A globalized Germany through a more integrated Europe

Jun

16

Cultivate a Westernized Germany!

Germany's continued success as a strong and peaceful power with stable relations with all of its partners around the world can only be improved through a German foreign policy that strengthen the EU. The EU as a sui generis world power shall make a difference in the world arena.

German President Gauck criticizes traditional German policy of military restraint as "morally cowardice and freeloading". These clear and new messages from Germany immediately attracted mixed receptions from various sources.

Till recently, the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany has been uniquely and distinctively prudent and pacifistic, a reflection of Germany's geopolitical position: an artificially divided country with heavy historical burden, situated on the forefront of the Cold War, under constant watch and thorough military protection by the US dominated Western block.

This position nurtured a specific German diplomacy marked by a "culture of restraint" and the principle of "Ohnemicheltum" (not with me), especially in cases of international military intervention. Because of these characteristics, German foreign policy is often criticized as benefiting from and not contributing to the world security system.

In answer to these criticisms, German President Gauck spoke on a recent Munich Security Conference earlier this year on matching German "growing power!" with "greater responsibility". He even criticizes traditional German policy of military restraint as "morally cowardice and freeloading". He calls for a change in the role of Germany from "a beneficiary to a guarantor of international security and order," which promises to participate in international intervention "if human rights violations culminate in genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing or crimes against humanity."

Mr. Gauck's new discourse on "greater responsibility" is coupled by similar expressions by German Foreign Minister Steinmeier (SPD) and German Defense Minister von der Leyen（CDU), who speak more specifically about ending Germany's policy of self-confinement and the possibility of using military force abroad, at least as a last resort for humanitarian intervention.

These clear and new messages from Germany immediately attracted mixed receptions from various sources. Fond of the humanitarian tone of the public speeches, German media raced to welcome a long awaited change in German foreign policy. Gauck's speech was hailed by Die Welt as a milestone marking a rhetorical break with German "Ohnemicheltum".

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung speaks of a "brilliant speech by the president" that shall reverberate for a long time, because it initiates a "farewell to post-war German self-diminution in foreign and security policy." The Süddeutsche Zeitung praises Gauck's speech as a warning voice against the "defensive comfort" of Germany.