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Russian Roulette
East-West arms control has a different logic in the 21st century
There may be light at the end of one of President Obama’s many tunnels. The first major strategic arms treaty in a generation between Washington and Moscow is nearly final. This could unblock other arms control agreements, promote the desired “reset” in ex-superpower relations—and perhaps improve relations between the United States and Germany.
Hands Off Our Shackles, Please
The self-constrained republic: German security policy falls short of what it should and could achieve.
The momentous decision made by a German colonel in September to call in a NATO air strike on fuel trucks hijacked by the Taliban could become a test of Germany’s maturity 20 years after regaining complete sovereignty. But this incident, and its handling, has already turned a harsh spotlight on the shortcomings of German security policy.
The Bomb for Beginners
A do-it-yourself guide to going nuke in a few easy steps
Building a nuclear weapon has never been easier. NATO’s Michael Rühle provides step-by-step instructions for going nuclear, from discretely collecting material to minimizing the fallout when caught. These simple steps have worked for the likes of Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea, among others. The nuclear club is open to your country, too.
Rethinking Iran
Handling Iranian NPT non-compliance
The May review of the NPT will inevitably address the case of Iran. The key to handling the issue wisely and keeping Iran at the table is to distinguish NPT non-compliance from the flouting of UN resolutions. Iran must show, through regional diplomacy, that it does not seek nuclear weapons. Greater realism can yield political and economic advantages.
Balkan Tango
The EU's disjointed policies compound Bosnia's paralysis
Bosnia is backsliding into political chaos and possibly even renewed ethnic violence. Failure for the European Union in Bosnia will rightly be seen as a resounding blow to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. First, Europeans need to allign their Bosnia policies. For this they need U.S. help, whether they like it or not.
Europe’s New Faces
The EU still has a long way to go to become a top global power
The post-Lisbon European Union can finally establish itself as a serious player in a multipolar world order. It has the potential to develop a foreign policy combining political, economic, and military elements. But will Brussels make the most of Lisbon? In the end, it is still the member states that call the shots on foreign policy.
Old Myths to New Missions
European civilian crisis management in the 21st century
The European Union is said to specialize in civilian crisis management. It has sent missions of police, judges, and governance experts to trouble spots around the world. But, upon closer inspection, its record is mixed. Brussels’s new foreign policy team would be well advised to initiate sweeping changes in Europe’s civilian capabilities.
Starting Over on Climate
After the Copenhagen debacle, Europe needs a new climate strategy
It was a disaster in every respect: In Copenhagen the European Union succeeded neither in establishing itself as a driving force in climate policy alongside the United States and China, nor in reaching its own basic negotiation objectives. Now Europe has to revive the multilateral climate proceedings with a convincing strategy.
Exit Strategy for a Culture War
Afghanistan and the limits of Intervention
The West has failed in Afghanistan because it underestimated cultural factors and set the unrealistic goals of democracy and human rights—instead of just establishing a functional state. Now, after eight years, we are forced to reevaluate our moralizing and idealistic concepts of world order, and to make plans for withdrawal.
Rebel in the House of Luther
Germany’s top Protestant ignites a storm of controversy over intervention in Afghanistan
Margot Kässmann, the new head of Germany’s biggest Protestant organization, has come out strongly against Germany’s military mission in Afghanistan. The committed pacifist has stuck to her guns in the face of a withering backlash.
Fountain of Peace
Conflicts over water can be defused by international cooperation and better global water governance
The vital, increasingly scarce resource of water has the power to spark tension and conflict. But the sheer necessity of water also compels parties to cooperate when the benefits of cooperation outweigh the costs of conflict. More water resources are available if the international community can revamp global water governance.
The Perils of Population Boom
Why demographic ignorance can lead to conflict
Population growth is exacerbating resource scarcity, above all in developing countries. Improved family planning is one way of alleviating this pressure, another is immigration. In both cases poor nations require increased international support.
Six Wrong-Headed Cliches about Disarmament
When it comes to disarmament and arms control, we are currently living in breathtaking times, from President Obama’s Prague speech on global zero to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference scheduled for May 2010. Yet, tragically, these debates continue to be dominated by old stereotypes.
