Overseas Role: Germany Must Back Words With Deeds

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/commentary-on-german-promise-of-stronger-foreign-policy-role-a-950814.html



German politicians have won applause abroad for promising a beefier role in international crisis management in the future. But does Chancellor Merkel support the new line? Berlin's behavior in Syria and Ukraine will prove how serious it is about the rethink.

Overseas Role: Germany Must Back Words With Deeds
A Commentary by Christiane Hoffmann
February 03, 2014 – 04:02 PM

When German politicians pledged a more active international role at the Munich Security Conference last weekend, the reaction they got was almost euphoric. President Joachim Gauck, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen appeared to be vying with each other to present their vision of a new Germany to the gathering of security experts and senior politicians.

At last Germany has grown up, said international officials and commentators. At last it's ready to accept a degree of responsibility commensurate with its weight. To be sure, the rhetoric is noteworthy because it marks progress from Germany's restraint and reluctance to shoulder responsibility. It was overdue. In recent years there's been an excessive discrepancy between Germany's economic clout and leading role in the euro crisis on the one hand and its reticence in international crisis regions on the other. But the general expressions of delight are surprising. After all, it's not uncommon for new ministers to make grand promises aimed at making them look different from their predecessors. The world will have to wait and see what Germany actually does in concrete terms to deliver on its pledge.

"Leading, I say respectfully, does not mean meeting in Munich for discussions, it means committing resources," US Secretary of State John Kerry told the conference.

Merkel Looks at Opinion Polls

After all, Germany's policy of military restraint wasn't only espoused by former Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. It was backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel herself. And there's nothing so far to suggest that she is departing from her guiding politicial principle: basing her policies on opinion polls. As long as a clear majority of Germans remain skeptical of or outright opposed to any German military involvement abroad, Angela Merkel is highly unlikely to commit troops to unpopular missions. The president and the ministers can hold as many grand speeches as they like -- if things get serious, they won't be the ones taking the decisions.


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[dipsydoodle]

1. What's Ukraine got to do with it ?

[unhappycamper]

2. Looking at the map, I see echos of German colonialism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_colonial_empire

Ukraine? Nada.