situation in Europe more dangerous than in the Cold War era, but many still remain conflicted about the justification of ever using military force. (Heike Westhöfer/German armed forces)
A majority of Germans now consider Europe’s security situation more dangerous than the Cold War era amid growing doubts about the willingness of the United States to come to the Continent’s defense, according to a new survey.
A Munich Security Conference report released Thursday found that 53% of those polled consider current conditions less secure now than during the Cold War, when Germany was divided and the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union loomed over the NATO alliance.
The findings highlight how much Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has changed attitudes in Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse.
The situation is a sharp reversal from public sentiment just five years ago, when 65% of Germans considered their national security safe or very safe, the report said.
But the findings also pointed to a persistent skepticism among the German public about being a military power on the world stage, a condition likely connected with two world wars that left the country in ruins.
While 64% of those polled said they believe the importance of military power is increasing, that didn’t translate into a willingness to demonstrate military strength, the report said.
Compared with the populations of France, the U.K., and the U.S., Germans are “comparatively antimilitaristic and less inclined to invest in military strength or to use military force,” the report said.
A German soldier reacts to simulated gunfire during training at Grafenwoehr, Germany, June 4, 2025. A majority of Germans now view the security situation in Europe as more dangerous than it was during the Cold War, but the question of whether using military force is ever acceptable is still a polarizing matter for the German public, according to a Munich Security Conference report released Dec. 18, 2025. (Collin Mackall/U.S. Army)
The survey found that 63% of Germans said military force is never justified. By comparison, only 29% of Americans feel the same way, the report said.
The disconnect exists even though nearly half of Germans believe the risk that NATO could come under Russian attack within the next five years to be somewhat or very likely, the report said.
The unease with flexing military might also persists despite shaky confidence in the United States’ willingness to come to Europe’s defense.
Only 6% of those polled said they were certain the U.S. would defend European security, while 31% said it was somewhat likely.
By contrast, 11% of Germans ruled out the possibility of America coming to Europe’s defense and 36% saying it was somewhat unlikely.
“The triple crisis of Russia’s war of aggression, doubts about the role of the US as Europe’s security guarantor, and the economic challenges of the second China shock mean that Germany needs to recalibrate key pillars of its foreign policy — and do it all at once,” the report said.
“This is a Herculean task for the German government given the security and economic dependencies that have evolved over the decades.”
