Former NATO analyst Michael Rühle and Carnegie Europe senior fellow Judy Dempsey clash over the ex-chancellor's policies on Ukraine and Russia. "I side with Merkel," Rühle tells Berlin Briefing's host Michaela Küfner on Angela Merkel's decision to block Ukraine's path into NATO. But Judy Dempsey argues Europe has given into Russia's "blackmail" and calls out European leaders for continuing to buy into Russia's logic of the conflict. In this episode of DW's Berlin Briefing, Michaela Küfner unpacks Putin’s hybrid war with both guests and asks them to assess how Germany should respond. Judy Dempsey describes the Kremlin's "politics of fear" working both ways, with European leaders visibly afraid of Russia. But Michael Rühle stresses that Russia resorting to hybrid warfare also signals that "they're running out of options to threaten us." This episode explores what kind of leadership Germany and Europe need to navigate a crucial few weeks, before US President-elect Donald Trump starts his second term in January.

Key discussions include:

- How fear limits the thinking of European leaders
- Germany's perceived “Russia-friendly” course 
- Migration as part of an unfolding hybrid war
- Why Merkel won’t admit mistakes, but doesn’t mind being blamed