Abstract
The article is based on interviews and participant observation in the Bundestag’s Foreign Defence committee. It aims to highlight the fragility of future German engagements in terms of involvement in overseas operations, by analysing the elaboration of the German White Paper on Security Policy of 2016. This study reveals the influence of both formal and informal institutions in German security policy that temper expectations of Berlin in the event of a need for military deployment in the short or medium-term.