Page 31 - Cormorant Issue 20 2017
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The visit offered much more than formal education, with many of us able to roam the German capital, from the Brandenburg Gate to Check Point Charlie, both hot spots of the Cold War. The dinner at Augustiner was also one to remember.
As the group prepared to leave Germany, downtown Berlin had been cordoned off as President Obama made his last European tour; Berlin was once again at the heart of the political agenda. All students
and staff shared the conviction of an engaging and inspiring week. Everyone took away many lessons: the challenges of rising Russia and increasing migration pressure; the uncertainty in the world order after the US election and Brexit; the position of Germany within the EU and NATO and its pragmatic approach to further integration, and the sense of what a 2% GDP threshold for defence budgets actually means. Above all, this enlightenment from
a German perspective contributed signi cantly to our broader understanding of defence engagement policy as well as the kind of cohesion we will nd useful as the course progresses.
