The Impact of Geopolitics on the Field of Development in Korea and Germany

Geopolitical tensions are omnipresent in all areas of international relations, in theory and in practice. This also applies to the field of development discourse, including in the discussions in September 2023 on the (lack of) progress made towards realizing the 2030 Agenda and in the specific development policies and initiatives of individual governments. This chapter analyses how the dynamic international context is influencing the development policy approaches of OECD countries and of two donor countries in particular: the Republic of Korea (hereafter referred to as Korea) and Germany. It analyses the overall geopolitical context and strategies of both countries, and the intersection of geopolitics and geoeconomics. Geographically, the piece pays special attention to the Indo-Pacific Region. It discusses how far development policy in Germany is dependent upon or independent of the geostrategic approaches of the two donor countries.