Interview with Social Democrat and Bundestag member Hans-Peter Bartels
“We can’t just sit around and complain”
21.12.2009
The events of early September in northern Afghanistan and the German government’s handling of the crisis have exposed the German deployment in Afghanistan to scrutiny like never before in its eight-year history. The German-ordered air strike and the incomplete information provided to the Bundestag and the public have forced the resignation of two senior defense officials and the former defense minister, Franz Josef Jung.
Letter from Berlin
Afghanistan’s Calling
Berlin's barely visible memorial to soldiers killed in service is a concrete manifestation of Germany's conflicting attitudes to its Bundeswehr military. But with the recent Kunduz scandal, a full-scale debate on the role of Germany's military and the Afghanistan mission can no longer be avoided.
After Lisbon
Is Europe Becoming a Global Power?
The European Union will start 2010 with a dual leadership composed of an EU president, Hermann von Rompuy, and an “EU foreign minister,” Catherine Ashton. This duo is supposed to provide the Union with a single voice in the wider world. So, will the European Union now finally be taken seriously or will foreign policy continue to be made by the most powerful of the member states?
Time for Germany to Step Up
Recommendations for a new strategy in Afghanistan
After eight years, Germany’s position in Afghanistan has deteriorated dramatically. The Germans do not need more troops. They need to empower their forces that are already there to fight. Not doing so only plays into Taliban hands.
Assuring Peace
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European Future
Three former High Representatives to Bosnia and Herzegovina have issued the following statement in light of the negotiations at Butmir in Sarajevo. They argue that the destructive use of the original Dayton accord is blocking the peace process. The country must follow the recommendations of the Council of Europe and its Venice Commission in order to turn Bosnia and Herzegovina into a fully fledged European democracy.
Still Searching for Answers
A discussion with Vaclav Havel and Richard von Weizsäcker
03.11.2009
On October 1, 2009 the former presidents of the Czech Republic and Germany sat down to discuss “20 years of freedom.” The two former leaders look back on the peaceful revolutions in the East bloc and forward to the future of their countries and the common project Europe.
Guido Westerwelle's Foreign Policy
Germany's new foreign minister answers IP
27.10.2009
The coalition talks between Germany's Christian Democrats and Liberal Democrats have been concluded. FDP leader Guido Westerwelle is designed to become Germany’s foreign minister. IP asked Westerwelle for his response to the most pressing issues of German foreign policy, from the European Union and transatlantic relations to Iran and the Afghanistan mission.
1989
Cynicism is the antipode of that wonderful year
Across our region, there has never been a better run than the last 20 years. But today, Europe faces a trial. Freedom is threatened by a cynicism that undermines the liberal value system. In the same spirit, the temptations of authoritarianism are seductive. The task before us is nothing less than the defense of the republic.
Look Forward, Not Backward!
Ten recipes for a “reset” in Western-russian relations – how to avoid a new cold war
The United States and Russia have the chance to improve relations or to stick to old confrontational thinking pattern. Especially the Europeans hope that they will live up to this challenge. Here are some recipes how to avoid a new cold war.
1989’s Global Tremors
The Fall of the Wall from an International Perspective
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War had an immense impact on the non-European world. Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and even Africa now participate with greater confidence in international politics. This dynamic has now enabled non-western societies to overcome their peripheral positions, leading to shifts in regional borders. Experts must reach an agreement on a new “orientation” for the world that takes into account the changed intensity of transregional cooperation and the rise of new regional power centers.
Merkel II: End of an Era
The Years of New Labor Are Over in Europe
The national elections are now history—and Germans are waking up to the fact that they have changed history. Well, their country’s history. But it’s not any old country. After eleven years the Social Democrats are out and Angela Merkel is still in charge. This new German coalition is very different, and bound to shake things up.
Beyond Kyoto
The Nature Conservancy’s Sascha Müller-Kraenner about the upcoming Copenhagen summit on climate change
Following up on the UN Climate Change Summit now taking place, international negotiators will gather in Copenhagen, Denmark in December to hammer out a new and possibly historic worldwide treaty to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Building on the expiring Kyoto Protocol, it is widely billed as the last chance to save the planet from a temperature rise of two degrees Celsius or higher. Sascha Müller-Kraenner is the Europe coordinator of the U.S. environmental group, The Nature Conservancy. IP-Global spoke to him in Berlin.
