ALLEMAGNE PERSPECTIVE

German coverage under Chancellor Friedrich Merz reveals a structural tension between Atlantic support and existential economic anxiety. Merz has expressed his most ambivalent position to date: he states there is 'clearly no joint plan' for a swift end to the war, while refraining from condemning the strikes as violations of international law. Instead, he expressed his 'relief that the mullah regime is coming to an end' — a positioning that breaks with traditional German diplomatic caution.

But Merz's warning against an 'endless war' betrays Germany's real concern. Bloomberg reports he warns of the 'disintegration' of the Iranian state, a new European migration crisis, and 'lasting economic damage.' This triple anxiety — military, migratory, economic — structures all German media coverage, which systematically frames the conflict through the lens of its consequences for Germany rather than its causes or victims.

The poll showing 59% of Germans oppose US-Israeli actions constitutes a central data point that media treat cautiously. German public opinion, marked by historical guilt toward Israel and mistrust of military interventionism, is deeply divided. German media navigate these constraints by adopting a technocratic tone centered on economic indicators — mortgage rates, energy prices, chemical supply chains — allowing implicit criticism of the conflict without taking a direct position.

German silences are structural: near-absence of humanitarian analysis of Iranian civilians, avoidance of the question of post-nuclear German energy dependency, and refusal to question European responsibilities in the escalation. Germany positions itself as an economic collateral victim rather than a Western ally with obligations — a blind spot that French and British media are quick to highlight.