Germany’s Russia policy and geo-economics: Nord Stream 2, sanctions and the question of EU leadership towards Russia

This article contests the dominant view that Germany's leadership in the EU's foreign policy towards Russia since the eruption of the Ukraine crisis trumps its economic interests. It argues instead that it is the geo-economic nature of the Russo–German relationship that determines Germany's EU leadership towards Russia. To substantiate this claim, the article develops a framework that combines CDA with the theory of geo-economics, which captures the interrelation of geo-economics and foreign policy discourse, and allows us to discursively examine the development of Germany's Russia policy during the 2017 German elections and its aftermath. Central to this framework is the notion of reciprocal manipulation between business elites and political leaders within the realm of German foreign policy, in the context of punitive and reward-oriented forms of geo-economics. Empirically, the framework is applied to two case studies: the EU sanctions regime against Russia and the Nord Stream 2 project.