Contest for the New Iran
Nothing is the same since the hot summer of 2009
Iran is divided between a popular, reformist movement and the hard-line establishment that is betting everything on becoming a regional nuclear power. The U.S. may have to negotiate with the Tehran leadership. Although there are significant drawbacks to talks at this juncture and there is no certainty that American dialogue with Iran would bear fruit, a sincere attempt at engagement is the only place for the Obama administration to start.
Finally Some Hubbub in the Shop
Interview on Afghanistan with Winfried Nachtwei, German Green MP and foreign and security policy expert
14.09.2009
On September 3 the German command in northern Afghanistan in the Kundus region ordered a NATO air raid on two oil tankers that had, according to intelligence reports, been hijacked by Taliban forces and were intended to be used as bombs against allied forces. U.S. bombers carried out the raid destroying the two targets. In the days that followed, different numbers of casualties, including civilian victims, were reported. An ISAF Fact Finding Mission concluded that 125 had died, among them at least two dozen civilians. Germany’s defense minister initially asserted there were no civilian casualties at all—and then later backtracked. The events in northern Afghanistan, where the 4,200 German troops are based, have initiated a fierce debate in Germany about the role of German forces in the country—and provoked stiff criticism from Germany’s allies.
Sieg Hollywood
German reactions to Tarantino’s new Nazi splatter film
Inglourious Basterds has rocketed to the top of the German charts and even charmed the country’s most discerning film critics. Does this tell us anything about Germany today, about the Germans’ earnest attempts to atone for their past? Are decades of earnest soul-searching now at an end?
Italy’s Alamo
A new book provides a refreshing account of Italy during World War I
In this elegant and acerbic account of conflict on the Italian front, British writer Mark Thompson brings the geography, history, and conflicted passions of Italy’s Great War to life for the first time in English.
Geopolitical Metamorphosis
Post Stimulus Scenarios
What if “national” economic stimulus packages have no lasting effect on the global economic crisis? In a first study, the German Federal Intelligence Service describes three possible future scenarios: slow growth and the continuation of the “American Age”; the ascendancy of China as the world’s premier power; and a slide into global instability.
Europe First-Hand
Cafebabel.com networks the “Eurogeneration”
Six languages, 8500 registered members, and 30 local news rooms across Europe — cafebabel.com runs on the principals of the grass roots movement and uses the internet to create a public forum unhindered by speech barriers and national borders. In the central news room in Paris, the threads of the network come together.
Improbable Survivor: Germany's Left Party has Thrown a Spanner into German Politics
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Eastern Germans' foremost contribution to the political discourse of the republic is the obstreperous Left Party, the successor to the old GDR communist party. Its success, argues IP-GE editor Paul Hockenos, is the direct consequence of grave mistakes made by Germany's political elite since 1989. Led by the irreverent East-West duo of Oskar Lafontaine and Gregor Gysi, the Left Party upended the electoral calculus of the Federal Republic.
Triumph of the Cliché
Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds just reinforces unhelpful stereotypes
Quentin Tarantino’s new film has stormed to the top of German cinema charts in its first week. But the Jewish revenge romp is anything but unproblematic.
Look forward, not backward!
Ten recipes for a “reset” in Western-russian relations – how to avoid a new cold war
Last Exit Kabul
How to get out without forsaking Afghanistan’s stability
01.01.2000
Fixing a concrete date to withdraw from Afghanistan is wrong-headed. An exit strategy should be coordinated within NATO and has to be linked to clear criteria. These include the training of security forces and the creation of stable governance structures, as well as strengthened regional cooperation and development coordination.
Old Myths to New Missions
European civilian crisis management in the 21st century
The European Union is said to specialize in civilian crisis management. It has sent missions of police, judges, and governance experts to trouble spots around the world. But, upon closer inspection, its record is mixed. Brussels’s new foreign policy team would be well advised to initiate sweeping changes in Europe’s civilian capabilities.
