28 March 2022
A Strategic Culture Must be Part of the National Security Strategy
The handling and development of the war in Ukraine will be a test of the effectiveness of Germany's role in the EU and the world. The most important part of the turning point must be a return to Realpolitik and the development of a national security strategy based on smart power. The turning point in Germany concerns four areas in particular: 1) German armed forces (Bundeswehr) 2) strategic culture 3) National Security Strategy 4) strengthening crisis prevention and the development of a "civilian reserve". Continue reading >>
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27 March 2022
Ukraine, Realism, and the Synchronization of Political Time in the US and Germany
What the US and Germany face today with Russia is evidently not a peaceful competition of rivals that can be managed by the pursuit of equilbrium and balance, the leitmotifs of 19th century Realpolitik. Nor is the Russian invasion a result of Western failure to heed realist caution about the project of NATO enlargement in Eastern Europe.
Continue reading >>23 March 2022
The Third Caesura in German Security Policy
The sudden announcement of a „special fund“ for the, admittedly, lagging overhaul of the German armed forces, and the permanent increase in the defense budget (the „2 percent“ target of the NATO agreements of 2002) should be understood for what they are – a grasping for the emergency brake and not an „arms race.“ Continue reading >>
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22 March 2022
“Juridified” Control
I argue that there should be a greater separation of powers with regard to foreign deployments than has been the case to date. In addition to the actors who have so far been primarily involved in decisions on foreign deployments – the German Federal Government and Bundestag – the German Federal Constitutional Court should also be given a clearer basis of responsibility for clarifying constitutional issues that have arisen. In this way, the constitutional framework can be made more concrete and strengthened in the long term. Continue reading >>
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20 March 2022
German Arms Exports as Part of a Coherent Foreign and Security Strategy
The analysis of Germany’s strategic restraint to date is of double importance for German arms export policy. First, what has been and continues to be apparent here is a strategic reticence in the sense of a strategy deficit and, above all, a deficit in the culture of debate – both with regard to parliament and to the general public and the media. Additionally – and here lies the difference to Germany’s general military restraint – Germany, and all German governments in recent years and decades, have supplied war weapons and other armaments to all regions of the world on a very substantial scale, without such a basis for discussion, strategy or action. Continue reading >>
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18 March 2022
The End of Germany’s Strategic Restraint
In a special session of the German Bundestag on February 27, 2022, on the occasion of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the federal government announced nothing less than a realignment of the Federal Republic of Germany's long-standing security and defense policy principles. The decisions taken by the Government replaced the "culture of strategic restraint" that had for decades characterized German decision-making in foreign, security and defense policy with a more active, independent and robust foreign policy role. Continue reading >>
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10 February 2021
The Uncertainty after the Coup
Along with other Western states, Germany is facing uncertainties after the coup on 1 February by the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw. While Myanmar is not the only development aid project but one of a slate of countries representing German interests in Southeast Asia, Myanmar’s place in German foreign policy is now disrupted by the coup. The prospects of a return to military rule suggest a need for a German rethink of its Myanmar strategies. Continue reading >>
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