The article examines 13 doctrinal documents of Germany from 1990 to 2023: coalition agreements, Bundeswehr White Papers and National Security Strategy. The authors presented an analysis model reflecting German elites’ both retrospective and perspective vision of Russia, the USA, France and China. The database for the application of the model consists of the references in these documents to 176 countries, organizations and regions. Three criteria were applied: priority, frequency and quality of objects’ mentions. Taken together, their analysis made it possible to create the hierarchy of clusters into which states can be classified. Specific marker words indicate the perception of Moscow and Beijing as partners and rivals at the same time. When it comes to Washington and Paris, they are deemed reliable allies. Certain categories show the states’ inclusion in the Western “family of values” or their non-belonging to it, as well as their significant weight on the global arena, which Germany must take into account. The data is presented in tables divided into clusters. The complexity and versatility of foreign partners’ doctrinal position has become obvious: in some cases they combine four dimensions. Each object was considered not only as an “actor-goal”, but also as an “actor-means”. In the context of blurred boundaries between positive and negative definitions of interstate relations, the authors propose a research programme for studying German doctrinal documents. This approach forms a country hierarchy of German foreign policy. The final part encompasses the design of potential studies conducted on the basis of this methodological scheme.