Phase 3: Comprehensive Maritime Security and Ocean Governance

By the mid-2000s the navy possessed greater value as an instrument of Germany foreign policy than ever before based on its increasing experience, adapted material and the evolved legal framework for its employment. Many of the geographic, operational and legal constraints had been overcome and it had gotten used to operating globally well beyond its Cold War role. When Angela Merkel became chancellor, she inherited and continued Gerhard Schröder’s commitment to expanding international trade and his maritime turn in economic and foreign policy.